Dinner with good friends....

Yesterday we had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant with good friends. Great conversation, decent food, and good ambiance...doesn't get any better!

Going back to Wekiwa Springs State Park today...

Today we're heading back to Wekiwa Springs State Park https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/wekiwa-springs-state-park for four nights or so and we're looking forward to it :). UPDATE: Returned today November 18th. Photo Link here.

It was great meeting up with Dennis and Joann!

Google photo album from Paynes Prairie State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rLg12CywUWaBF7Bv8

Monthly group therapy...

We're heading out today for our monthly camping jaunt to a Florida State Park with the rig. This time we're going back to Payne's Prairie https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/paynes-prairie-preserve-state-park but where we go is not as important as the fact of just getting away. There's the packing of course, and getting the rig ready and the anticipation of change from the routine. With the motor home the "getting there" is as good as the being there, and we all (including Buddy the hound) usually enjoy the trip. That being said, we do limit our distance trying to stay within three to four hours of our rig storage at Christmas FL. After about four nights we're usually pretty refreshed and ready to get back home, and then home is really appreciated with the comforts of great Wi-fi, fully equiped kitchens and multiple baths. Someone once said us campers spend lots of money to periodically experience homelessness. I wouldn't go that far, but I do know the change of scenery does get the blood flowing and reinvirorate things a bit...and that's a good thing. My best childhood friend recently moved from Colorado to Ocala Florida, and he and his wife are going to visit us Tuesday at camp where we'll do a bit of a BBQ. I've known Dennis since I was five, and that was a LOT of tide changes ago:).

Sometimes things bunch up and you're busy....

We met up with good friends over from the West Coast (Dean and JoAnn Paradise) and had a nice lunch at Rusty's at Cape Canaveral, then took them to the National Seashore. That night we had Book Club, and then last night "Murder On The Orient Express" at the Melbourne Civic Theater. Tomorrow we leave for four nights at Payne's Prairie State Park. Nice to be busy! Link to Payne's Prairie: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/paynes-prairie-preserve-state-park

John Silong, Memorial Service and Obit information

FYI from John's daughter Cindy: 10:45am: John Silong's Memorial Service, 10:45am Lane B Cape Canaveral National Cemetary, 5525 US Highway 1, Mima FL 32754. Obituary information: https://islandcremations.com/obituaries/john-silong/5564/

A voice from the past resurfaces...Dennis

My childhood best friend, Dennis Kargul, gave me an email shout out yesterday. We were friends from Kindergarten right through Junior High School and it was great hearing from him :). We're going to try and connect at our next campout to Paines Prairie State Park late October.

Maid

Recently I'd seen an author interview on MSNBC that intrigued me, and I purchased the book being reviewed "Maid" and then recommended it to our local book club. I enjoyed the book. Then, as it turns out, it was made into a mini-series by Netflix and several parts and I was blown away by it. The mini-series is excellent and really makes you feel the story. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land, Barbara Ehrenreich NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES, HAILED BY ROLLING STONE AS "A GREAT ONE." "A single mother's personal, unflinching look at America's class divide, a description of the tightrope many families walk just to get by, and a reminder of the dignity of all work." -PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, Obama's Summer Reading List At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer quickly dissolved when a summer fling turned into an unplanned pregnancy. Before long, she found herself a single mother, scraping by as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Maid is an emotionally raw, masterful account of Stephanie's years spent in service to upper middle class America as a "nameless ghost" who quietly shared in her clients' triumphs, tragedies, and deepest secrets. Driven to carve out a better life for her family, she cleaned by day and took online classes by night, writing relentlessly as she worked toward earning a college degree. She wrote of the true stories that weren't being told: of living on food stamps and WIC coupons, of government programs that barely provided housing, of aloof government employees who shamed her for receiving what little assistance she did. Above all else, she wrote about pursuing the myth of the American Dream from the poverty line, all the while slashing through deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor. Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not hers alone. It is an inspiring testament to the courage, determination, and ultimate strength of the human spirit.

Lunch at Goodriches with friends 😄

Our good friends Mel and Dotti and Duane and Nancy joined us for a nice lunch at Goodriches Oyster Bar. Friends like these are a treasure.

The Great American Trailer Park at the Shuler Stage

Yesterday we saw The Great American Trailer Park at Titusvile Playhouse's new 2nd Stage, The Shuler Stage. What a hoot! https://photos.app.goo.gl/WVqowTYsbCBSctDZA

Jonathan Dickerson State Park jaunt...

We just got back on Sept. 23rd from a few days at Jonathan Dickerson State Park in Jupiter Florida. A great facility and we're planning on going back when it's a bit cooler. Photo's here

The passing of friends....

Within the last few weeks I've found out three friends have died, from three seperate chapters of my life. The one I just heard about actually died in March....and I didn't kbow until today after hearing from her son-in-law. Her name is Joanne Quarz and for the last few decades she's lived in Las Vegas. Back in the day, when I was an Allstate Agent, she was one of my business partners when we formed a partnership .... Joanne, myself, and Marcia Spakoski opened and operated a Neighborhood Office on the Thames River in Groton CT. We were partners for several years, until I decided to go on my own and opened an office (with my wife Alice) on Broad Street in New London. Both Marcia and Joanne stayed together until their eventual retirement. Another friend who passed, who I only found out about from a note of a mutual fiiend, was John Martins. Our friendship goes back to the early Lions Club days...and possibly Jaycee's?. John, on his retirement moved to South Florida which is where he died. There was no local (CT) obituary that I could find and I wouldn't have known except for Bill Long's kind note to me. The last one, and this is recent in the last few days, was on my friend John Silong. John is a Florida friend from the old Space Coast Sams Good Sams Chapter we both belonged to. The Good Sam Chapter was another chapter in my own life, and I feel I'm losing people from early and late chapters of my own. Funerals, and that opportunity to reminice with old friends and toast the dearly departed, seem to have gone away...leaving uncomfortable voids in our sence of well being.

Mortality

Recd a note from a long-time friend in CT yesterday that one in our old group (Lions, Jaycee's in East Lyme, CT) had passed :(. https://www.glickfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/John-Martins Made me think back to some very good memories of a good person who was wicked smart and a joy to be with. Missing John Martins.

Back to the theater!

Robert R. Payette 9h · Shared with Public Last night we attended the Titusville Playhouse (TPI) production of BRKLYN, the Musical and it was wonderful! Excellent and heart-felt performances by an incredible cast and excellent staging. I told Alice "If there's anyone who doesn't really enjoy this show there's something wrong with them", as it is probably their best effort for the entire season which this show ended. It was really nice to be back in the theater post-pandemic restrictions. The little tables are back, the plastic partitions are gone, and the bar is open. If you can get tickets do yourself a favor and go. There are NO bad seats in the house, and you'll walk out smiling a lot.

New sod installed...looking a lot better!

We had sod (St. Augustine) installed over the past few days...very happy with the result. Snaps here (click link)

Back to the theater!

Its been a long time since we've attended in-person theater...over a year I think. Luckily our Titusville Playhouse has been streaming their productions to ticket holders, but it's not the same sitting in your living room in front of the TV. That being said, the Covid-19 precautions do put a damper on things. Masks must be worn at all times unless you're drinking, they've set up plastic dividers between every three seats or so, attendence is limited so the theater seems almost empty. But the show Big Fish was wonderfully staged by Steve Heron the Artistic Director and it was a very moving experience.

Arrived home yesterday from Blue Springs State Park.....

We've been at Blue Springs State Park for several days. Lots of rain, and Buddy got a bit sick, so it wasn't condusive to a lot of touring. We were with three other couples and made the best of our time there.

This morning, at 0549, SpaceX launched their Crew 2 to the ISS...great view from our deck!

Moving forward on vaccines...

Well, I've gotten my two vaccines through the VA at Lake Nona in Orlando, and finally got Alice set up with the Publix operation. She'll get her first vaccine in a few days and the 2nd one is scheduled for the end of the month. It's beem a long road! Update March 31st: Alice had her 2nd vaccination on March 29th. She did have soreness in her arm and some nausious side affects but seems better today. So, Long Story Short we're done!! :).

Covid19 Vaccination

Going to Lake Nona, Orlando VA, to get my initial shot tomorrow....0815.

Reflections of My Life ....Dean Ford (Marmalade)

Reflections Of My Life...Dean Ford (Marmalade)

1st post of 2021

The Christmas Cactus are late, but that's my fault...left them outside a bit too long, but they'll be fine. The other snap is of course our Buddy "On The Berm", where we walk him several times a day. He loves the walks!