12 Oakdale

I got up at 6:00, later than normal, since I’d stayed up to midnight watching the Florida vs FSU football game, where the teams traded scores back and forth, until the last seconds when UF couldn’t make their  touchdown to tie the game into overtime. Final score: FSU 45, UF 38.  Following my routine, I went pee, then used my headlamp on red to check the scale. 163 lbs, meh. Walking back to bed in the dark, I stepped on something cold and wet. I had done this several months ago, when Gracie had encouraged a Cuban tree frog into the bedroom. *  Both times, it was right under my arch, so no damage other than to my heart. I turned on my lamp, again to red, and tried to locate the dang thing. Gracie helped by playing with the light like laser tag. Not finding it, I turned the light to white, and there it lay, not moving. Because it was a piece of chicken skin. I threw it in the toilet. When he got up, Grant admitted he’d given the cats a treat, but he swore he put it in their...

As Stephanie quoted from the internet, I would like to cancel my subscription to the hurricane of the month club. This time is was Tropical Storm Nicole, which came ashore at Daytona Beach, headed across the state, and dumped 6” of rain at our house. The yard is all soggy again. We mostly just lost more palm fronds. The wild lime and yaupon holly which we’d staked up after Hurricane Ian are now leaning the other direction. I told them they are on their own now. Our biggest mess is the arch on the north side which collapsed. I had already decided to remove it when I trimmed back the skyblue clustervine ( Jacquemontia pentanthos)  after it finished bloom this fall. We’re just going to stand it up as best we can for the nonce While  resetting the trellis, I realized with our arch removed and my neighbor's yellow tababua gone (a loss to the previous storm), we could consider putting in a tree on the northwest corner of the yard. Perhaps even a good sized oak. It’s time to have our...

I have to learn the all words to the US armed forces hymns. It seems Central Florida is very patriotic, and at every musical event, a medley of the different military songs, including the Coast Guard’s, is played. I can sing the first line or two of all of them, except the Coast Guard’s, then I “humble”, Rev Amy’s word for humming and mumbling, which she rightfully claims most people do in church when they don’t have a hymnal. In any case, the military medley was played by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at last night’s Music Among the Lakes, a free concert sponsored by Windermere Wine and Dine, with an opportunity to donate funds for Second Harvest Food Bank via a QR code. Very efficient. When the $10,000 goal was met, we all got to light up our free wrist bands to blue, (at half way, we turned them on to glow white). We’d already made our annual gift to Second Harvest, but decided to cough up $50, since we liked event and wanted it to happen again.  The show started with the O...