Flat Mary Visits Florida

We did not see any snakes.

Flat Mary taking time to tan.

Flat Mary liked to be near the water, but not in the water.

 I was honored to be the recipient of Flat Mary, a second grade project about the popular book Flat Stanley.   Flat Mary was sent to me from Minnesota and she was happy to be in Florida. 


We took Flat Mary to a school concert, she helped Dave play guitar and sing.  Our big outing was a bike ride to  Honeymoon Island near Dunedin, Florida.

As any kid she seems happy about the prospect of seeing poisonous snakes.

I have to include this last photo of the Osprey having lunch - he skinned, filleted and ate the fish, without a knife or even a decent cutting board.

Flashback!

 We arrived in Clearwater, Florida on a Saturday afternoon not expecting to meet anyone from the church, but I was wildly surprised to meet ...  Ann Boettcher Hinz.  You may not know Ann, but I do - we attended grade school together at St. John's in West Bend, Wisconsin. 

We went out for lunch to catch up and most of our sentences began, "Do you remember..."  It was a taste of home and very sweet. 





I sure do wish we could use Ann's convertible to tow our house instead of our quad cab long bed diesel 3/4 ton truck.

One Dollar

Adding my dollar to the wall

On September 22, 2001 firefighters from seven area departments removed each dollar bill to be used by families in need following 9/11 - the total removed was $9,795.00. 

A few dollars here and

more here. The walls are full of staples and brightly decorated dollar bills.

Sunset at the beach.  God cares for us all in every way - giving us beauty and a dollar extra here and there.

Lake Okeechobee

 We met Marie while swimming in the pool at our  campground stop on the North side of Lake Okeechobee.  She mentioned her husband plays piano. Two days later here we are at Cal and Marie's and Dave is saying, "just start and I will jump in."  We were singing along with songs we did not even know we knew. 

 I should have zeroed in on their map of North America on the door behind me.  Cal and Marie are from the Sydney area of Nova Scotia.  They have filled in the entire eastern seaboard - mostly from moving to and from home each season.

Here is our small, but enthusiastic audience. A campfire would have have been just the thing, but in this campground there are no fire rings.

As you look at the campers, you can see why everyone gets to know their neighbors.

Serious Packer Fan

What a great looking cap!

 And it enhances ANY outfit!

 

 

Pastor Steve at Our Savior in Lake Worth, Florida was showing off his Packer wear this past Sunday.  It was a treat to hang out with a fellow Packer fan.

This past October, his congregation surprised him with a trip to   to see the Packers play at Lambeau field against the Vikings. Packers won 28 - 24.

Making Do

Sometimes it is easier to stay focused if you stand while you work.  This is what Dave's desk looks like as he tries to "make do," with what we have on hand.  With a little help from our friend Fun Tak, he is able to affix the keyboard to my stool/end table.  A stack of much needed theology and computer books make a suitable mouse stand.  My outdoor foot rest stool  makes a great monitor stand.  Upon getting this all together, it is time to quit work for the day.  No, just kidding.  Dave is thinking about building something with, and no surprise here -  PVC pipe - what else would do when making do?

Age

As we traveled from Melbourne, Florida to our campground on Lake Okeechobee, we were tuned into a great radio station giving our Pandora (wonderful) radio a break.  We were singing along to a string of five or six excellent tunes, after which the radio announcer welcomed us to the "Oldies." What a smack down.  Here we were reveling in songs gone by, when we were told they had indeed gone bye.

We stopped at Taco Bell for dinner one evening the gal taking our order said, "I don't want to insult you or anything, but are you over 50?  If you are you get a free drink."  And I said, Yes, I am!"