Almost a Hood Ornament; Lanai Work; A Tender Loin; The Gecko-Hunter; Flute Music; Moonrise

Today was an “interesting” day. I started with an easy 5 mile run, staying on the golf cart path from the house past our local Mallory golf course to the Hospice on Hwy 466. I assumed it would be safer than running on the road. Silly boy... As I was on the return leg, and about to turn into the tunnel that runs under Morse Blvd. by our Sweetbay grocery store, I heard a golf cart coming through the tunnel. No problem, he has a stop sign... well, the guy did slow down to about 10 mph as he blew through the stop sign, turning left onto the cart path as I was turning left into the tunnel. Fortunately, impact was light and momentary. Thanks to my extraordinarily quick reflexes and dancer-like agility, I was able to throw my hands onto his front windshield, and using my arms as shock absorbers, leapt into the air and pirouetted out of the way. If he had been going any faster, I’d have been a permanent hood ornament or gone under his cart. I tried to remember all of the love-centered, spiritual thoughts that Suzanne has taught me, but I’m afraid that my sailor side took over, and I wasn’t very polite to the cigar-smoking lout that had almost killed me.  He didn’t even apologize for almost ending my learning period in this dimension...

The day got better; I went to work cleaning our lanai (screened-in patio) with my power washer, a wonderful device that makes blasting five months worth of dirt and grime off the floor and horizontal screen frames almost easy, except for the stiff neck from leaning over looking at what you’re doing so you don’t power-wash your bare toes with 1,500 psi high pressure water. That’s a potentially very serious “Ouchie!” My Lovely Bride got a photo of me actually working for a change. I couldn’t go fishing because my reputation for unsuccessful angling has gotten around, and even the fish are laughing at me these days. Sigh. 

Suzanne had flute practice tonight, so I thought I’d help her out by making dinner. She passed on my suggested menu of nachos, kielbasa, and beer, so I went to Publix and got one of those fancy gourmet recipe cards for pork tenderloin with brie and pecan molasses. (The only confusing part was why one needed Kosher salt for pork tenderloin...) They make it very easy for guys, with all of the ingredients right there in one spot by the lady who tosses together gourmet meals in 30 seconds or less. It took me a bit longer, but Suzanne seemed pretty impressed with the quality of the meal. I think I earned “Big Points” tonight. (Maybe that new fishing rod isn’t totally out of the question...)  

Since returning from our trip last week, Rudy has been chasing geckos on the lanai; Gretchen runs out there and simply patrols; after one circuit, she finds a comfortable spot and watches Rudy exercising his instincts. She’s not into the gecko-hunter mode that Rudy displays.

Here is Rudy looking for a gecko that just jumped into a bush and vanished. It’s a good thing our auto insurance isn’t with Geico; our insurance might be cancelled for Rudy’s toll on the gecko population. The score is now Rudy 3, Geckos 0.  

I thought I’d catch a photo of Suzanne’s flute choir practice for the blog. There was some very pleasant music coming the Hibiscus Room of Allamanda Recreation Center when I poked my head in and took a few quick photos. These ladies are all serious musicians from a variety of professions; one even used to pack a machine gun for the government. They perform on C flutes, alto flutes, and bass flutes. (I had once heard a non-musician announcer pronounce "bass" like the fish instead of like "base".) The flute choir’s next performance is at the Church on the Square in Spanish Springs in The Villages on December 11 at 6:00 PM.

On the way home, we were driving down Buena Vista Blvd. when I said to Suzanne, “Hey, look at that moonrise!” She looked up quickly and said, “Wow! Cool!”... and then in a few seconds, after focusing on the object in question, she said, “You know, it’s not nice to trick your wife like that!”. Uh-oh... I’ve done it again...   

By the way, popular demand for Ty's Famous Chicken Enchilada recipe has forced us to disclose this previously Top Secret formula and procedure. Click here.