Apocalypse Not

What a relief! 11:11 AM Greenwich Mean Time on 12/21/12 has come and gone and the Earth (for most of us) continues to spin on its axis.

I, for one, am glad that the sun is coming back this way. Enough is enough. Here comes the sun..Da da Da da...

We did a gruelling 14 mile bicycle ride along Longboat Key yesterday. It was a nice ride but a cold front brought a sudden strong headwind for the return seven miles.

There are so many miles of almost deserted lovely beaches her on the west coast of Florida. The water temperature is 68 F, which is bearable, if brisk.

There is an end of the world party at the pool tonight, with karaoke.

I have reserved a table at a restaurant called "Turtles" for our 46th anniversary on Christmas Eve. It's on the beach.

 

2013 Firecloud Calendar Finalists

I needed to select 13 of these pictures for the 2013 Firecloud Calendar.

Actually the choices have been made and Kinko's is cranking out copies as we speak.

Interesting Choices

Northern Thailand

Mrs. Phred lost a tennis shoe when she was washed overboard on a raft trip with me. She lost the right shoe. She showed me the left shoe and asked if I thought she should keep it. I told her that I thought she should keep it in case a future foot amputation, but that she should hope that they did not cut off her left foot because then the shoe would be obviously worthless.

 We have been together since I met her at a 1965 cast party in Tallahassee. The play was "A Man For All Seasons". This was about Sir Thomas More and his silence with regard to the legitimacy of Henry the VIII's plan to divorce his wife in the hope of siring a male heir.

We left the party together and walked the streets until sunrise telling each other stories. She told me about being thrown in jail in Tallahassee for sitting at a table with a black man in the Dobb's House restaurant earlier that year....interesting!...I thought...

Then she told me the story about disrupting the New York World's fair in 1964. She was thrown in jail (The Tombs) again after leading a peaceful demonstration. Her arrest was covered by the New York Times and all three National networks.

She's been a good dive buddy and tennis partner. An interesting choice.

Blackened Salmon

Whoa! Blackened salmon, wild rice and edamame beans. Am I a cook or what?

Ingredients to serve four:
2 Tablespoons ground paprika
1 Tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

4 pieces of salmon (about 6 oz each).

1/2 cup butter

Directions
In a small bowl, mix paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, white pepper, black pepper, thyme, basil and oregano.

Brush salmon fillets on both sides with melted butter, and sprinkle evenly with the cayenne pepper mixture. then rebrush  one side of each fillet with melted butter.

In a large, heavy skillet over high heat, cook salmon, butter side down, until blackened, 2 to 5 minutes. Turn fillets, drizzle with remaining butter, and continue cooking 2 to 5 more minutes until blackened and fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Consider moving the salmon around a little occasionally while cooking to prevent the spices from sticking to the pan. I used an olive oil spray to lubricate the pan before adding the salmon......

Remember: It is against the laws of nature to overcook fish until it is dry and tough. DON'T DO IT! 

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...