A Sexy Italian Beauty; Prancing Horses; Fixing a Roof Leak; Leaves-a-Million

Ever since the 1960’s, when I followed Phil Hill and John Surtees driving their almost unbeatable Italian racing red (Rosso corsa) Formula 1 race cars, I have been a Ferrari fan. Yesterday I got to see and listen to a refurbished 365 GTB/Daytona model when we were in Clearwater. There is a firm near where The Bus was being repaired that takes beat-up sports cars and makes them almost new again. This beauty was getting prepared for display at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. I didn’t ask the price, but it’s probably more than my Social Security check will cover. (And then you have to hire a full-time Italian mechanic to keep the V-12 engine tuned... in any case, we don’t have a spare room for Guido...)  

An historical footnote: the black prancing horse (cavallino rampante) on the Ferrari crest was chosen by founder Enzo Ferrari in 1929 after meeting the mother of Count Franceso Baracca, the renowned Italian fighter pilot and ace killed in World War I. The count had painted a similar horse on the side of his plane. The yellow field on the crest is the color of Modena, where Enzo was born.  

Okay, is that Spiderman on top of The Bus, and what is he doing? No, it is Your Faithful Correspondent/Mister Fix-It, trying to find and caulk a leak around the yellow running light on the left front roof of our coach. The heavy tropical downpour last night found a weak spot in the waterproofing of our Bus, and I had to take immediate action. And no, I did not have to climb the side of The Bus to get up there. There is a real ladder permanently mounted at the rear of our coach, but the first rung is 4-5 feet off the ground, and I had to tie a 6 foot ladder to it to ensure a safe route up and down. Tomorrow I take a garden hose up and test the repairs... cross your fingers!  

I was w-a-l-k-ing the puppies in t-o-w-n early Thursday morning; these photos were taken of Rudy and Gretchen among hundreds of leaves which were blown down in the previous night’s storms. They were on alert for squirrels, which had been reported to be in the square at Sumter Landing by a beagle reporter from the Canine Daily News.