from the porches

spunky & the soldiers

 
Today Mom had two doctor's appointments.  The first was at the Oral Dentistry clinic with Dr. Sandow.

 
Mom got a glowing report from Dr. Sandow regarding the health of her mouth and teeth which could have been affected by the fifteen days of radiation in May. 

The one thing I love about Shand's Teaching Hospital at the University of Florida are the young doctors-in-training.  Not only does the doctor explain to the patient the progress or lack thereof, but the doctor explains in doctor-leze specific terms and with great detail the progress of the patient. 

Dr. Sandow had a young intern shadowing her today and during the visit Mom entertained us all with her straight forward remarks. At one point the intern told Mom,  "You sure are spunky.  I can't believe you're going to be 87 in a week."

Thus, I decided to refer to Mom as "Spunky" in this post.

And who are the soldiers?

 
Of course, Dr. Sandow and Dr. Lynch (in the blue shirt), along with his young interns.

The soldiers are the doctors, the nurses, and the whole staff at a hospital. They are the ones who are professional and put their patient's care first.

 
This post came about today as Dr. Lynch told his young interns to think of themselves as soldiers and follow the Soldier's Creed.

The Soldier's Creed / Warrior Ethos / Warrior Creed

Posted Friday, October 7, 2005 I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier.

Dr. Lynch told them that when MJ (Merry Jennifer) called and asked him to be her grandmother's Oncologist, he didn't give it a second thought. 

"You take care of your own," he told the interns, "because cancer affects a whole family and MJ is part of the Shands Oncologist family.  You have to be a good soldier in the war against cancer and take care of the commanders so they can do their job."

I've thought a good deal about that conversation and am proud Spunky is his patient.  Honored, to be exact.

 Another soldier is Eric, Dr. Lynch's nurse.  Eric flushes Mom's port and sets up future scans and appointments.  He is a great nurse.

The soldiers we know at Shand's Teaching Hospital certainly "put the mission first, do not easily accept defeat, never quit and never ever leave a fallen comrade (another doctor with an ill family member).

I salute all the doctors who are playing a part in Mom's recovery!!

By the way, Mom's favorite phrase today was, "See my new hair!"  She got good reports from both doctors today and walked with a spunk in her step today. 

Thanks, Mom, for being you because you are the biggest soldier of all, battling cancer when you wanted to give up!  But guess what.  You are winning this war!

 

ears flat back revisited

 
I'm sure you all recognize Ears Flat Back, otherwise known as Molly.  She was newly pregnant in this photograph back in March 2010.

 
But something happened to this playful young kitten who got impregnated way too early in her life.

 

Take a good look.  Does that look like a happy face? 

 
This is what happened to her . . .  a family.

 

Now these  are cute kittens just like their mama. 

  
But as I look at the photograph of one of her three surviving kittens, I'm thinking they are having a rough time as well.  None of them look especially happy.

 
It could be because being a mother is a never ending job.

 
Don't worry Molly, one day they will leave home.

 

wild weather

 
Yesterday was one of those wild weather days in North Florida.  I knew it was supposed to rain.  I just didn't know how much or how hard. 

The storm that blew in from the west zapped our computers, as usual.  There was a 14 car pile up on Interstate I-75, Shands Hospital in Gainesville was without electricity and people were trapped in elevators.

 
Truett and I were to take the grandchildren to swim lessons, and thanks to a Facebook friend, Candy, she warned everyone about traveling on I-75.  We took the back roads to Gainesville and the traffic coming North was horrific.  Cars. Trucks. Semis and Motorcycles all  crept through the countryside inching their way toward Highway 41 and the next ramp to I-75 North.

 
Truett and I were lucky when we reached UF's swim complex.  By then the rain was only a sprinkle and the children had their lessons as normal.  Not only that, but good things came from yesterday's wild weather. 

Rainbows.

 
Strange looking clouds . . .

 
And eerie skies.

 
This orange ball rested in the horizon and is not the sun, just a break in the sky.

I have to thank Dave Noll, our computer guru for getting our computers up and running this morning, but I'm afraid tomorrow will be another one of those wild weather days with tropical storm Nicole on the way.  She may end up being a hurricane.  We'll just have to wait and see.

 

fence lizard

 
The other day as I was walking to the studio I came across an Eastern Fence Lizard.

 
Usually they dart away, but this one just stood there basking in the sun.

 
I grabbed my camera out of the car,came back to the fence lizard, and began taking its picture.

 
He really didn't want to leave the wooden bench, so I hurridly took a couple of more shots and left.

 
"Thanks, little fellow," I said and went about my business and let him go about his.

 

i am a patient person

 
Fall is officially here and I am one happy person even though our North Florida temperatures will reach into the 90's for the next few days.

 
I guage Fall by the flowers that are blooming.

 
I guage Fall by the amber light that falls on our trees, especially in the late afternoon.

 
Football season . . .

 
Sweater weather . . .

 
Festivals and pumpkins.

I am a patient person.  I can wait until the heat wave is gone.

straighten up & live right

 
During the summer I had three things fall on me: a palmetto bug (roach), a gray rat snake, and a bagworm.  It was a really freaky week and I took all these falling creatures as a sign to straighten up and live right.

Well, yesterday as I was walking to my car I looked up in the pecan tree and saw a bagworm nest.  The lighting was good so I took a picture.

Then this morning I decided to do a little research about the bagworm.

Lo and behold, I found out it wasn't a bagworm that landed on my shoulder.  It was an Eastern tent caterpillar.  The tent caterpillar is the name for larvae of many of the moth family and they defoliate (eat all leaves and fruit of certain trees.)

Here is a picture of a tent caterpillar:

But the good thing about tent caterpillars is they turn into moths.

Now that is a beautiful moth, so I guess it was okay that the larvae fell on my shoulder.

 
And that, my friends is my science lesson of the day.  Now all I have to do is replace "bagworm" with "tent caterpillar" in my vocabulary and try to be respectful of them if they fall from the trees and land on any part of my body, regardless of how creepy it was.

the day got better

 
 Today Truett and I had a couple of errands to run in Gainesville and our first stop was Jiffy Lube.  Have you had that pleasure lately?

 
There's only one word to describe a visit to Jiffy Lube:  BORING!  When Truett and I got there, he saw I was taking pictures.  "What ARE you doing?"

"I'm going to blog about how boring this place is," I answered.  So I snapped photos of the boringness of Jiffy Lube.

 
I can tell you now that the Coke machine was the most exciting part of Jiffy Lube.  "Oh, I am soooo bored!" I wailed.

 
So boring I thought these chairs looked interesting. . .just waiting for someone to sit on them.

 
I saw a sign that read Employees Only and I thought there might be photographic potential behind that sign; but the employees stood like soldiers with their arms crossed over their chests watching me, so I slithered around a corner wall.

 
Quickly, I leaped out and snapped a photo of an employee working on our car.  "Hurry up!"  I moaned.  "This is sooo boring!"

Not long afterward, our car was fixed so Truett and I headed over to Truett's doctor's appointment. 

Sooo boring I refused to take any more pictures for the day.

But then the Gods were with me and the day got better. 

I suggested we have lunch and my husband suggested a picnic at Paynes Prairie.

"Picnic in this heat?" I wondered, but a picnic in 95 degree weather had to beat the boring morning at Jiffy Lube and the doctor's office.

 
Truett then suggested we go to Micanopy and have lunch, so we did. 

 
After lunch we decided to take a detour in a stained glass shop. 

Surprise! The day got better.

 
On the front porch of the old house was a real live poker game.  We were asked to join them but I said, "I don't know how. . .but he might," and I pointed to Truett.

Still, the day got better!

 
We ended up back in Gainesville at the Baughman Center on the University of Florida campus.

 

 
 

Would you believe me if I said, "The day got better!"

 
Yes it did!  We took Madeline and Oliver to swim lessons!

 
It was worth it. 

 All the boring stuff we had to do earlier just flittered to the pavement.

 
No more boredom for me.

 
We arrived about twenty minutes earlier which is not a good thing because the grandchildren were obviously bored, plus it was so darn hot!

 
"We're bored!" the grandchildren wailed.

"Don't worry," I told them.  "Your day will get better."

 
And it did!

The whole day got better!

 

 

Cedar Key changes

 
Yesterday Truett and I drove to Cedar Key for lunch.  It was a cool morning and felt like fall, so we were up for a day trip.

 
I found that I became disappointed because Cedar Key is now a biker's retreat. 

 
Motorcycles took up many of the parking spaces.

 
And golf carts.  Tourists renting golf carts to meander around the island took up other ideal parking spaces next to our favorite restaurant.
The pier has changed at Cedar Key for a good reason:  so it doesn't get blown away by  hurricane winds.

 
There were no pelicans or seagulls begging for food on the new concrete and chrome pier.

 
So I had to resort to photographing pelicans and seagulls from afar.

 
Some things at Cedar Key remain the same, thank goodness.

 
Sailboats. . .

 
This old dock house on its last leg. . .

 
Dozens of cats gobbling up fish parts. . .

 
Kayakers . . .

 
and the Seabreeze restaurant. 

We love being on the top deck of the restaurant, but yesterday we were ushered to the lower deck because it was cooler down there.  That was a change we didn't care for because it was the bar area and it had a bar ambience.

 
One good thing that remains the same at Cedar Key is the "heart of palm" salad chocked full of walnuts, fruit and fresh heart of palm, topped off with pistachio ice cream.

All in all, it was a nice day trip.  I just don't like change!

 

leaning building

 
The other day Truett said, "Come on.  I want to show you something near Worthington Springs, Florida. . . and bring your camera."

I wasn't too excited.  After all, it was late Friday afternoon and we already had plans for the evening; but I said, "Okay. But what are you going to show me?"

"An old building propped up by poles." 

 
So we hopped in the car and headed out.  Eventually, we ended up in Union County and took a left down a dirt road. 

Finally,we came across the old building, which looked like a church from the front.  I got out of the car and took a photograph. 

 
He wanted me to walk in the grass around the building to get a closer shot, but I promptly said, "Uh, uh!  I'm not walking in that snakey grass."

So to get a better look at the propped up building, we drove to the other side.

 
Sure enough.  That old building was propped up by poles. 

I think it is an old school house because of the number of windows across the side.

Church?

School?

If you live in Union County and know about this old building, please let me know. 

 

finally friday

 
I never thought I would look forward to Fridays once I retired, but this morning I awoke and thought, "Friday!  Thank goodness!  I'm ready for the weekend!" 

I want to dispel the myth right now that retired people can do whatever they want whenever they want.  Oh, sure I get to sleep until 6:30 instead of 5:30 and I do my morning routines at a somewhat slower pace; however, once my clothes are on, once my make up is on and my hair is brushed, then it's "off to the races".

 
For example, this morning I told Truett, "I'm going to the post office."  Well, that was an understatement because he wanted me to drop him by town hall.  "No problem,"  I said.  But then, the next thing I knew I was at the Community Center buying Bar-B-Q dinners for tonight.  After that we checked the mail, then town hall , and finally,  I took Clay to the grocery.

 
Did I mention I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen and made the bed before 9:00.  Now I'm looking at the clock and it reads 12:33.  By jove!  It's already afternoon and I haven't even walked across the yard to the studio to see what needs to be done there.

 
I have friends right now teaching school who would probably like to tell me to stop my whining, and I can't blame them because four months ago I would have traded my paycheck to stay at home to get things done. 

Now I'm feeling pretty selfish.  But I do want to tell my friends that retired people look forward to Fridays too!