“Sam I Am?” Great White (fill in the blank); A Looneyspoons Dinner; An Entry Level Senior; No More Leak!

The other day I was putting breakfast together, and told My Lovely Bride that I was making scrambled eggs with ham. She said, “Darling Husband (or words to that effect), would you please make me Green Eggs and Ham like I had when I was a little girl?” Now how could I refuse such an endearing request? We didn’t have any green food coloring, but I did have some green chili peppers. Here is Your Faithful Correspondent/Short Order Chef preparing this gastronomic delight. Rudy the Sailing Wiener Dog is on patrol for anything that might fall his way...

I was later to be educated in the origin of Green Eggs and Ham, originated by the character “Sam I Am” by Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). The book was written using only 50 distinct words, and was the product of a bet between the author and his publisher, Bennett Serf. It is the 4th best selling children's hardcover book in history.

Our Bird of the Week is the Great White (Heron or Egret, both are correct), Ardea alba egretta, seen here stalking unsuspecting frogs and geckos in the shrubbery in our fair city. This heron/egret is also the symbol adopted by the Audubon Society, which selected the then-threatened white heron because its beautiful plumage was used in ladies’ hats back in the late 19^th/early 20^th Century. President Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the efforts of the Audubon Society and the US government in stopping the mass slaughter of birds for women’s fashions. 

Back to food, one of my favorite topics. Corvette Chick decided to make a special dinner the other night for her mom Ruthie and me; she has this new healthy cookbook written by two wacky Canadian gals (is that redundant?), Janet and Greta Podleski. Why wacky? Well, their recipes have some weird names like “A Penne for Your Thoughts” and “The Roast of Christmas Past”. She selected “Gringo’s Starr”, baked cavatappi pasta with spicy ground turkey tomato sauce, two cheeses and fresh cilantro; I selected the Pinot Noir. Both were really yummy, and received two thumbs up from Ruthie and YFC. Ruthie brought dessert, a modified/rescued Pennsylvania Dutch whoopie pie. Ruthie was worried about it, but we assured her that she could make that recipe every week for the next five years and we'd be happy as clams. (How happy are clams, really? Let's save that for another day...)

On Saturday we were invited to a birthday party... now I must say, this is not a common party theme here in The Villages. Most people neither want nor seek reminders of the passing of time. But this was a special case. Our good friend Mike Breault was turning 60, or as one of his neighbors explained, Mike was becoming an “Entry Level Senior”. (Wish I could go back to those days...) Here is Mike and his Lovely Bride Cheryl on their lanai overlooking Lake Sumter. Cheryl is holding her elderly, decrepit hubby up so he doesn’t go face down in his birthday cake... Just kidding... Mike is actually a serious bike jock. Last Spring he took me on a 50 miler up through Harbor Hills; I’m still recovering. 

Okay, Good News from The Bus! The roof leak that I worked on has been corrected, hopefully for good! I used an entire tube of clear silicone to (in very technical terms) “caulk the bloody hell” out of the five orange running lights on the leading front edge of the coach roof. 10 minutes of soaking with a garden hose and there were no signs of water penetration inside The Bus. Hoo-ray!