Da Boyz In Da Pixture

Before moving to Florida, we lived in Pennsylvania & had a house at the beach in Delaware, where we spent our weekends & most of our vacations. This picture was hung in the living room of that house. Now it hangs in the sitting room off the master bedroom down here. I remember the day we bought it, but won't bother with that particular story.

The first rule to remember as a buyer is never let on just how much you really want something when there is no price tag attached, especially when the seller is within earshot. This picture had no price attached &, since we were so eager, I'm positive we were hosed. In this case, it didn't (doesn't) matter - I would have paid double.

It's certainly no great work of art BUT - we had to have it. This could have originated from a photo of our boys when they were little guys. The size difference between the boys, the hair, the build of the 2 kids.... For us it absolutely captured the typical affection & brotherly 'best friend' body language of our kids. They were just like this when they were young - best friends. They're like this today - though the younger one is now a tad bigger than big brother. It's been one of our greatest rewards as parents to know that our sons are still best friends.

Sigh... This picture helps us keep those memories fresh.

Just For Fun

WHO IS JACK SCHITT ???

For some time many of us have wondered just who is Jack Schitt?

We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt'!

Well, thanks to my genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way.

Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt. Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, who married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt, Inc.

They had one son, Jack.

In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt.

Against her parents' objections, Deep Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout. After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock, and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock.

Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt, and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt. Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony. The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd, and Horse.

Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt.

Now when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt', you can correct them.

Sincerely,
Crock O. Schitt

Word Addiction

I'm obsessed with words - written ones anyway.

No matter where I go I have a book. At the first pause in whatever I'm doing, especially when I'm waiting for something or someone - I read. This gets expensive since I consume 2 or 3 books per week, on average. At night it's a review of my favorite blogs (I have cut down a bit) - sometimes I comment, sometimes not.

Then there's writing - My second MS is cracking along & I keep tweaking & polishing my first (there's always something to change - even if it's subtle - see 1st picture) & have several ideas scribbled out for others. The beach is one of my favorite editing (& reading) spots. My biggest problem is quitting at a reasonable hour to get some sleep - I get up at 5AM.

I also like to "write" messages in the sand for the kids & grandkids - take pictures & then email them. (Deb likes to spell everything out with little shells - I don't have that kind of patience.)

I first suspected that this was becoming a sickness when I started powerwashing messages onto the driveway for Jack & Belly. And then there's my blog - which isn't read by too many folks - but that's OK.

Homeowner's Associations & Pink Flamingos

How do ya like our new pink flamingos? We're gonna put them in the front yard to make a statement. OK, these guys are alive so we'll need to get plastic ones. OK, that won't work either - Deb doesn't like plastic pink flamingos.

We, like many folks, live in a community that has a 'Homeowner's Association'. It seems to me that most of these self appointed useless blowhards on these boards are typically frustrated middle management types that have no one to boss around during the day.

Our neighborhood is very nice & we live in a nice home. Everyone around us seems to do a good job on the maintenance of their property & no one, that I know of, does anything particularly obnoxious or annoying. The HOA board members have the monopoly on obnoxious & annoying. They now have an 'architectural review board' to whom all residents must submit plans and request permission before proceeding with ANY changes to the physical structure, landscaping or even colors (after genuflecting?). Helloooo....? We're talkin' about a couple doctors, a dentist, a retired broker .... no one that knows diddly about architectural features. Aaaarrghh.

The last 'newsletter' quoted one of the board members on the topic of lawns ..."I'm not expecting lawns to look like golf courses but ...." Gimme a break. This chucklehead is on a BOARD!!! Where does he come off using the word "I"? They probably all wear black robes & white wigs when they get together so they can feel more "IN CHARGE". Bunch of socialists.

It may sound as though I have had a run in with these bozos. That would not be true. Since I'm not planning to paint the house purple or add a lean to off the front porch, I probably won't. I just can't stand people that are self important, so it's time for pink flamingos.

PORCHES

The back porch is our favorite place to hang out when we're home. It's where I do about 75% of my writing, where we have our morning coffee & where we have dinner (when the heat & humidity isn't too high). It's quiet, secluded & best of all, screened in.



This slithery looking character is a 6 foot black racer snake that seems to enjoy the front porch lately. Deb took this picture a couple of days ago - too bad he ducked his head as she clicked. Maybe he's camera shy. I chased him away again today. Racers are harmless, pygmy rattlers are not. This time of year, it's common to run across both species, making flower bed & shrub maintenance a little more challenging than it should be.



This is our front porch - minus the snake. It's rarely used. We always go through the garage to get into the house. The only time we spend out front is to water the gajillion plants, palm & ficus trees that Deb has stationed about. The marigolds are somewhat wilted in this picture because we were away for a week & they didn't get watered. The geraniums did OK.



Now here's a picture of what we really use the front porch for - watching the shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center, which is just a bit south of us. This is a shot of Atlantis taking off not too long ago, taken from right next to the middle column out front.

From The Laffin Gaff

These shots were taken from our boat "The Laffin Gaff". The lighthouse is one of our favorite places to visit. The harbor (Matanzas Bay) is usually loaded with yachts, sailboats & runabouts. The 2nd picture was taken from just inside the inlet to allow a wide angle view of 'Our Town'. Fortunately, boat traffic was light that day.

Both locations figure heavily in my YA adventure. The lighthouse & bay have reputations for being seriously haunted. (Matanzas translated means 'slaughters')Maybe I'll post some photos of the lighthouse at night - there's something in one of them that we just can't explain.

An Old Shortcut

The large heavy steel ball attached to the cable is called a headache ball (shown in both pictures). It's used to stabilize a heavy load being lifted by a crane. The story behind the nickname should be obvious, if you get hit in the head......

Back in the day - before safety was the priority, we would ride the headache ball to get to the upper floors (avoiding ladders). Standing on the ball, we would grab the cable & hold on tight, while the crane operator boomed (lifted) us to whatever floor we needed to reach. Today, I couldn't see myself dangling 6 or 8 stories in the air like that. Some would say I've become a sissy. Some would say I've become more sensible. I say, I don't want to deal with the fines from OSHA. It's a stunt that would cost at least $20K nowadays.

But if I was really pressed for a totally honest answer? I guess I'd have to admit to being a sissy.