Why did the turtle cross the road?

The Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox) is a species of softshell turtle native to the southeastern United States and is one of the fastest turtles to move on land.

They are an aquatic and carnivorous turtle. Why this one would choose to stick its' neck out and try to cross a Florida highway with no water in sight is anyone's guess.

MARVIN: The other side is just as dull as this one. Don't talk to me about turtles.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die. In the rain.

FOX MULDER: You saw it cross the road with your own eyes. How many more turtles have to cross the road before you believe it?

RONALD REAGAN: I forget.

CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK: To boldly go where no turtle has gone before.

FREUD: The fact that you are at all concerned that the turtle crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

DARWIN: Turtles, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically disposed to cross roads.

EINSTEIN: Whether the turtle crossed the road or the road moved beneath the turtle depends upon your frame of reference.

PRESIDENT CLINTON : I did not, and I repeat, I did not have sexual relations with that turtle.

JOSEPH STALIN: I don't care. Catch it. Crack its shell to make my soup.

Highway 70 crosses the Florida peninsula from west to east. It runs though Bradenton, Arcadia, Ochachobee and Fort Pierce. Most of what you see between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean are cattle or orange grove.

I annoy Mrs. Phred by playing the hyper-mileage game, surreptitiously turning off the air conditioner and running five miles per hour below the posted speed limit. Gradually the miles per gallon indicator approaches 38 as she becomes increasingly overheated....

Our purpose in crossing Florida is to visit my cousin Katie. Her father and my mother were brother and sister. My mother had two other brothers and they all produced offspring in 1943 after departing the country in 1942. These then result in my three cousins who are all my age. Katie and I spend a little time discussing the difficulties inherent in a possible 70th reunion next year.

Katie and I both joined the United States Air Force in June, 1963. We went to a movie together at the Lackland AFB movie theatre. "Strategic Air Command" was playing. I think maybe Jimmy Stewart was the star.

Alicia is in the ninth grade. She plays trombone in the Christmas parade. Alicia is Katie's grand daughter though her son Mike. She calls me uncle Bob

This is Alicia's brother, Brandon. He is in his 2nd year of university.

So what's new? For one thing I joined facebook and promptly left it by deactivating my account. I didn't like it at all....Also I bought Mrs. Phred one of those Apple phones that has the SIRI lady. She has a sense of humor....

Buzzard Bait

Myakka State Park

Myakka is a good place to ride our bicycles. It's about eight miles between the north and south entrances and there are lots of deer, turkey vultures and gators to see along the way.

I try playing dead to attract the vultures, but they apparently do not associate large orange objects with food.

One of the signs says that vultures can damage automobiles. I keep one eye out for droppings from on high as I watch the graceful vultures wheel about overhead seeking the easy meat and the lazy lift of thermals.

On the trip back to Sarasota we find a roadside stand selling local honey, tomatoes and tangerines.  Mrs. Phred believes that local honey with cure pollen allergies.

I've never seen a gator stick his neck out before....

Phred's Stuffed Peppers

While this is a recipe for stuffed peppers, it also results in a fortunate byproduct of about a gallon of excellent chile.

Ingredients:
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans
1 large can tomato sauce
1 can black beans
1 can great northern beans
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 pounds ground beef
two medium onions, chopped
ten cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup cooked wild rice
4 peppers different colors
one jar medium picante sauce (mild or hot may be substituted).

1. Chop onions and garlic and brown in frying pan

2. Combine everything except ground beef and wild rice in a crock pot and cook on low for six hours.

3. Brown ground beef and cook rice.

4. Cute tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds

5. Combine about 1 cup ground beef, 1 cup wild rice and 1 cup crock pot sauce and stuff the mixture into peppers.

6. Cook stuffed peppers in oven at 350 F for one hour (serves four people).

7. The remaining crock pot sauce and ground beef should be combined and served as chili (cheddar cheese or sour cream is a good topping). Makes about two quarts.

 Preparation time is about eight hours.

Sometimes a Great Notion

Sometimes I live in the country

Sometimes I live in town

Sometimes I have a great notion

To jump into the river an' drown

Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight

Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene

I'll see you in my dreams 

-Steve Earle

Halloween has come and gone. We worked at our precinct this year handing out stuff for the Democratic party and volunteered to drive voters to early voting and on election day.

The stupid party fielded a really scary candidate.

I'm reading Ken Kesey again as you might have gathered by the title of this blog...never give an inch...

We have met some very attractive Florida scallops in recent days....

I made some stuffed peppers yesterday that were excellent. I used wild rice, leftover homemade spaghetti sauce and browned hamburger to stuff the multi-colored peppers and cooked them at 350 in the oven for an hour...juicy and delicious....sorry no pictures...

Summer 2013

On April 14th we will begin a 7,000 mile journey to Denali and Fairbanks.

Along the way we'll visit the big mall in Edmonton, travel up the Alcan highway and eat a lot of tasty fish.