Sunrise; Pizza Soup and Cherries; A Boston Jag; Geo Quiz #2

Okay, for all you LB’s (that’s Navy slang for “Lazy Butts”) who don’t get up until 9:00 AM, here’s what you’re missing at 7:20 or so... so tomorrow, plan on an “early rev” to catch sunrise as it happens.  

The other night Suzanne’s mom Ruthie and Elizabeth Magee joined us for dinner, and I prepared Ty’s Amazing Pea Soup. Now you may scoff about soup as a main course, but my pea soup is not only delectable, but is also hearty, being filled with Southern ham (not that thin Yankee stuff). We jokingly call it “pizza soup” because Suzanne had invited her mom over for dinner last year and mentioned that we were having pea soup, but that was when our AT&T cell phone service was very spotty, and only every other word was understandable. Well, Ruthie sat down for dinner, and when I put a bowl of green pea soup in front of her, she looked at it in shock, and said, “That doesn’t look like pizza!” So from then on, it became “pizza soup”. Since Ruthie is fond of dessert (and who isn’t?), I followed the main course with Cherries Jubilee, complete with flaming brandy... the neighborhood watch happened to be driving by, and came running in with a fire extinguisher, but I managed to tackle him before he could ruin my dessert....

Last night, while Suzanne was showing our Messages of Hope movie in Cherry Hill, NJ, I treated myself to dinner out at Bonefish Grill. I hesitate to mention commercial establishments for fear of being accused of under-the-table endorsement payoffs, but who cares what critics say? I am in love with Bang-Bang Shrimp... My Lovely Bride knows that this is a lustful relationship that she can either tolerate or protest against, but it is undeniable. And it isn’t that fattening... so here I am, sitting at the bar awaiting my gastronomic ecstasy, when I hear the guy next to me talking about “cahs”... or “flaws”... I turn and say, “You must be from Boston.” He replies, “Gosh, how did you know?” “It must be the color of your shirt...” Tom is a retired Massachusetts State Trooper, so I had to be careful or I’d be on my face on the “flaw” with cable ties on my wrists before you could say “Yeah, I’m a Yankees fan, so what!”  But seriously, Tom and his wife Leslie were a delightful couple, married for forever, and returning to the frozen north on the morrow to spend time with grandkids. 

Tom and Leslie live “on the wah-tah” in Marshfield, Mass, if I understood Tom’s accent properly. I asked if Hurricane Sandy was going to affect his home, and I think he said, “No, I’ll just arrest it if it comes our way”... okay, maybe that wasn't a direct quote, but you get the idea... this is a “no BS kinda guy”! Tom and I found several common interests - fast cars for one... he had a black Jag convertible out front that he swore was both quiet and fast (how can it be both, I wondered?).  I offered to trade our Mitsubishi Eclipse for his Jag, but he just laughed... can you imagine how insulted I was? Tom told a great story about when he was dating Leslie, she showed up to pick him up in her new Dodge Charger while he was standing on the corner with his buds. They were all shocked, first that Tom had such a hot date, but almost as much that she would give him her car keys for a great muscle car like a Charger. (Maybe they knew his driving record better than Leslie did?)  We also had a bit of common history, having both been sent on vacation to Viet Nam in our youths.

Okay, here is this week’s Geo-Quiz... The winner (and his/her guest), judged solely by my absolute and arbitrary decision, will be guests of Your Correspondent (and His Lovely Bride) for coffee and pastries at Panera in The Villages. Here is the building to be identified, but you must also answer two additional questions to complete the quiz. Specifically, (1) What is the name of the building? (2) Where is it located? (3) What natural event(s) led to its loss of popularity? You may post your answers at the bottom of this blog post or email me at ftgiesemann@aol.com for manual entry.