Act of God v. Graven Image

So...,

Is this evidence of God's non-existance, that lightning can strike, with impunity, His devotees' object of veneration, or

evidence that He's real and pissed at the violation of His Second Commandment?

Mom = 90

Today Mom is officially 90 years old. She has now lived longer than any other member of the family (so far). All in all, she's doing pretty well. I have noticed an increased deafness, and increased frailty. She will use her walker in the house now where before it was reserved for trips to the mailbox or excursions to one of her various doctors. She has more trouble keeping track of the details of our baseball games and yet will insist up and down that she is right even while admitting the whole rest of the world isn't wrong. She wins most of those arguments because she is 90 after all and, hey--why not?

My younger nephew, Dan, is here for the (extended) weekend before going back to Ft. Bliss and shipping out to Iraq. My brother and his girlfriend have planned the dinner--barbecue ribs and cake. I presume there will be other items on the menu. She's received congratulatory phone calls and presents from relatives and friends who can't be here and admitted to her kid sister (87) that it was astonishing to be 90.

I agree. Astonishing and wonderful.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Not Even Remotely Kosher

Good News!

The black blobby things washing up on our beaches here in South Florida are not BP tar balls. They're....

SEA PORK!!!

WTF!?!?

How the hell did this stuff ever get the name "Sea Pork"? Does it resemble the results of somebody's barbecuing attempt? Did somebody taste it? (Hint: go to page 6.) How have I lived this long without ever seeing or hearing of this?

(I'm also kind of curious to find out if there is anything anywhere that somebody won't eat.)

A Land of Choice

By my calculations Florida has over 180 different official license plates. That does not count things like state government plates, commercial plates, etc. The "standard" plate consists of an orange in the center with the tag line myflorida.com across the top and the name of the resident's county on the bottom. There are 67 counties in this state. All well and good, but....

There are currently 114 (soon to be 115) different vanity plates available. Everything from the expected "Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children" series ("Family Values," "Kids Deserve Justice," "Choose Life," and "Keep Kids Drug Free" among others) to the rather surprising "Imagine" with a Picasso-esque semi-abstract portrait of John Lennon in the middle. Some are environmental...and beautiful.

Thirty-six of them are just for the various universities and colleges in the state. Another 9 are for the pro sports teams. "University of Florida" is, by far, the Number 1 plate followed by "Helping Sea Turtles Survive." I am somewhat surprised that dolphins, panthers, manatees and reefs all beat out "Choose Life." I'm also surprised "Imagine" made the top half at number 45.

If you ever see a license plate you can not immediately identify...it's probably Florida.

The Mom Is a Harsh Manager

Mom likes baseball. A lot. Her favorite team used to be the Atlanta Braves. She knew all the players and their stories (not so much the stats) until they sold off some of her favorites and TBS stopped carrying the games. Now we watch the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly the Devil Rays but you know how dangerous it is to mention Ol' Scratch's name down here in the South. Think of the children.).

Actually, Mom likes a specific kind of baseball. Less than two hours with a score of 8-5 plus or minus 3. She was bored to tears by Dallas Braden's recent perfect game. She yells at the batters if they take to many pitches (regardless of where they might be in the strike zone) and yells at the pitchers for taking too long between pitches. She goes to bed at ten and the game had better be in the bag, if not over, by then. She has limited tolerance for failure. If you throw to first you'd better catch the runner. If you try to steal you'd better make it. Hit the ball. Catch the ball. There is no try, young Jedi. Only do or do not.

Mom On the Loose

Sometimes I feel bad about letting Mom go out to get the mail. She has to use the walker to get to the end of the driveway and back and she fumbles with the inner front door and the screen door coming and going. (They're just far enough apart for the walker to fit between on the "porch" but close enough that they each block her from opening the other.) On the other hand, she wants to do it and apart from puttering around in the kitchen it's about the only exercise she gets nowadays. Still, it's 90+ out there most days by the time the postal person shows up so I time her excursions (surreptitiously, of course) and check out the window (discreetly, of course) until she returns. Perhaps I am overly concerned. Yesterday she came back dragging a 40 gallon trash can behind her. I think it was a hint to my brother to finish weeding the walkway.

Green Parrots

Green parrots!!!

I looked out my window this morning and there were three green parrots in the not-jacaranda assiduously breaking off dead twigs (some rather large) with their beaks and then flying off to wherever their construction project is set up. They hopped up and down on the branches side-stepping in parrot fashion examining various bare limbs before grabbing a satisfactory one with their beaks and twisting back and forth until it broke off. They are very particular about only taking fresh-cut twigs. One bird cut a branch and dropped it before he could maneuver it into a balanced position for flight. He looked at it on the ground directly below and then went to cut another. I am told they are part of a resident flock living nearby but this is the first I have seen them.

I know it was the not-jacaranda the parrots were in because it was identified to me as such by the same people who originally told me it was a jacaranda and they should know. I will take their word for it. When it comes to plants I am at the mercy of experts. But I know a green parrot when I see one (or three)!

Update: Upon interrogation, the not-jacaranda admits to being a bougainvillea. For now.