Not So Bad Lasagna

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, . Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg,  and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Firecloud Update

Sarasota, Florida

The weather here has turned cold. It won't be more than 69 F today, with wind and rain tomorrow and a high of only 74 F. We've been taking in the movies (Hateful Eight and The Revenant...both interesting).

We did make it up North to spend Christmas with the seven grandchildren. Always a delight.

I had another surgery for my head and neck cancer today. Have a big stupid looking bandage on the left side of my head. No tennis, walking or swimming for awhile. I've been doing almost daily seven-mile walks and a half hour swimming with my clunky ancient fins every day in the new indoor pool.

For convenience, I number the grandchildren #1 though #7 in order of birth.A couple of years ago we took #1 and #2 on a driving tour of England, Ireland and Scotland.This year we are taking #3 and #4 to Barcelona for a week and then on a cruise around the Mediterranean. Grandchild #4 is a soccer enthusiast. He's excited about the tickets I have for a Sunday game with the Barcelona team.

I've booked private tours of Rome, Pisa and Florence with our own Mercedes,driver and guide. The cost is a fifth of what the cruise line wants to load us on a cattle bus. I need to buy advance tickets for the Vatican and Colosseum to keep from standing in line. Still planning, but maybe a bullet train day trip to Madrid and certainly Easter in Palma de Mallorca.

Need to get back to work taking pictures and writing blogs...my public grows restless.

This Land Is Your Land

Words by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land This land is my land

From California to the New York island;

From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Bahamas Diving

Eluthera Islands

I book another week on the Morning Star, a 60 foot sailboat that provides the opportunity to do up to 24 dives a week in the Bahamas. I do 15 dives, skipping the night dives. I've lost count of the number of times I've done this trip. I think it must be around seven. Carol used to go with me on this one back about 30 years ago.

One unusual dive is called the "Washing Machine".  The tide blows over a dip in a cut between two islands and tumbles you for about a minute. I fly up from about 50 feet to zero and back again a couple of times. Another dive is on a wreck where they feed sharks with a big chum ball and you get to watch them in a feeding frenzy for about 30 minutes.

The food on the trip is excellent. Last time I gained ten pounds. I skip breakfast and dinner this trip but gain two pounds anyway....It might be the barrel of rum punch they break out at night?

My dive buddy is Mike from up around Boston. I forgot my dive watch and compass. He does a good job of taking care of me so that I don't stay down too long or lose track of the boat.

The grog on Blackbeard's Cruises is all-inclusive. To get here you fly into Nassau, 52 minutes from Orlando. Most of the week is spent near the Eluthera Islands, about 50 miles east of Nassau.

The water temperature is 82 degrees. The other divers are all from up North. At first I'm the only one who doesn't struggle into a wet suit. They wear them all year in the great Lakes, I guess. After a few days they all shed their rubber suits and enjoy the clear, warm water.

We get some nice sunrises and sunsets. Will I do it again? Once more into the abyss? Should I do it again? Can I do it again? Only time will tell.

 It's astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness takes it's toll...

 Ahh...

 But listen closely...

 Not for very much longer...

I've got to keep control.
I remember doing the Time Warp.
Drinking those moments when
 blackness would hit me.

and the void would be calling.

 Let's do the Time Warp again.
Let's do the Time Warp again.

-Rocky Horror Picture Show

Back to the Future

The future is a foreign country. They do things differently there.

Who says time travel is impossible? On October 21, 2015, All of us, along with Marty McFly, are scheduled to arrive from 1985. Marty will be surprised, when he gets here, to see that the future has changed once again as the result of his constant meddling. In our future, the Chicago Cubs will not win the pennant. We have hover boards but they only work on magnetic levitation technology.

Somehow Biff has morphed into Donald Trump and lost some hair..

Business Interests claim that Mexicans are just taking the jobs that lazy American slackers don't really want.

Jaws 19 never got made, but video conferencing and handheld tablets are here. On the other hand, Pontiac dealers and  the future "Queen Diana" had their futures both sadly changed somewhere on this new timeline....cold fusion didn't make either...what else has gone wrong because of Marty's interference?

 The new hover board is priced at $10,000, but that will come down and stability will be improved in the future....