You may or may not know, but the Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off this morning from Cape Canaveral. On board was astronaut Joe Tanner, whom both of my daughters have met. He's a veteran space walker who has worked on Hubble Space Telescope repairs. I talked a bit about him on this old post.
I thought I would be different today, and just take photos from my front yard to show you my view of the Space Shuttle liftoffs from here. There are a series of photos on my Flickr page that you better go see. I just didn't want to crowd out Rachel's birthday post below, which you better also read.
(Did anyone really buy that? I made it sound like I intentionally did not get closer to the launch to show you a bit of what I see in real life. Well, I was going to go to the beach again, but instead, I woke up at 10:30am, put my camera bag on the front porch to adjust to the heat and humidity, and at 11:13am, I walked out the door, grabbed up my camera, walked out into the front yard and took those photos. So, it really is what I see from here so y'all can stand in my size 14 Nikes for a minute, but I also got maximum sleep time. he he)
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Saturday, September 9, 2006
Friday, September 8, 2006
Number Two Daughter Turns 18!
As if the passage of time hasn't already made it's crazily rapid pace known to me in very hard ways, Number Two Daughter turns 18 today. Our 'baby' is old enough to vote!
Happy birthday Rachel. I love you!
Now for a photo excursion down memory lane (with Don Pardo's voice)...
This is Number One Daughter holding NTD when she was only one or two days old and still in the hospital.
This is her on her fourth birthday in 1992.
Here she is at 6 (almost 7 really), on a trip to Panama City Beach in 1995
Here's the last school picture we have of her. Most folks try to dye their hair blonde, she's just the opposite. Like she says, she'll stop wearing black when they create a darker color.
Our widduw baby, all gwone up (tweeks cheek).
Attention Palm Bay, Florida drivers! She has her driver's license now. You have been warned.
Seacrest Out.
Happy birthday Rachel. I love you!
Now for a photo excursion down memory lane (with Don Pardo's voice)...
This is Number One Daughter holding NTD when she was only one or two days old and still in the hospital.
This is her on her fourth birthday in 1992.
Here she is at 6 (almost 7 really), on a trip to Panama City Beach in 1995
Here's the last school picture we have of her. Most folks try to dye their hair blonde, she's just the opposite. Like she says, she'll stop wearing black when they create a darker color.
Our widduw baby, all gwone up (tweeks cheek).
Attention Palm Bay, Florida drivers! She has her driver's license now. You have been warned.
Seacrest Out.
Poppy
My Father in Law, Keith Morgan, passed away ten years ago today. He was a very good man, and he is still missed greatly. I am honored and so very blessed to have had him as a friend and example in my own life. I feel as if I had two wonderful fathers, when so many never even have one.
For some reason, when she was a very small child, Number One Daughter started calling him Poppy. The name stuck and that's how he was referred to by all of us from that time on.
Keith Arley Morgan
April 5, 1931 - September 8, 1996
This is him in 1957, on his honeymoon in Panama City Beach, Florida.
This is a portrait of him in his 40's.
This is him and Number Two Daughter in around 1990.
For some reason, when she was a very small child, Number One Daughter started calling him Poppy. The name stuck and that's how he was referred to by all of us from that time on.
Keith Arley Morgan
April 5, 1931 - September 8, 1996
This is him in 1957, on his honeymoon in Panama City Beach, Florida.
This is a portrait of him in his 40's.
This is him and Number Two Daughter in around 1990.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Thursday Thirteen #5
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 1. Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, Florida, 1966 I was only 3.5 years old, so all I remember is a couple of mental snapshots of the water skiers, and the Southern Belles they had placed here and there. (That's me in the red shirt holding my Father's hand at Cypress Gardens.) 2. Marineland, near St. Augustine, Florida, 1966 What I remember about this is agonizing over a souvenir in the gift shop, finally choosing a fake corn cobb pipe, and dropping it into the giant sea turtle tank. Mom or Dad had lifted me up so I could see over the edge into the tank, and a turtle swam right up in front of me, scared me, and I dropped my pipe into the water. Hmmm. Maybe I should be grateful, I'm not a smoker, and that might be why! Marineland is now one of those places you pay a bunch of money to swim with dolphins and stuff. 3. Silver Springs, Ocala, Florida, 1966 All I remember about this is being on one of the glass bottomed boats and looking over and down into the water. That's it. I think it's cool they used to film Tarzan movies here as well as the classic, Creature From The Black Lagoon. I always loved the old Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies when I was young. 4. Weeki Wachee Springs, Weeki Wachee (north of Tampa), Florida, 1970 Live underwater mermaid show, that is still in operation. I was 7.5 years old during this trip and remember the show, and the boat tour on the incredibly clear river. It was the first time I had seen a bald eagle. 5. Six Gun Territory, Ocala, Florida, 1970 I sho-nuff remember this! It was a western town with a bunch of 'b' level amusement park rides next to it. We had a blast here and I rode my first roller coaster, The Mighty Mouse, and got a killer sunburn. At one point, my cousin Scott and I decided to do something different and went over and started riding kiddie rides that we could fit into. We were in some little dinky boats going around in circles, looked up, and there was my Dad and Scott's Dad, my Uncle Alden, standing there laughing at us. Busted on the kiddie rides! Plus, the Main Street western shootout was pretty impressive to this seven year old. What with guys falling off buildings and stuff. I think it closed down in the 1980's. 6. Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri, 1970's (several times), 1984. What can I say about this place? You just would have to go yourself. It's like a city in the 1880's with craftsmen and arts and music going on all around you, but also really cool and original rides. Oh, and a gi-normous cave under the park that you can tour through. Absolutely one of my favorite places on this earth, I kid you not. Plus Lovely Wife and I made a stop here on our honeymoon. 7. Sea-Arama, Galveston, Texas, 1985. Lovely Wife and I went to Galveston for a long weekend, and this was one of the things we did. I LOVE sea-aquarium type places. It closed down in 1990. 8. Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 1990, 1992. This was originally a second Silver Dollar City, but Dolly Parton bought into it, and they changed the name to Dollywood. We brought our daughters here twice when they were little. We all loved this place, though at the time, it wasn't nearly as big as the original Silver Dollar City in Branson. 9. Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida, 1994, 1996,... I was 31 the first time here. I was every bit as excited as the girls were. We've been a number of times now since we live only an hour away from Disney World. But it has been several years since our last visit. 10. Disney World, EPCOT, Orlando, Florida, 1994, 1999. Pretty cool place, but they seem to have some major attraction there closed for renovations every time we go, but well worth the trouble nonetheless. 11. Gulfarium, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 1995. An older but well-kept sea-aquarium with dolphin shows and such. A really great and fun place. 12. Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida, 1998(?) This was pretty cool, but I've only been once, and I haven't been in a hurry to go back. Like one of those movies that you enjoy, but don't really care to see again. Your mileage may vary. 13. Disney World, MGM Studios, Orlando, Florida, 1999. We took Sis In Law to one of the Soap Opera weekends they have here most years. The whole park was peppered with dozens of soap opera stars that she got to meet and get autographs and photos with. I don't watch soap operas, but I must say every last person there was SO kind and patient with the fans. I though that was really cool. The Rock'n Roller Coaster is an incredibly intense roller coaster, almost worth the admission price of itself. The Tower of Terror is awesome too. The shows are super well done productions and much more enjoyable than I would have thought. Bonus 14th Park! Astroworld, Houston, Texas, 1975, 1979. I threw this in because it's the only other theme park I've been to. It's now a Six Flags park and pretty predictable though as a kid, I thought it was great. |
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
The Barnyard Game
One of my life's most embarrassing moments.
When I was a kid, around 11 or 12, I was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Vidalia, Louisiana. This would have been around 1973 or 1974.
This was the same church that I wrote about my having played Dracula in the church's haunted house on Halloween one year.
Well, though I now wonder about some of the things we did there, I loved the church, and the adults there took an interest in us kids.
One time we were having a church supper with adults and kids there. My memory is kinda fuzzy on why we were there. I was in a boys group called "Galileans" and I can't remember what the girl's group was called. It may have been a supper to do with these groups, because I wasn't quite old enough for the youth group, and all of the kids there were younger, like me.
But anyway, you get the picture. Some adults, some kids, some hotdogs, ok? All together in the 'Fellowship Hall.'
After the gnashing of teeth, they wanted to play some games.
One of the adults asked, "Has anyone here ever played the Barnyard Game?"
Most of the people raised their hands, but a few of us didn't. I hadn't even heard of it, much less played it.
Adult: "Do y'all want to play the Barnyard Game?"
Most Everyone Else: "Yeah!"
So the adults get everyone to make a circle out of the chairs and we all sit back down facing into the circle, and wait for instruction.
The game goes like this. Someone goes around the circle and wispers the name of a barnyard animal into each person's ear.
Then, when everyone knows their animal, and they count down, 3, 2, 1, ...
Everybody is supposed to make the sound 'your' animal makes, AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS. "It's a blast and really loud when everybody makes their animal sound together," we were told.
The guy starts around the circle, and eventually comes to me, leans over, and wispers 'donkey' into my ear.
I nod my understanding.
I can do a donkey. 1. I'm from The South, and 2. I like to watch the TV show Hee Haw, so I'm reasonably sure what sound a donkey makes.
Then, when everyone has their animal name, the countdown is done.
3!, 2!, 1!,
HEE HAW! HEE HAW! HEE HAW! I scream with all of the gusto I can dredge up.
And, after about my third hee haw, I realized that everyone else in the room was just standing there silently, watching me do my donkey impression.
There was a moment of silence when I stopped, and then everyone (but me) started laughing and clapping and pointing at me.
Woo Hoo! That was Fuuuuuuuu-Nee!
They had really gotten one over on me there.
I was mortified, as Big Sis often says.
It seems that, out of the few who had never played the Barnyard Game, I was chosen to be the one to make a fool of himself.
But I finally started laughing too. I mean, it's either run out of the room crying, or learn to laugh at yourself.
As they used to say at the end of almost every episode of The Brady Bunch, I learned a valuable lesson that night.
And to this day, I can weather any joke made at my expense.
I might be terrible at some things, but I CAN take a joke!
Also, to this day, I'm really suspicious of Baptists ;)
When I was a kid, around 11 or 12, I was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Vidalia, Louisiana. This would have been around 1973 or 1974.
This was the same church that I wrote about my having played Dracula in the church's haunted house on Halloween one year.
Well, though I now wonder about some of the things we did there, I loved the church, and the adults there took an interest in us kids.
One time we were having a church supper with adults and kids there. My memory is kinda fuzzy on why we were there. I was in a boys group called "Galileans" and I can't remember what the girl's group was called. It may have been a supper to do with these groups, because I wasn't quite old enough for the youth group, and all of the kids there were younger, like me.
But anyway, you get the picture. Some adults, some kids, some hotdogs, ok? All together in the 'Fellowship Hall.'
After the gnashing of teeth, they wanted to play some games.
One of the adults asked, "Has anyone here ever played the Barnyard Game?"
Most of the people raised their hands, but a few of us didn't. I hadn't even heard of it, much less played it.
Adult: "Do y'all want to play the Barnyard Game?"
Most Everyone Else: "Yeah!"
So the adults get everyone to make a circle out of the chairs and we all sit back down facing into the circle, and wait for instruction.
The game goes like this. Someone goes around the circle and wispers the name of a barnyard animal into each person's ear.
Then, when everyone knows their animal, and they count down, 3, 2, 1, ...
Everybody is supposed to make the sound 'your' animal makes, AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS. "It's a blast and really loud when everybody makes their animal sound together," we were told.
The guy starts around the circle, and eventually comes to me, leans over, and wispers 'donkey' into my ear.
I nod my understanding.
I can do a donkey. 1. I'm from The South, and 2. I like to watch the TV show Hee Haw, so I'm reasonably sure what sound a donkey makes.
Then, when everyone has their animal name, the countdown is done.
3!, 2!, 1!,
HEE HAW! HEE HAW! HEE HAW! I scream with all of the gusto I can dredge up.
And, after about my third hee haw, I realized that everyone else in the room was just standing there silently, watching me do my donkey impression.
There was a moment of silence when I stopped, and then everyone (but me) started laughing and clapping and pointing at me.
Woo Hoo! That was Fuuuuuuuu-Nee!
They had really gotten one over on me there.
I was mortified, as Big Sis often says.
It seems that, out of the few who had never played the Barnyard Game, I was chosen to be the one to make a fool of himself.
But I finally started laughing too. I mean, it's either run out of the room crying, or learn to laugh at yourself.
As they used to say at the end of almost every episode of The Brady Bunch, I learned a valuable lesson that night.
And to this day, I can weather any joke made at my expense.
I might be terrible at some things, but I CAN take a joke!
Also, to this day, I'm really suspicious of Baptists ;)
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Daughter Home
Number One Daughter was released from the hospital today (Tuesday). She got home early this afternoon.
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Observations From A Hospital
Another scary look inside my head.
Number One Daughter checked into the hospital last Thursday. She is still there, but doing better. The surgery went well, but that night, she started having problems that led them to think she possibly was bleeding internally. As of this morning, things are looking up, her blood work is looking more like it should, and the threat of having to do another surgery is pretty slim this morning.
While in the hospital, I noticed a few things:
-- Since I’ve had a few surgeries of my own, it reminded me that, if you are in any way shy, modest, or prideful, you have to check that in at the door of the hospital. Within 24 hours, several nurses, doctors, and other hospital types will see you buck nekkid. That’s almost as bad as the ailment that has you there in the first place.
-- The other day, as Number Two Daughter and I were walking down a particular hallway in the hospital, I noticed all along on wall they had one photo per year of some outstanding employee going back to around 1980. When we passed the end of the line of photos, in my mind, I pictured one from 1780 and the picture in my head was of a guy in a buckskin outfit and a musket. Like a Revolutionary war era doctor. And past that I envisioned one from 10,080BC of a cave man with a club on his shoulder. Hairy face and unibrow. This picture would be UGG, the hospital’s first anesthesiologist with his knock out tool.
-- Later, going down the same hallway with Lovely Wife, we saw ahead of us, someone almost get mowed down by an employee pushing something down a crossing hallway. Lovely Wife said, “Look at that. People never use the mirrors before walking through the intersection of two halls.” I looked up, and for the very first time, noticed that each hallway crossing of two hallways has in the middle of the ceiling, a half-sphere of a mirror hanging down so that, as you approach the hallway intersections, you can see if someone is coming down the crossing hallway and not get run over by a gurney in a hurry. After that, I noticed that even hallway corners had something similar to allow you to not be run down at a 90 degree corner. That was so nice of them. And it was so nice of Lovely Wife to point them out too. Otherwise I might be dead by now. See, I’ve been in this hospital many times over the years, both as a patient and a visitor, and had never noticed the mirrors. Not once. Just shows how observant I am. Of course I acted to Lovely Wife like, “Yeah! Morons! Not using the mirrors.” As if I ALWAYS used the mirrors, when in fact, I had never noticed even one. The rest of the time I’ve been walking around the hospital the past few days I’m astounded at just how many there are mounted up there.
-- Along one hallway, there were several large, framed documents attesting to the commitment of the hospital employees to giving you the best care, etc. These framed documents were covered with thumbprints of all the employees; hundreds of them. My initial thought as I saw them was to wonder if, before they were framed and hanged, were they given to the police to run fingerprint checks on those hundreds of thumbprints to see if anyone had any outstanding warrants. I know that is cynical, but that thought really did pass through my head.
-- Friday night, I came straight to the hospital from work. I cannot have a camera at work, so mine was at home. I didn’t want to leave it in a car out in the sun all day while I worked just to have it. Well, that night turned out to have one of the two most beautiful sunsets and afterglow on the clouds I have ever seen in my life. I did not have my camera! I took it every day afterward, because I’ve been off, and her 6th floor window in her room affords a great view of the western sky. Plus, Florida is so flat, that it has been a long time since I’ve been that high over the surrounding countryside, and I really have enjoyed the view. I took a bunch of photos of sunsets on subsequent days, and some have been amazing, but not as incredible as this past Friday’s sunset. Oh, well.
Number One Daughter checked into the hospital last Thursday. She is still there, but doing better. The surgery went well, but that night, she started having problems that led them to think she possibly was bleeding internally. As of this morning, things are looking up, her blood work is looking more like it should, and the threat of having to do another surgery is pretty slim this morning.
While in the hospital, I noticed a few things:
-- Since I’ve had a few surgeries of my own, it reminded me that, if you are in any way shy, modest, or prideful, you have to check that in at the door of the hospital. Within 24 hours, several nurses, doctors, and other hospital types will see you buck nekkid. That’s almost as bad as the ailment that has you there in the first place.
-- The other day, as Number Two Daughter and I were walking down a particular hallway in the hospital, I noticed all along on wall they had one photo per year of some outstanding employee going back to around 1980. When we passed the end of the line of photos, in my mind, I pictured one from 1780 and the picture in my head was of a guy in a buckskin outfit and a musket. Like a Revolutionary war era doctor. And past that I envisioned one from 10,080BC of a cave man with a club on his shoulder. Hairy face and unibrow. This picture would be UGG, the hospital’s first anesthesiologist with his knock out tool.
-- Later, going down the same hallway with Lovely Wife, we saw ahead of us, someone almost get mowed down by an employee pushing something down a crossing hallway. Lovely Wife said, “Look at that. People never use the mirrors before walking through the intersection of two halls.” I looked up, and for the very first time, noticed that each hallway crossing of two hallways has in the middle of the ceiling, a half-sphere of a mirror hanging down so that, as you approach the hallway intersections, you can see if someone is coming down the crossing hallway and not get run over by a gurney in a hurry. After that, I noticed that even hallway corners had something similar to allow you to not be run down at a 90 degree corner. That was so nice of them. And it was so nice of Lovely Wife to point them out too. Otherwise I might be dead by now. See, I’ve been in this hospital many times over the years, both as a patient and a visitor, and had never noticed the mirrors. Not once. Just shows how observant I am. Of course I acted to Lovely Wife like, “Yeah! Morons! Not using the mirrors.” As if I ALWAYS used the mirrors, when in fact, I had never noticed even one. The rest of the time I’ve been walking around the hospital the past few days I’m astounded at just how many there are mounted up there.
-- Along one hallway, there were several large, framed documents attesting to the commitment of the hospital employees to giving you the best care, etc. These framed documents were covered with thumbprints of all the employees; hundreds of them. My initial thought as I saw them was to wonder if, before they were framed and hanged, were they given to the police to run fingerprint checks on those hundreds of thumbprints to see if anyone had any outstanding warrants. I know that is cynical, but that thought really did pass through my head.
-- Friday night, I came straight to the hospital from work. I cannot have a camera at work, so mine was at home. I didn’t want to leave it in a car out in the sun all day while I worked just to have it. Well, that night turned out to have one of the two most beautiful sunsets and afterglow on the clouds I have ever seen in my life. I did not have my camera! I took it every day afterward, because I’ve been off, and her 6th floor window in her room affords a great view of the western sky. Plus, Florida is so flat, that it has been a long time since I’ve been that high over the surrounding countryside, and I really have enjoyed the view. I took a bunch of photos of sunsets on subsequent days, and some have been amazing, but not as incredible as this past Friday’s sunset. Oh, well.
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