It was fun

Yes, it has been fun. But this will be my last blog for a while. I am taking a hiatus from blogging for an indefinite time. I always liked this painting done by Mary and is my favorite. I have it hanging on the wall next to my computer and I look up at it from time to time. I wish everyone a Happy holiday season and may you get lots and lots of fun gifts. Be good, and occasionally pause and take time to smell a flower as you pass by. Have a magical day. Lew

Turkey Day

Yes, it's turkey day and so the blog is about a nice Thanksgiving meal that Mary made. That is my plate in the foreground with some breast meat and the plate in the background is Mary's with a drumstick.

Did you happen to notice my glass? It is a Star Trek souvenir glass. See the starship Enterprise on the glass? The glass came all the way from Logan, Utah. The drink is orange soda. What flavor but orange would a loyal Floridian drink?

But now for a serious question. So many cans can now only be opened with a can opener from one end, which is fine by me. But once the end is removed with a can opener then the label on the can is upside down. Just look at the can of cranberry sauce.

The other end of the can can't be opened with a can opener. If it could, I would have opened the other end so that the can would be sitting with the label right side up. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Has anyone else had this same problem?

Mary also baked a pumpkin pie which turned out really good.

The pie was very flavorful with the pumpkin pie spice. After cutting a piece of the pie we put some whip cream on it before eating it.

And let's not forget our chihuahua Duke.

He is a house dog and stays in the house most of the time. He must have been smelling that turkey baking for hours. I can just imagine how hungry it must have made him. Mary gave him some roasted turkey scraps which he absolutely loved. Here he is opening his mouth just as wide as he can so as to get as much food as possible in each bite. It didn't matter to him at all that he was actually eating out of the cat bowl with pictures of cats on it.

All-in-all it was a great Thanksgiving with lots of turkey left over.

I hope that everyone has as nice of a Thanksgiving as I did and keep those turkey sandwiches coming. What are we having for supper tonight? Turkey, of course. Enjoy and, above all, be happy. Lew

The Swan

This is the most recent painting that Mary has completed. It is a swan painted on a wooden plaque. We have a park in the central part of Orlando called Lake Eola. There are numerous swans swimming in the lake and this picture reminds me of the swans in the lake. The swans don't fly away, probably because they are well fed and well tended to. The swans have also gotten use to people and they beg food scraps from people passing by. Sort of like pigeons in a park begging for bread crumbs. I guess that most parks have pigeons but here at Lake Eola we have these beautiful swans, just like in the picture. In the picture I particularly like the effect of the reflection of the head of the swan in the surface of the water with a little distortion caused by the ripples of water. Also, blue is my favorite color and this painting has a lot of blue in it. Mary tries to encourage me to paint but I tell her that I have tried painting in the past. It was paint-by-number and it was unbelievably terrible and immediately disposed of. I guess that I am left brain dominant.

Today is Tuesday and that means movie day. Mary and I went to see the movie The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe.

The movie was a mystery/drama with lots and lots of action. The movie was a lot better than I had hoped for. Russell Crowe gave a nice performance. Before the movie we went to Cici's pizza buffet for lunch.

Anyone who lives in Orlando will recognize the logo. They had a special where two people could eat (including drinks) for $9.99. For that price we got all of the pizza that we could eat, plus refillable drinks, and all of the salad, soup, and dessert that we wanted. I had the barbeque pizza which was great. I know that barbeque pizza sounds strange but it is my favorite. Mary likes the spinach pizza best. They must have around 20 different kinds of pizza to choose from on the buffet. It was all quite good and we enjoyed ourselves.

Mary and I went outside to watch the Delta V rocket go up into the heavens from Cape Canaveral last night.

But it was dark outside, which was impressive to see the flame of the rocket engines in the dark of night. But unfortunately that meant that I couldn't get any good pictures of it. But watching the launch on television was quite spectacular.

Have a pleasant day and get a pizza for lunch tomorrow. Lew

Tree of Life

This is Mary's painting she did in November. It is the Tree of Life in Disney's Animal Kingdom. She painted it for me because she knows how much I liked working there. It was the most fun job that I have ever had. I actually worked inside the Tree of Life. I had so much fun that I am not sure that I can actually call it work. The painting is hanging in the computer room so I can see it often and be reminded of the good times there. As we use to say at Disney, Have a magical day. Lew

Delta V

A Delta V Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off around 5:00 pm today. As you can see in the picture it actually looks like three rockets connected together. I plan on watching the pre-launch commentary on the news station starting about 30 minutes before the scheduled launch. This should build the excitement and enthusiasm of the launch.

I will watch the rocket lift off from it's launch pad on television and then run outside to see it in the sky. Hopefully Seaside will get some pictures of the launch. This is an exciting time to live in Florida with the rocket launches. I can't imagine what it will be like when the time comes when there are no more shuttle launches. But for right now I will enjoy the excitement of the space program. Have a great day and don't forget to watch the rocket launch live on television. Lew

The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda. I have heard of the book but I am embarrassed to say that I have never read it.

I like listening to recordings of the old time radio shows. I agree with Orson Welles when he said that the old time radio shows were the theater of the mind. I decided to listen to a radio adaptation of The Prisoner of Zenda.

As the radio dramatization of the show progressed I became completely lost as to the story line sequence. I really didn't know what was going on so I started to listen to it from the beginning once again. I was still lost. What was I to do? Just give up entirely? I needed something to set the plot and characters in my mind so that I could enjoy the story. Then I thought of it. The Classics Illustrated comic books.

I checked to see if I had a copy of The Prisoner of Zenda in the Classics Illustrated comic books and I did. And what’s more there is a list of the characters on the very first page.

I started reading the comic book version of The Prisoner of Zenda, and what a blessing it was. Everything in the story is falling into place quite nicely. When I finish the comic I will go back and listen to the radio dramatization once again. The Classics Illustrated comics were of a great help when I was in high school and now they are coming to my rescue once again. Have a great day and read a comic of whatever kind you want. Of Uncle Scrooge, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge was my favorite. And the superheroes? Plastic Man was my favorite superhero. Comic books were a great part of my life. I enjoyed them as a child. Don’t forget your childhood and the fun times that you had. Take care. Lew

Meteorite Men

I have started watching a new show on television that has really captured my attention. The show is called Meteorite Men.

The show follows two men as they search for meteorites with a metal detector. They use a metal detector similar to mine.

It is a treasure hunt for space rocks. I have used my metal detector on the beach, in parks, and even ghost towns looking for lost treasure. I always had that thrill that any moment my detector will turn up some valuables.

Sometimes they use a simple magnet to find the iron meteorites which is what I used once to find several small meteorites. Just like in the show, the magnet works really good when you have located a small area with your metal detector of where a meteorite may be. But their trials and tribulations and eventual discoveries appeals to the adventurous spirit in me. It is a great show and I really like it. Have a good day. Lew