Thanksgiving outing

Three of us enjoying the shaded roadside, driving through Oscar Scherer State Park.

Knuckles (having a hard time gettin' out and about), in his newest ride - our old golden 2000 Vanden Plas.  

 

 

 

Cigarette collection (1968-1972)

Non-filtered and unopened - English, Scottish and Irish cigarettes collected during my college years in Britain.  Rediscovered and found inside an old shoebox, from my recently flooded darkroom.

 

right to the edge .......

10:00 pm, Wednesday

'(Man) On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'.  A storm surge had unexpectedly risen up around our island home's perimeter, as Hurricane Eta, twisting and turning for over a week, suddenly became our local worst nightmare. She came straight up the west coast of Florida, and unfortunately coincided with the new moon's highest tide.

The wind blew heavy, the rain came in squall like sheets, while the power flickered on and off. 

With that last little bit of daylight, I watched our saltwater lagoon begin lapping over the seawall. Two hours later, our entire property was under two-and-half feet of water. My darkroom flooded from under it's double doors while our utility room drowned from the rising tide.

Power came back on for short periods revealing the extent of the flooding. The whole of the property was now near knee-deep from the Gulf waters. The tidal surge had come within an inch of breaching our home's interior, lapping at the numerous sliding glass doors, and nearly flooding the whole damn house.  Nearing mid-November's end of hurricane season, all is hard to believe.

peace of mind

In that same vain, as that ever popular cult artist, Bob Ross, my mind finds comfort here. Even though it's just a large jig-saw puzzle, framed in a doctor's office - and an askew representation of my current want-to-be life - the view does help reduce the blood pressure. A good way to start the day.