Nicole is in the shipping business. One of her customers gave her a giant acorn. It is from a Bur Oak. She mailed it to us with instructions to plant it in a pot to get it growing, and then transfer it outdoors. (Being in the shipping business, she thinks nothing of mailing a giant acorn.) The leaves on this tree will be up to a foot long. They seem to be very popular in Texas.
I’ll plant it next to the mailbox and see if Kathy notices.
On a particularly nice day a while back (before Stout) Kathy drove Danny to church for a retreat with the Wrangler’s top down. She brought Clyde along for the ride. When Danny got out, Clyde moved up to the passenger seat. Still in the Wrangler, Kathy saw a friend, and they talked a while in the parking lot. The friend then said, “I can see you are having a mid-life crisis.”
“How is that?” asked Kathy.
“You are riding around in a convertible with a blonde.”
In Ted’s recent collage of banner photos, the kangaroo banner is one of my favorites. There is one (which I’ve highlighted below) that looks a lot like Clyde in the front yard, doing his business, and looking over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching.
I’ll see if I can sneak a photo of him for a side-by-side comparison.
I took a couple days off work to coincide with the girls’ four day weekend. The girls and I went to Harland to have lunch, and they both helped with a yo-yo project. I brought a paint brush and smock so that Kelly could pose in front of the photo of Claire on the wall. Isn’t Kelly a good sport?
I forgot to mention that Mary Claire kicked off our busy Birthday Blitz weekend last week with an outstanding softball outing. Both she and Kelly have joined church league teams and have been having a lot of fun learning how to hit, catch, throw, and run.
Claire was excited because she had been selected to play first base for the game (the base where most of the action is.) She played the position well, stretching to make several catches and outs at first.
Claire ended up being the best hitter on her team, often getting it out of the infield (which is rare with the elementry school team and their extra-soft softball.) She batted clean up last Friday. Two girls were on when she got up to bat the first time. Claire smacked it over the shortstop’s head, and the ball rolled past the outfielder. Claire was able to speed around the bases for an in-the-park homer with three RBIs. At her next at bat, the bases were loaded. She repeated a hit to left field, but this time the outfielder got to the ball and threw it in. Unfortunately, for the other team, two throws missed their mark, and the ever-aggressive base runner, Claire, was able to round all the bases for an in-the-park Grand Slam.
Her big brother would have been proud. We sure were.
Kathy and I had a tripple birthday blitz over the weekend that included John P’s 40th Friday night at Sampan downtown, Kathy’s birthday at Dominick’s in Norcross on Saturday, and East West Bistro for Nicole’s birthday in Athens on Sunday. In between we got in soccer games, Kelly’s All State chorus audition, and RCIA class. I was just able to squeeze in a lawn mowing in between all the coming and going. I’m not sure we have ever eaten out three days in a row. We can highly recommend all three restaurants. Dominick’s in Norcross is probably the best family experience, especially if the family enjoys Italian food and collaborative table-coloring of bizzaro stick figures.
Happy Birthday Kathy, Nicole, and John P!
“Who is Jim Brown?” Kelly asked while she was doing homework at the kitchen table. She was working on topographical maps. She needed to create a diagonal line across the middle of the island she had drawn to create a profile.
“Do you mean James Brown?” I asked, thinking she meant the singer.
“No, Jim Brown,” she said. “It is carved in this metal ruler.”
I looked at the ruler, and realized it was the ruler that was in the desk drawer when I started at Harland in 1987. Jim Brown had left the company, creating a vacancy that I filled. It wasn’t really Jim Brown’s ruler, but rather Harland’s ruler that Jim Brown used. In one of my office moves, the metal ruler ended up at home. We don’t use rulers anymore, since most design occurs on a screen. And we never draw topographical maps with pencil and graph paper. I’m sure Kelly will never have a job that requires her to do that, but at least she will understand the concept. And Jim Brown’s ruler helped.
Thanks Jim (whom I never met), wherever you are….
Oh… I also ran into ex-Harlander and leader Earl Rogers at work today, which triggered a whole set of memories. Earl was very influential in my career. Also ran into still-Harlander Ralph Crane… who also ran into Earl. Something of a nostalgia day at Harland.
So just remember these four spheres
Litho, Bio, Hydro, and Atmo
Then you’ll be smartest of all your peers
And you’ll make all A’s yo
-kel.e.bee
With her newest song, Science Rap, kel.e.bee continues with her quest to take the next generation of School House Rappers to infinity and beyond. This young Garage Band master exploded on the scene with Modernize Me and Monsta Beats and caught the ear of industry insiders with her short experimental 80’s Jungle. With her latest release, she has solidified her mission to leave no child behind, proving that music can have greater impact on education than any amount of compassionate-conservative taxes.
Our last day out brought us back to the Bimini Islands. On this visit we took the launch to Alice Town, the Bahama home of Ernest Hemingway. Alice town has one road, King’s Highway, and the town is only about four blocks long. Kathy, Kelly, and I walked from one end to the other to catch our boat for snorkeling at Turtle Rocks (see map.) 
Nicole and Mary Claire rented a golf cart (the preferred mode of transport on this small Island) and toured to other parts of the island. Danny stayed on board tending to two of his favorite pastimes: eating and napping.
We found a variety of fish at the reefs of Turtle Rocks, although we had to swim through a jellyfish meteor shower serveral times. We got a couple of light stings that were not too bad. We even enjoyed watching the jelly fish swim. They looked like strange alien space creatures.
The snorkelers all converged on a bar next to the Hemingway Museum where we enjoyed the air conditioning and some afternoon drinks. The kids played swing the hoop on the hook, which was a game involved trying to get a small hoop on a string suspended from the ceiling to catch on a hook on the wall. Safer than darts.
Strokey, the chef, saved the best dinner for our last night out. The Captain offered a formal toast. The teens sang a song for the diners. Strokey made a delicious Caeser’s Salad in front of us and later served (flaming) Fruit Flambe. We all watched a beautiful sunset on the end of our day and the end of our trip as the ship set sail for Miami.
Photos: Bimini – Day 7.
On Day 6 we arrived at Freeport, Grand Bahama, the largest island we would visit. Unlike any other visit, this would be a full day of island touring. Nicole, Danny, Kelly, and I decided to take the Kayak and hiking tour. Kathy and Mary Claire went on the snorkeling tour that featured a giant pontoon boat with rock climbing wall and water slide.
There was very little at the dock, which felt very industrial. It turned out the port is privately owned by a company that also owns much of the island. We had to take taxi vans to town where our tour guides picked us up.
Our tour was three parts: Kayaking through a creek surrounded by Mangroves, then a lunch at a largely deserted park beach, and finally a hike through the park that included a visit to a cave with nursing bats.
The creek emptied out into the ocean which was the end of our kayak trip. Kelly was a very good kayaking companion. Danny and Nicole did ok, although they got caught up a couple of times in the dense Mangroves. We saw a lot of construction where Disney was building the sets for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. It looked like a mess, but apparently it was an old U.S. military base that was a mess to begin with, so the set will likely end up being a fun Disney attraction.
From what we could see, the Grand Bahamas were mostly made up of skinny pine forrests. These native pines had air-breathing roots and grew very slowly because there are not a lot of nutrients in the thin soil. The trees depend on fire to “win” against other vegetation. The needles of the pines will spontaneously combust on the floor of the forrest after drying out for a few years. This wipes out other vegetation, but the resins in the pines are fire resistant, popping as the fire comes close and literally “blowing out” the nearby fire. We learned a lot about these trees on what seemed like a very long trip to the park. However, looking at the map of the island, it doesn’t look like we went more than 12 miles.
Lunch at the park beach included a visiting mother Raccoon. Nicole, Danny, Kelly, and I all had a very relaxing swim, and our small group had a lengthy beach almost to ourselves.
Kathy and Mary Claire had a fun snorkeling trip, although Mary Claire only had so much patience for looking around underwater. Kathy could probably snorkel all day if they would allow her.
The evening was relaxing for the older folks as the kids watched “Finding Nemo” on a projected screen mid deck. The food was delicious… as always.
Danny and I both rigged up some duct work to help route air over the beds. Two nights were unusually hot. We think it may have had something to do with running on extra engine power to get to our destinations. Our rooms were just above all the engine rooms. Kathy recommends bringing a travel fan of some kind in the future.
Day 6 Photos: mac17.static.net/winjammer2005/day6/
Now playing: Rocky Raccoon by The Beatles
