On being in the right place at the wrong time

Casperson Beach, Venice, Florida

Saturday I put the bike rack on the old Ford van and drive Mrs. Phred to Venice. We do the five miles on the Legacy trail to Casperson beach. The gulf water is very warm. I float in deep water for about an hour until we get caught in a thunderstorm and eat turkey sandwiches under the shelter of the bathhouse.

You pass the old airport on the legacy trail and watch the old aeroplanes floating in for a landing without thinking much about them. Later, on the beach, I worry a little about being struck by lightning and fail completely to consider aeroplanes falling out of the sky...

 On Sunday one of the planes lands on the beach and kills a man from Georgia and badly injures his nine year old daughter. Too bad the pilot didn't decide to land in the water instead of a crowded beach....

 We attend a free concert at the Van Wezel on Friday...good music...if we go again we'll go earlier and get a seat closer to the sound...

 After the concert I take Mrs. Phred downtown for Margaritas and Mahi-Mahi quesadillas....

 Chilling in one of the Sun & Fun hot tubs...nice to be out of the sun in July....In case you were wondering, the little mockingbirds hatched, grew up, and flew away in the standard 14 days...guess they have less to learn than human whelp....

Little Birds

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring

The mockingbird mama built two nests in Mrs. Phred's bicycle basket so I destroyed them and then finally removed the basket. While we were gone she built a third nest in the sprocket and laid three blue specked eggs.

So now we're stuck here until the eggs hatch and the little birds fly away. Mockingbirds tend to build nests 3-10 feet off the ground. Once the eggs hatch they will attack you if you get too close. I figure about the middle of August....but a lot can go wrong....

Squirrels or cats could eat the eggs or the baby birds or even the adults....If you build a stupid nest, maybe it's best that you don't contribute to the gene pool?

Born to be wild....

There's a man who leads a life of danger....

Boat name is Ratty Bastard...Capacity 18 adults...

Wearing our new "Blow S**t Up!" shirts...

4th of July

Jason at rest.

Try anything once?

4th of July

 Mountain Home, Arkansas

 Fireflies...watermelon...blueberry pie 

Paul and Diane's family will begin arriving tomorrow for the big summer blowout. They don't do the 4th fireworks shows anymore because:

1. It scares the grandchildren.
2. When they set the woods on fire it's too hard to put out.

I have a watermelon chilling for the occasion. I'd also like to make three blueberry pies. There is a blueberry farm just up the road.

  
One Blueberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups blueberries
9 inch double crust pie pastry
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.
3. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
4. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

 It's a pretty place. After listening us to us debate buying a house for nine years, they offered us their spare house for as long as we like to see how we like living in a house again...It's OK but after a few days we decide to stay mobile and avoid unnecessary entanglements and things like lawnmowers, leaf blowers and paint brushes for as long as possible...

The berry farm has onions and other produce...

A lot of deer in the neighborhood...the fireflies are very thick here in the early evening. My favorite species is the Photuris that kills other fireflies. The Photuris sucks out the juice from other fireflies to retrieve bad-tasting chemicals from their bodies, which it uses to protect itself from predators.