DeFuniak Springs Christmas Light Display 2010

The community of DeFuniak Springs does a Christmas display of lights surrounding the round lake near the center of town. This is the third year that Carol and I have visited the display. Each year, it seems, additional lighted displays are added. Last year there were 6.5 million lights. I estimate that close to 7 million lights are in this years display. The cost is $3.00 per person and you are allowed to drive around as many times as you wish. Last night we drove there to view the lights. We invited Janet to come along. Janet is a dear sweet lady that eats lunch at the local restaurant that we like. She is alone and we like her. She also spent Christmas day with us.

Following are some of the pictures that I took.

Many of the local homes along the drive are decorated. There are a number of Victorian style homes located here.

We always enjoy the display. Christmas carols were played over speakers located throughout the display. A wonderful clear night, well worth the approximate 90 mile round trip.

2010 - A great year in review

2010 was very good to us. We quietly welcomed the New Year (kind of). We watched the ball drop in New York City and that was fine with us. We are in the central time zone so we slept through our New Year.

February, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. The Rhode Island home went on the market. I believe the realtor was overly optimistic and the house was probably priced too high for the times. It did not sell and we spent the summer there.

In April we hit the road. Neither of us had seen the Grand Canyon and it was high on my bucket list. Along the way we saw the White Sands of New Mexico, Sedona, Tonto National Forest, Oak Creek Canyon and Hoover Dam. We also stopped in El Paso for a long awaited visit with Carol's son, Bill.

Summer was spent in RI and my son and I went to Gettysburg to tour the battlefield. He arranged for a tour guide to spend 4 hours with us. It was fantastic. I enjoyed it so much that I took Carol there on one of our trips North. We had made a quick trip south to take furniture to the Florida home and went North via Shenandoah National Forest.

We both traded vehicles. I had been wanting a truck for several years and I finally got a 2010 F150 extended cab. Carol's 11 year old Chevy convertible was showing signs of age (repair$$$) and she stepped up to a 2007 Pontiac G6 hardtop convertible with under 17k miles. Very sporty and more powerful than the Chevy 4 cylinder.

We returned to Florida in September for the winter season. We did do a long weekend in Gulf Shores, AL with some of my Navy pals from long ago. We had a good time visiting. I may be prejudice but Panama City Beach is far more beautiful than Gulf Shores. In October, Carol found a chihuahua puppy and Pillo has become part of the family. Never did I think we would have three dogs. They will travel with us.

Christmas was great and we are looking forward to 2011 with anticipation. The RI home will soon be on the market again and Carol and I are working on the new bucket list for our major trip in 2011 as we continue to explore the United States and Canada.

Hurricane straps

I am not a do-it-yourself type of guy. I will attempt some small "safe" projects. Ones I think I won't mess up. Carol dislikes blinds and we have started to hang curtains. I felt that I would be able to install the rods. The first room was the master bedroom. Carol wanted the curtains to not block the window when open. Therefore the rods would be of sufficient length to accommodate the width of the curtains. I measured, leveled, measured, leveled and drilled the holes for the brackets for the rod. The picture below is the result.

The next project was a valence over the kitchen window. Piece of cake - right. I placed the bracket over the window and moved it as directed by Carol to the "perfect" spot. I drilled the first hole and the drill hit a solid object. Good I thought, a stud. I applied pressure and still nothing. I'ts not a stud it is the metal hurricane strap. I now know that every window and door opening has them. It provides added structural support for hurricane protection. I knew that I did not have the right drill bits to punch into the strap. I immediately called Jeff, the local contractor that has done work for us. He came over and he had some difficulty punching through, but he got it done. He installed both brackets and the valance was installed. The finished project is pictured below.

The bedroom window rods were sufficiently wider than the window and therefore I was away from the metal straps. I continue to learn more about this home in Florida.

Authors

Somehow I ended up on the Harris poll email list. Periodically I get a request to complete a survey. Earlier in the year, I received one concerning authors and the type of books I read. Mostly I read mysteries and novels that I view as cleverly written. I was also asked how I read. My answer to that was strictly hard covers and usually purchased new. I like the feel of a hard cover and rarely even look at a paperback. Perish the thought that someday I will only be able to read on an electronic tablet.

I was asked to list my top five favorite authors.

1) Stephen J. Cannell
2) David Baldacci
3) Janet Evonovich
4) Sara Paretsky
5) Robert P. Parker

Mr. Cannell and Mr. Parker both passed away this year. I will miss their writings. Parker had worn out the Spencer series, but I was enjoying the Jesse Stone series.

Last Saturday Carol and I went to DeFuniak Springs to visit a very wonderful and unusual "used book store". I was looking for hard cover books by Cannell. The only ones they had, I already owned. I did find a semi hard cover book with two of his books and I did buy that. My other selection was a hard cover History of Civilization. When I was in high school the most passionate teacher I had taught ancient history. I remember more of that class than most others.

I tend to donate the books to the local library when I am finished. I do keep books by Cannell, Baldacci, and Evonovich. Not sure why, I just do. I know I will miss Mr. Cannell. His books never disappointed me.

Illness - Our 12 days of Christmas

Carol and I woke up the Saturday after Thanksgiving with horrible sore throats. We were congested with runny noses and a mild cough. We did not have fevers and we figured it was a cold and we would muddle through it. Fortunately the sore throat lasted a day and was replaced by blinding headaches for four days. When I am sick I tend to eat more, Carol had little appetite. We were and are doing over the counter stuff, increased liquids and rest as best we could. Today is day 12 and neither of us is a hundred percent. I believe I am closer than Carol. She has a cough that seems to rack her whole body. No time is a good time to be sick, but there is so much to do this time of year. A simple trip to the local market exhausts us. We both have shopping to do for Christmas. Carol has a sewing project to complete. We have a small tree and that required part time effort over three days to complete. I have lights for the outside shrubs and I have no energy to deal with it.

On the bright side we have a warm home and have each other. We will get the shopping done and soon will feel back to normal. Hopefully this is our one and only illness this winter season.