12 Oakdale

Brrrr, it has been 45° the last 2 nights. During the day, in the sun, it is comfortable, however in the evenings and early mornings, it has been chilly. Our Connecticut friends were not impressed. Fortunately, we finally finished repairing William’s hut the day the temperature dipped. It had been sitting in the garage all summer. Nothing like just in time inventory. Gracie helped while we decided what to do. To keep it warm, we had built it with a reptile heater big enough for an African spurred tortoise. It had to be hung on the ceiling of the hut because it is too warm for a small turtle. However, it was the only heater that could be outside. All the smaller ones weren’t waterproof. Overkill, but what was available. We took the sides of the hut off, and I cut them the same height. Originally the top had a slant to let any rain run off, but it doesn’t need that since our house eave protects it from drips. We added 1x4s on each side and along the back to make the structure more stable....

On a whim, I bought tickets to the Atlanta show of The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds tour. They’d played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on June 3rd, but I was in Fort Lauderdale at the tree conference. Other tour dates didn’t fit our calendar, so Atlanta it was. Friday, we walked 6.7 miles between at the airport, getting to the hotel from MARTA, visiting the Georgia Aquarium, going to dinner at the Twin Smokes BBQ where they serve chitlings rather than chips as a freebie, and trekking to and from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the concert.We are tired. Of course, we were amazed by the energy of 80-year-olds Mick and Keith plus 77yo Ronnie, but the fact that most of the audience seemed about their/our age was as impressive. We old geezers still can stay up past 9:00 PM. Of course, at the hotel breakfast next morning, we mostly looked like something the cat dragged in.  Best part? The Stones tour is sponsored by AARP. Saturday, we visited the High Museum to see the Dutch maste...

While we aren’t big time Parrotheads, we were always Jimmy Buffet fans. When he died September 1st, it seemed a part of me has slipped away. Not part of my distant youth, but something from my adult life. The first time we saw him play was at his last outdoor concert in Key West, at the local baseball fields. I remember it was free. We just walked in and sat down. For the life of me, I can’t figure out when it was. Likely the early 1980’s before Mary was born. And I can’t remember why we were in Key West. Probably camping at Long Key, heard about the concert, and drove down for the day. Grant forgets the details too. Proust, with his cup of tea, we are not. The second concert we went to was at the Knight’s Center in Miami. A few days before, we were at the Peaches Record Store (now a Hustler Hollywood Store) on Sunrise Boulevard. Grant was buying whatever we’d come in for, and I was perusing the bulletin board. Wow, do my children or grandchildren know what records or bulletin boards a...