Happy Halloween Update

Photo by Mom.
(Those are tombstones I made from insulating foam)


Bear and I rode over to St. Augustine to help Mom decorate for the little Halloween trick or treaters.
For decades, Mom and Dad have created a legendary spooky front yard to the delight of thousands of kids ... kids who now bring THEIR grand kids to visit and experience the dropping monkey creature and the hidden leaf blower billowing witch critter. If they brave this gauntlet of ghouls, they are rewarded with good quality candy.

It's a beautiful thing.


This year, at 82, they have finally agreed to cut back and there will be no monkey thing dropping from the pine tree as you come up the walk. Also, the witch will be static, with no leaf blower for Dad to fire up just as you get near her.

This is all good. Other, younger families down the street have stepped up and created their own spooky settings, allowing Mom and Dad to get back to the basics of enjoying the little kids and handing out candy.

With Dad's weak polio leg limiting his ability to help out, Mom and I took on the task of ONLY putting out enough ghoully goodies to set the correct ambiance.

We sorted through her vast collection of spooky yard stuff and finally decided on tombstones, winking spook eyes in the hedges, the witch and her cauldron of glowing bone soup, giant spiders and webbing across the front porch, the straw man with pumpkin head, jackolantern lights, and Marcus the carcass emerging from the ground covering ivy.

We did all this after a great breakfast at Theo's and a drive around the old city to let them sight see.
Mom doesn't drive and she limits Dad's driving to short rides to Publix, Walmart, and the doctor mostly. I always drive when I am there and we always have the same Saturday morning routine.

1. Breakfast at Theos, where they start Mom and Dad's order as soon as they walk in the door.
2. After breakfast, we turn at the winery and stop to look at the carriage horses at their home stable off of Riberia Street. Mom always makes a comment along the lines of, "Those PETA people should just mind their own business, these horses are well cared for." And she's right, we've known these horse people all our lives and the horses are well tended.
3. Post pony perusing, we creep down the tiny street to the post office where Dad used to work and we get the mail.

Normally at that point, we head home, but yesterday we rode down St. George Street, past Maria Sanchez lake, up Marine Street by the National Guard HQ where my uncle worked, and then across the "new" Bridge of Lions.

I was pretty amazed to see that the "temporary" bridge that had been installed while the very old Bridge of Lions was renovated ... was gone.

This temporary bridge was a high rise concrete structure that would be the pride of most third world countries. The last time I was home, it was standing alongside the Bridge of Lions while it was being worked on.

Now it was gone.

Mom said it went to form an artificial reef off the coast and my heart swelled at the thought of all that concrete substrate providing new habitat out there.

I love well done artificial reefs and Florida has the best program in the nation.

Okay, I have wandered some, but again, yes again, I find myself in catch-up mode.

Quick updates:

• Junior is healing I suppose as he is back at work.
• The Gators won in overtime yesterday so Mrs. FC is happy.
• Mom is healing nicely from Bear flinging her off the deck back in September ... did I tell y'all about that?
• P90X is still wonderful and I can honestly say as I complete week number 6, that I have only missed on day's workout and I plan to make that up with a double. It has become our routine now to work out before supper and Mrs. FC even carried a DVD along for her nurse conference last week.
• Datil peppers are pumping out their last gorgeous orange peppers as fall picks up down here.

After helping Mom decorate yesterday, and change lightbulbs, and plant another blueberry plant, Bear and I went to the beach.

We had an empty beach due to a high tide and the Florida-Georgia game happening at the same time.

It was heaven.

That is tomorrow's tale.

All Night In The Emergency Room

No.
It had nothing to do with Raptor Red.
It went something like this.

• Sunday afternoon, Mrs. FC leaves for a 3 day nurse conference in Sarasota.
• Sunday afternoon, I take Raptor Red for a long ride north, continuing to break her in.
• Sunday evening, I arrive home after dark and check my phone. There is a message from Mrs. FC that says Junior is having lower right quadrant abdominal pains.
• During the next hour or so, there is much texting and calling back and forth as we monitored his situation (He is 40 miles away in his apartment).
• At 11:30, I decide to err on the side of caution and take him to the emergency room in Gainesville.
• I load Bear up with food and water, pat him on his massive head and take off.
• Around midnight, Junior and I walk in to the North Florida Hospital emergency room.
• We wait.
• Triage happens.
• Then we wait some more.
• We chat, and sit ... waiting.
• At 1:00 am, still waiting, a former student of mine hobbles out of the back and greets me as he exits the ER.
• Small world.
• Finally we are taken back to a room, where we wait.
• A nurse practitioner comes in and checks Junior out.
• She leaves.
• A great perky nurse comes in after awhile with wisecracks and a great bedside manner. She plugs an IV into him and administers a dose of morphine.
• It's 3:00 am by now and my fuzzy mind questions morphine, when he has only rated the pain at a 4 on a scale of 1-10 with ten being terrible pain.
• Junior says his head is heavy, then recovers and is positively "chatty Cathy" for the next hour.
• The nurse leaves a quart of Crystal Light with a marker in it for the CAT scan to come.
• We talk, we text updates.
• Twice he is rolled out for Scans.
• I call and leave lesson plans for my Monday classes.
• I doze in the hard chair, my head against the hard wall.
• Total doze time that night, about 1 hour.
• Around 8 am, the nurse practitioner returns with a diagnosis that doesn't rule out early appendicitis, but doesn't confirm it either.
• Paperwork is signed, copayment is made, and the IV is removed.
• I take Junior to his apartment at around 9:00 am, Monday.
• I drive the 40 miles home, walk a desperate Bear, eat breakfast and crash in the bed until 3:00 pm.
• After I awaken, I call his Pediatrician, Dr. Rosi, aka "THE GREATEST DOCTOR EVER!" to schedule a follow up.
• She quizzes me and tells me it sounds like a muscular injury, but don't tell Junior as she wants a blank slate when she examines him Tuesday.
• Tuesday, Junior and I go to see Dr. Rosi.
• She is a work of art as she puts him through paces, studies him, pokes, prods, and watches.
• I love this woman. She has doctored my kids since the eldest was an infant.
• Diagnosis: a deep abdominal (he's got great abs) injury on the right side. College is okay, but no working out and no busing tables at the Texas Roadhouse this week.
• We hit Publix and I buy him some groceries on the way to his apartment.
• At 3 pm I am pulling in to the school where my academic team is waiting to board the bus for an out of town match.
• We tie one and lose one at the match.
• The kids want to hit Burger King since there is no fast food in their little hometown.
• It's a treat, don't you know.
• I capitulate.
• The two girls behind the Burger King counter are former students of mine.
• One asks me if I want the "Senior" coffee.
• She was funny in class too.
• I sip a cup of coffee (mistake!) while my team stuffs greasy food down their mouths.
• As I am sitting wishing the kids to chew faster, the store manager comes walking over.
• He too is a former student of mine, from a long time ago and we chat for awhile.
• Finally, we are on the bus again heading back to school.
• It is now 6:00 pm.
• At the school, everyone has ride ... almost. So I stand around with my last kid until the parent shows up around 7:00 pm.
• Then it's twenty miles to the house and Bear needs walking.
• After the walk, I stir fry a solo portion of kung pao and talk to Bear while I eat it.
• With supper over and that stupid coffee in my veins, I do a little virtual school grading on line until the nods finally come.
• Mrs. FC calls from Sarasota and I update her.
• One last walk with Bear before bed.
• Crawl into bed and read until the sleep finally comes. (stupid, stupid late day coffee!)

That's how it went.

Just wanted y'all to know I wasn't slacking on ya'.

Update On Dave and Tami's Log Home With Pumpkins For Desert

Last week's photos of Dave and Tami's log home from B.K. Cypress Log Homes.



A week has passed since then with perfect building weather, so I imagine it looks very different even now.


The happy couple.
Dave actually carried Tami up the steps and over the threshold.


Or ... did I just imagine that?



Inside view. I love a neat construction site.
(I never have one of course, but I admire those who do.)


This contractor has his ducks in a row.
Detail of the log joinery.


Corner.


Corner detail.



Look in the right upper corner of the top log.




Yup, Tami's first house spider.



One of many more to come, here in Florida.

And in other news ...



Closer to home, I spent yesterday rebuilding the front porch steps.
Since they were as old as baby Emma, it was time before we all fell through while carrying a load of groceries.


Photos will be posted this week, but it's just porch steps folks.
Very satisfying though ... I tell ya, I love to pound 16 penny nails with a heavy hammer.
You can keep your nail guns.


Speaking of Emma, guess who received the highest grade on her recent college Wetlands Course test?



Way to set the curve, baby girl!



(Wetlands are in her blood, so I could have predicted that one.)

The USF college girls had a pumpkin carving party last week and Emma sent me this photo of the results.
Yowza!
Here's the email credits:

"I attached a picture of our pumpkins! Here's who did what:

Corinne: Owl at the top and Freddy Kruger below on the right
Me: Lock Shock and Barrel from nightmare before Christmas (3rd down on the right)
Christy: Trick or Treat
Katy: Mario at the bottom
Lynn: Buffy at the bottom
Mike: Jack from night mare before Christmas middle left
Amanda: E.T. "

("Me" was Emma of course)



That's a long way from two triangle eyes, a triangle nose, and a gaping smile.

Now, I really must get outside on this glorious Florida fall day.

There's datil peppers to pick and sauce to make.

Hog In A Tea Cup

I really thought it would be bigger.

When the head of maintenance called me and asked me to come catch a snake under the milk crates behind the school cafeteria, I was expecting a biggun'.


When I arrived, two teenage boys were backed away from the stack of crates.
They weren't going any closer as they pointed, and said, " It was behind that stack right there."

So, I started moving crates, really expecting a big ol'grey ratsnake to be up in the crates. The only description they had given me to go on was, "It was grey."

I almost missed it as I scanned the concrete floor where the crates had been.
There, where the red brick wall meets the grey concrete floor, was a tiny hognose snake trying his best to disappear into a dead end crack in the wall.


Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. They were afraid of this little tot?
What is the world of teenage boys coming to?

You probably already know this and I am probably repeating myself, but hognose snakes are harmless, yet they have two clever defense methods.

A) Spread your neck skin and look all cobrabadassy. I find this curious since there are no cobras in the new world ... it's hardly mimicry, even though it seems to be at first thought. Nobody mimics things not in their environment. I chalk it up to simply looking bigger than you really are.

B) Rolling over, sticking out your tongue and playing dead. This guy never did that so maybe that instinct doesn't kick in until snake puberty or something.






Man, he was cute. (Right Dani? Beat ya' too it!)
Very distinct, rough scales on this wee thing.

Yes, he posed for some video modeling.
Your movie awaits.



Yes, I took him home and released him here at snake heaven.
All snakes go to heaven.

It's A Beautiful Day To Be In School

It's lunch time.
I have 30 minutes, but that's only on paper.
By the time the last kid scoots out of here and down the hall, I'm down to 25 minutes. That's if I am lucky, and no stragglers stayed behind to pack their stuff or chitchat on the way out.

It's also Thursday, but it feels like Friday since tomorrow is a Teacher Planning Day and the kids are off for that.
Essentially, the only stress tomorrow will be making sure that all assignments are graded and on the computer network, before going home.
My room is in dire need of straightening up, but that's pretty low stress compared to a normal kid filled day.

It's Lab day too.
I had a density lab planned for my high school Marine Science kids, but I had not planned for hands on activities all day until I rode in to work on Raptor Red and the day was too glorious to stay inside.
Experienced teachers can change gears and seize the moment, and that is exactly what I did.

It's actually Outside Lab day.
My high school Environmental class has been struggling through an ecology unit and a day like today was made for a BIOTIC vs. ABIOTIC factors campus survey. All we need are clipboards, paper, pencil and our senses. Then we head outside and they start surveying and categorizing everything they see, hear, even smell, as biotic or abiotic.

It's actually Outside Lab Competition day.
Take one BIOTIC vs. ABIOTIC campus survey and turn it in to a contest for the best survey lists, dangle the prospect of a yummy (but healthy!) prize for the best team, and voila! Instant motivation.


It's been a smashing success all day.
The lists have been awesome, the questions good, and everybody has the difference between abiotic factors and biotic factors down better than ever.

It's been a day of discovery too.
The seventh graders found a big fat swallowtail caterpillar that came back to the room on some of his host plant and we are going to see if we can keep him through his metamorphosis. Out by the FFA pasture, the girl who can whinny EXACTLY like a horse called all the cows, the horse, and the donkey over from across the pasture. One student asked, "What about a cloud, Mr. FC, can I put that down? I looked up. There wasn't a cloud to be seen in any direction, only blue.
"Point it out to me."
"Okay, never mind."
One highly competitive 7th grade girl team made up of a future valedictorian and salutatorian (class of 2014) worked diligently and silently so as not to give away their list items to other groups. At one point they pulled me into their inner circle and with cupped hands whispered that they had found a millipede and NO other group had seen it.

It's now 6th period, lunch is over and it's time for me to use my planning period for what the taxpayers pay me for, and I'm pretty sure that's not blogging.

It's time for me to say adieu.

It's a beautiful day to be in school.

Weekend Update, Logs and The Cedar Key Seafood Festival

Here's my pal, Denny ... Captain Dennis Voyles (Fishing Guide/Teacher) and his students preparing fish at their booth.
Denny has started the first ever FFA chapter at the tiny Cedar Key school and already, he and his students have captured a state championship.
This booth had some of the best fish I've ever eaten.
Honestly, it was as good as any I have ever had and fried fish is my favorite way to eat fish (sorry Tony Horton, I ain't giving that up).


ThunderDave's fish nugget plate.

This weekend, ThunderDave and Lightning were down to check on their house progress and to experience the Cedar Key Seafood Festival.


Dave in his element.

We gorged on fried fish mostly. The Cedar Key FFA students were pumping out perfectly fried fish nuggets and we were scarfing them down as soon as they came out of the hot oil.
The Cedar Key Seafood festival arts and crafts row.
Lots of goodies.
Some art. (True talent)
Some craft. (Nice, but anyone could do that)
Some other stuff. (How did that get in the show?)
... Just like any art show.

Cedar Key has several festivals throughout the year and they are always well done. You really can't go wrong visiting Cedar Key ... unless you hate saltwater, salt air, great food, fantastic fishing, beautiful scenery, wildlife, lovely sunsets, and nice people.

Thunder and Lightning soaking up the Cedar Key sun.
Festival planners dream of weather like we had yesterday and ... it seems, today.

Clear, cool, sunny ... perfect event weather.

The festival was a blast.

(If you are new to PF, Dave was my college roomie at UWF)

The log walls of their home are going up and it was pretty exciting to walk around the shell of their future home after an excellent day at Cedar Key.

After a day of walking through the art and craft displays, eating Cedar Key seafood, and climbing all over the homesite, we headed to PFHQ to make "Jerk Chicken Chili".

I will be posting about it over at Pure Florida Food soon.

Friday, I rode Raptor Red (Kawa Vulcan 500cc) into work for the first time and it was Suwweeeeet!

It was about 50 degrees on the way in, but my old park service vest with an outer jacket and my gloves kept me comfy.

Today was warmer and while taking Emma for a ride, a bald eagle swooped out of a pine and drifted about 15 feet above our head.

He repeated that on the way back ... I think there must have been a deer or hog carcass nearby.

Sweet to the tenth power.

Okay, THIS Should Make Up For The Spotty Posting Lately

The head of our custodial staff walked in my room early one morning recently and said, "Hey, I got this critter I want you to see."

I perked up. My thoughts going to how skimpy my nature posting has been this week.
"Sure! Bring it in."

"I actually have it here ... it's really weird. I'll go get it."

Hmmm.

"Wait, is it black?"

"Yes, how'd you know ..."

" And it looks something like a scorpion, right?"

"Yes, that's it."

"It's a whip scorpion. They are weirdly gnarly and scary looking, but they can't hurt you."

He left and returned in a few minutes with a huge, perfect whip scorpion in a bowl.

I kept "Whip" around the classroom for a few days, to show all my students, and then yesterday, I carried him home to PFHQ.

Here he is looking all tropicallybadarse, but he's a pushover.

His only active defense (no stinger, no venom) is to emit acetic acid, the same acid in vinegar.
I did not irritate this one, so he did not give off any acid, but when you do it's definitely a strong vinegar smell.
(Reminds me of my darkroom days ... stop bath was acetic acid)

The claws are so massive and he moves so slow, my thoughts are that they are more for holding prey rather than rapid "blue crabby" snatching.

The extra long legs just behind the claws very actively feel ahead as he moves.
You can see that pretty well in the video below.



Yes, it was a little creepy ... even for me.

Still Here

I'm still here.
I'm caught in a rip current of time sucking activities that have nothing to do with critters, but I should be able to swim parallel to shore by Wednesday and get myself out of it.

Last weekend was beautiful and I spent both days of it in motorcycle safety course, so a lot of critters went unphotographed.
I did pass the course though, so now it's finding time to get to the DMV and update the license, and then, finally, I can ride.
Having, but not riding has been torture, let me tell you.

There's a new dish to share too, and a cookbook to review ... probably on PureFloridaFood.

Here on PF, I think my next post will be about the gnarly critter in temporary captivity in my classroom.
Just need 5 free minutes to photograph him ... sigh.

Gotta run!

Mid-Teen Crisis? No. Mid-20's Crisis? No. Mid-Life Crisis? NOT!

So here it is, ... the barn beast.

Hereafter known as Raptor Red, after the strong female character in the book of the same name by Robert Bakker.

She's a brand new 2009 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD.

She's been on my Lust List for years now, but I put her off for lots of reasons.

Recently though, as I looked at the odometer of my 2003 JEEP, the pain of 141,000 miles caused me to rethink my procrastination.

I really do not want another vehicle ... EVER.

I love my JEEP. It's tough, it's bouncy, ... it's me.

The problem is that my 20 mile commute through piney woods to work each day is packing on unnecessary pavement miles on my beloved 4-wheel steed.

(Coincidentally, the 7 year old alternator went out this morning and I am off awaiting her repair)

Plus ... even with a 4 cylinder engine, she's not the greenest vehicle on the planet and it bugs me to waste gas.

Soooooo ... the male brain being what it is, I convinced myself that I was truly justified in seeking out a used Vulcan 500 for commuting, thus extending the life of my JEEP.

I'm also bringing in some extra dough with my 2nd job as a part-time Virtual School teacher, which made the decision easier too.

All of these factors were processed by the medulla justificablongata portion of my brain and the decision to proceed was made.

Let the search begin.

Once on the internet, I found lots of used Vulcans and even a few new ones. Prices for new ones were running around $4500 and the used newish ones were around $4000.

And then ...

Up popped an ad for a new 2009, full warranty, still in the crate Vulcan for $3699.

Dang! Fancy Mopedish scootery thingies cost that much ... must be a mistake.

I called the shop down in Kissimmee.

"Yes, brand new bike. We have them on sale to make room for 2011's."

That was Monday.

Wednesday evening, I was driving home from Orlando with a motorcycle strapped in the back of Mrs. FC's truck.

I have owned the bike for two weeks now, but will not be able to (legally) drive it on the street until after this weekend.

It seems that since I last owned a motorcycle, the rules have changed and now you have to attend a two day motorcycle safety course to get the motorcycle endorsement on your license.

Well, okay, who can argue with that, but gee whiz, this is testing my patience.

This will be the 3rd bike I have owned.

The first was a Suzuki when I was 15 and gas was 33 cents a gallon the first time I filled it up.

Later, while stationed in Savannah, Georgia with the National Park Service, I drove a Honda Nighthawk on my daily 27 mile commute to Fort Pulaski.

No one ever used the word crisis regarding those bikes.

NOW though, when I mention that I bought a motorcycle ... I often get this response,

" Oh, is this your midlife crisis?"

My answer?

"No, it's a motorcycle."

Suwannee Scenery

I have gotten home too late each day this week to follow up on my promise to share a photo of WHATEVER it is hiding in my barn, so I'm chumming the water with these Suwanee River photos ... in the hope that you will stay around to feed and not abandon Pure Florida completely.

(Yo! That was a long sentence)


See it?
I am a sucker for gator heads in reflecting water.

I think I can get that other photo today. I just have to get home while the sun is shining.

That has been a challenge lately.
The academic team season has begun and we practice Mondays with matches on Tuesdays. That has kept me here until sundown this week, but today is looking good for an on time exit.

My nerds had their first match yesterday and won both the JV and Varsity games, so they are off to a good start.
The JV team looks strong and fast, but I think the Varsity team will have their brains kicked by tougher teams if they don't kick it in gear.
I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Things are changing here as fall finally gets rolling. Wildflowers are blooming, my woods are noisier with migrant songs, the grass has stopped it's relentless march upward, and the bugs are less buggy.

Air conditioners are earning a well deserved break too. This week has been absolutely delicious with cool sunny days and chilly nights.

And of course there is that beautiful golden tint to the light ...
...love that stuff.

Fall Color Bites

When the swamp sunflower leaps up ... sometimes as high as 9 feet or so, you know fall is here.
They are blooming like crazy, signaling the end of constant heat and humidity down here. For now, yellow is the primary color in the PFHQ wildflower palette, with some purples courtesy of ironweed and blazing star tossed in to the mix.


Somewhere in there is a spittlebug.

Fall color with a bite.

I'm making datil sauce again this week. The seeded peppers will go into the sauce, but the seeds will go on to a paper towel to dry for a few days.

For those of you who need seeds, the deal is the same as last year.

Start them just as you would any pepper variety. Even down here, I won't be starting mine until January, so if you order some, keep them in a cool dry place until the time is right for your growing zone.

This weekend's weather was so spectacular ... I would normally have gone into the wilds, but a new PF addition required me to completely rearrange the barn to make room for ... well, ... it's a surprise.

It was great weather for tossing, cleaning, and rearranging. I got a ton of stuff done, but did not step off the property all day.

I will spill the beans tomorrow on that whole surpriseythingy.

... and if anyone uses the term, "Midlife Crisis" in their comments, I may hunt you down.