Dearmissmermaid's Blog

Meow

There is a biologist who makes a small fortune from our government studying woodpeckers. Oh the things I learn while workamping for the Wildlife Management. A person who studies birds is an ornithologist. A person who studies and accounts for the woodpecker population is a pecker checker.

Lately my sleep has been interrupted often, not sure what’s up with that. I would love to be able to sleep 5-6 hours at a time, but my body has other ideas of merely cat-napping. Meow. Maybe I am really just a cat who thinks I am human. Isn’t that how cats think?

Mermaid? Maybe not. I think I am really just a cat. Meow.

For lack of fur, I’ve learned to change clothes several times a day, in itself frustrating. In the mornings I am dressed for a blizzard, to ward off the winds and cold temps. By mid afternoon, I’m dressing for a cool summery day. It seems crazy to be wearing socks, boots, leggings, pants, sweaters, coats in the morning, then sandals and a sundress after lunch.

All this clothing-changing statically overcharges my hair some days . Recently, it was so charged up that it was slowly flying around my head like I was possessed by the devil. Even worse, I hate those little static shocks when I ground onto something. They make me yelp so loud, the dog was giving me startled looks. You know… the kind that silently says “You’re one crazy cat!”

Meow.

Right when I figured out how to stay warm on just portable electric heat in my little old motorhome, the temps decided to go up. After a few 29F nights, we’ve been suddenly treated to a toasty 39F this morning. Daytime temps are slowly climbing back up from the 50′s to the 70′s. Thank goodness, because I really don’t like being cooped up inside like a hibernating cave dweller. I’ve had a really hard time dealing with the outside frigid temps. I need to grow some thick winter fur for sure. Meow.

I mentioned before that I wear men’s house slippers because my feet are short and wide with a high instep. Women’s slippers tend to be so narrow, that I can’t wear them without deforming my toes or foot or both. Awhile back I bought some men’s slippers heavily discounted, so that when winter rolled around, my feet would be warm. I am so grateful to have these nice warm slippers, even if they are a tad masculine.

The first cold night, I dug out my screaming red super soft long sleep shirt to wear. Sadly, it has several holes in it. Is something eating my clothes or is it just old? You would be surprised how much cold air can sneak inside the holes. Brrr! Where do these holy clothes come from? Now that I think about it, this sleep shirt is at least 10+ years old. I used to wear it when I lived in the Caribbean on those nights when temperatures plummeted below 70F, making me shiver and shake. I guess things eventually wear out, being better suited for the garbage than the closet.

The next night I dug out my other night shirt. It used to be a bold purple, but now it’s so faded, it only hints at pale lavender. It’s become so threadbare as to be almost useless. I dare day you can see right through it. Even worse, it has stains on the front. It looks like I prefer eating only half my breakfast and wearing the other half.

Early one morning, while my shades were still drawn to keep out the frigid cold, someone stopped by, knocking on my door. The mail box is just over a half mile away. Eight of us share the box. So whoever, empties the box, gets to re-deliver the mail to the other recipients. They do things differently, out here in the boonies.

So I was startled, to hear the knocking and be caught in my unsightly threadbare night shirt. I needed my prescription glasses to peek out the window to see who was there. I didn’t see my regular eyeglasses, but since my sunglasses are prescription and they were on the counter, I popped them on to look outside. Seeing it was the mail, I hollered “Be right there!” Then I grabbed the first thing at hand, which was a long trench coat. Two winters ago, on a very cold day, I bought a used olive green unisex double breasted trench coat from Goodwill. It drapes just below my knees and is oh so warm on a c-c-c-old day out. I bought this before I bought the jacket (I wrote about the other day.) The coat is too long to fit in my closet, so it lives on a hanger, on a decorative mermaid hook on the wall. I put on the trench coat, hastily buttoning it up, while answering the door. It completely hid the night shirt, perhaps looking like I was wearing nothing at all under the coat.

The caller gave me a very strange look, then handed over my mail. I thanked them profusely while they continued to stare at me, jaw agape.

I guess, now that I think back on it, maybe I did look just a tad unusual, standing there answering my door, wearing men’s bedroom slippers, dressed in a long olive trench coat, donning dark sunglasses, with my lengthy static-charged hair slowly flying oddly above and around my head like Madusa.

It reminded me that I think somewhere at some time, I saw a Pink Panther cartoon with the big tall pink cat dressed the same way, imitaiting the little man that usually chases him around in a trench coat (only he didn’t have long hair flitting about his head.)

Maybe I am really a cat. A very strange eccentric cat.

Meow.

My beloved cat.
I miss him every day.
I so wish he would be FOUND.
I foolishly lost him when I flew to America in late 2009.
See Lost Lil Bear Cat

January 6, 2012 at 3:24 PM 2 comments

And The Rest Of It Followed

“Airport officials said the nose of the aircraft went off the taxiway, and the rest of the plane followed it into the grass. ” Quote from: Plane carrying 150 passengers skids off icy runway and gets stuck in grass (By the way, no one was injured, just inconvenienced and the plane was fine.)

Does this quote strike anyone else besides me as hilarious? No need to drug test those pilots, what kind of grass were those airport officials smoking?

Imagine trying to explain how your car knocked down a utility pole:
“Well officer, the nose of the car hit the pole and the rest of the car followed it…”

Or how about the time I tripped and fell forward while walking down a sloped driveway a few years back… ”My nose hit the ground and the rest of my body followed…”

One time I watched a boat trying to dock, but he came in so fast, he crashed into the dock. “The bow of the boat crashed through the dock and the rest of the boat followed it…”

So what started this hilarity? Well, I was about to tuck myself into bed tonight, when suddenly a great big jet(?) flew just above the tree tops. Needless to say, it was incredibly loud. I opened up my window and screen, then stuck my head outside the RV, to see WHAT was going on. Seeing as I am 30 miles out in the wilderness, I was expecting a UFO but it appeared to be a large jet coming in for a nearby landing.

I’ve only been here 2-3 months, but I’ve not ever heard a plane around here at all. However, I have seen a helicopter fly over here once.

I went on the internet to see what airports were south of me that could accommodate a jet that big.

Turns out Florida has loads of airports, air strips and air parks. According to google’s map, by golly, there is an air park south of here. Maybe someone chartered a jet to go to their manse there.

Somehow I ended up on the above news article when google misunderstood what I was searching for. I read and reread that quote;

“Airport officials said the nose of the aircraft went off the taxiway, and the rest of the plane followed it into the grass. “

So, I could easily describe the jet that passed overhead: The nose of a jet flew by close overhead… and the rest of the plane followed it… Tee hee hee…

I’m going to bed, it’s already c-c-cold here, supposed to get down to 30 effing degrees tonight.

Oops, I meant 30F degrees. (Me bad!)

Night night!

I am taking my nose to bed… hopefully the rest of me will follow it.

January 5, 2012 at 5:48 AM 5 comments

A Good Friend

Sunset last night immediately pushed the temperature downwards.

I bet the northerners are laughing themselves silly at how cold I get so easily. It did get to 34F that I saw last night, not the late 20′s we were told by the weather folks. I just want to slide under the bed covers, staying there until winter is over.

Yesterday I wrote that.

Today at 4am, it is down to 29F degrees outside and 64F inside my RV despite the fact that both my electric heaters have been running nonstop all night on high. In Florida. *sigh*. So by 6am, it may be much colder. I am up writing, because I am restless. I got up to check to see if the water was still running, to make sure the electric heater was working and to put on more clothes. I even turned on the propane furnace to take the chill off. Mostly I rely on an electric 1500 watt cylindrical ceramic heater. Thanks goodness I have an electric bed warmer, or I would have never been able to sleep as long as I did. Even Harley is wearing a sweater over his doggy T-shirt, plus curled up tightly in a ball under an afghan on the bed. When I took off his filthy sweater last night, he gave me a sad look. Then I pulled out a nice clean sweater, popped that over his head, pulled his front paws through the armholes, tugging the sweater down his belly. This apparently made him instantly happy again. He treated me to doggy kisses. Yuck! Doggy germs!

Every window shade is pulled down as far as it will go, to helps keep the cold out. I miss looking out the windows, even at night. The tiny personal 200 watt ceramic heater is in the bathroom helping to keep it toasty in there. I ordered a second one yesterday, because they are so tiny, draw very little power and uber useful. I was using mine to keep my feet warm under the desk. It was originally designed for cubicle workers with cold feet. But then I discovered how nice it works in my compact RV bathroom. I’ve also used it to defrost the freezer in record time. It’s only 3.8 x 4.3 x 6.1 inches. The 200 watt rating means it won’t trip your circuit breaker.

A lazy way to defrost the freezer in record time…

The Lasko personal heater comes with a long heavy duty cord.

Here, I have wrapped a bungee cord around it,

then attached a carabiner to it and the cabinet latch above.

My freezer was so thick with frost, I could no longer insert the ice trays.

By the time I found a camera to take a picture, it was time to mop out the freezer, it had defrosted so quickly with the aid of the 200 watt heater.

Yesterday, I bundled up Harley and myself to go for a doggy walk. I ran into other workampers who wanted to stand around and chat. I coaxed one into walking with me, as I can’t stand around in frigid temperatures. I need to walk or I’ll pass out.

On our brisk stroll we found leftovers of an expired hog, who was long ago dead. Harley wanted to rub that stinky scent all over his nice warm doggy sweater. Then the other doggy came out to play. He and Harley had a fun good time wrestling, chasing, play-biting and trying to find the quickest way to get Harley and his sweater filthy dirty in as short a time as possible.

Harley had a rowdy good time. Some of his winter sweaters show puppy wear and tear from enthusiastic play time. The colder it gets, the more Harley wants to run and wrestle with the other dog.

The winds kicked up to 35+ miles per hour with higher gusts. I could have sailed across the prairie if I had a sail and a rudder on my wheel estate. Many things under my gazebo went flying. I had a heavy table fan out there, we were using to blow the flies away when they bothered us. Between uses, I tied a garbage bag over it, to protect it from the elements. It cartwheeled across the lawn like an errant newspaper caught up on the winds. I haven’t looked inside the bag to see how many dents it has now.

It was time to go indoors. I was shivering despite wearing a long sweater dress over another dress, over thick leggings with socks, boots and a sturdy jacket. The jacket is so heavy, that when I was shopping for it at the Goodwill store 2 years ago, I was still pretty weak from my illness. I picked it up to try it on, and it seemed so heavy, I couldn’t hold onto it long enough to try it on. I sadly put it back on the rack, still on the hanger. A few weeks later, I was feeling a bit stronger, the same jacket I liked was still in the Goodwill store, only now it was slightly reduced.

I felt like the world’s strongest lady when I was able to pick it up, put it on and buy it. I must admit, in spite of Goodwill’s high prices for used clothing, it was a very well made jacket that must have cost a fortune when new. It didn’t even look used. Oddly enough, it’s a unique European design, made in Germany. It has 5 pockets, with the two hand pockets well insulated. It looked just like a jacket my close friend from Germany used to wear. Actually he was an old lover, but when we stopped dating eons ago, we remained very close friends up until his sudden passing just before I moved back to America in late 2009. Matter of fact, a few years prior, when I had to urgently travel from the Caribbean to America, to attend my father’s funeral, he dashed over to my hotel, to announce he would be escorting me to the funeral. Now that is a true friend indeed.

As I drove away from the store, it occurred to me that he used to live only a few blocks away at the time of his death. Was this his jacket? He always kept his clothes very well maintained and this jacket came with a dry cleaning tag on it. I will never know, but every time I wear it, I think of all the wonderful memories I have of my friend and the good times we had together.

January 4, 2012 at 12:40 AM Leave a comment

World of Beauty

Tonight is going to be the coldest night we’ve had so far this year. It’s expected to get down to the late 20′s. But we are only 2 days into the new year. Maybe it’s the coldest this winter, so far.

I am moving to Florida. It’s just too cold here. My mermaid blood just can’t take this frigid weather. Bah humbug!

Oh wait. Let me check. Oops! I am in Florida. Central Florida. Out in no man’s land. I do so love the beauty here. Today it was in the mid 70′s. By 8pm it is already down to 50F and dropping.

I am shivering. The little ceramic heater is on full blast. I get up to check the thermometer and notice an open window. *Sigh* Maybe if I close the window, it will finally warm up inside. (Did my brain freeze up?)

Here are some candid photos I took and a map of the location I shot them in. Life is beautiful (but getting c-c-c-cold.)

My location on the palmetto prairie at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Florida.

Characteristic plants are saw palmetto, beardgrass, gallberry, wiregrass, and carpetgrass.
Pine trees and cabbage-palms hammocks are widely scattered.

Sunrise resembles fire in the distance.
Low lying fog blurs the undergrowth.

My little puppy dog and I walk this road several times a day.
He likes to water the plants and fertilize them.

There is always something beautiful in bloom.

The western sunlight begins to fade beneath a canopy of clouds.

January 3, 2012 at 6:15 AM 4 comments

Looking Cool

Fabulous Pictures…

I’ve found that I practically need to wear the camera 12/7 to capture fantastic pics. Once you miss an awesome photo op, it’s gone forever. I need a camera like a miner’s light; stuck to my forehead!

Pet Cam…

Sometimes I wish I could put a pet cam on Harley to see what he sees at his diminutive height. I think all he sees when it comes to people, is their shoes and shins. He loves people and wants to see their faces or plant a kiss on them or both. I’ve tried to discourage him from jumping on folks, something a puppy loves to do. He will often try to greet a person by standing on 2 legs with his front paws almost reaching their thigh. While this is cute, it’s not cool.

Now when he has the urge to greet people by touching them with his front paws, I often just snatch him up, holding him upright in my arm, so that his eyesight is about level with ours. This enables him to see the faces of the folks he wants to flirt and lavish his love upon.

Harley plays king of the mountain with my bed pillows.
He is wearing his new birthday coat.
We came back from a walk.
When I tried to remove his coat, he ran for his pillow mountain, so I left it on him.
Silly dog!

Ut Oh…

I thought by moving to America I was forever escaping frequent random power outages. But here in the middle of nowhere, we have power hiccups. For some strange reason, a power hiccup can shut down my heater. This happened recently while I was sleeping. Outside temps were plummeting to the very low 40′s. My particular motorhome was built for occasional vacationing, not for year round living. Just the same, I am living in it year round. It is insulated, but not very well. So it loses heat quickly. I woke up shivering, cold and having health problems that plague me when I am plunged into cold. I discovered the heater was on but off. Kind of like my brain… on but off…

So far our power hiccups have not exceeded 5 minutes, but it reminds me how wonderful that I am mostly self sufficient and prepared for longer power outages. But I wasn’t prepared for a safety heater that doesn’t come back on after a brief outage.

Now I have the propane furnace set up to come on as a backup. But I forgot to top up the propane when I was in Melbourne. It’s always something!

Finally! Harley poses in his new winter doggy coat! This was his birthday gift. He was very cold so he has a sweater on underneath. He also has his collar turned up. He thinks it makes him look cool.

January 2, 2012 at 2:44 AM 4 comments

New Year Resolutions

It’s new year’s eve. I so wish I were on the beach at Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands for Olde Year’s Night. But I am on the prairie at Three Lakes Wildlife Management near Kenansville, Florida.

Yes, I am still very homesick for the Caribbean. But I’ve forged a new life in America the past two years.

It’s warm today, so I feel very lucky and spoiled.

I am totally amazed at all the astonishing things I’ve done this past year. In 2011 I managed to travel around 4 states. Amazingly in 2010, I traveled in 17 states. I do have wanderlust under my feet, I so wish I could travel more. Sell more books, get the next book on the market. Make it happen…

I’m not going to discuss my health, but needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled I woke up alive, again today! Too many days were spent sick last year, and this year I want that to be zero.

For my new years resolutions, I want to be kinder, nicer and far more thankful.

I want to wake up alive every day. Not sure that counts as a resolution, but it’s certainly my goal.

Out with the negative, in with the positive. Smile more.

Smiling, even when alone, makes one feel instantly better. So I try to grin like a fool most of my day. I don’t get much done, but I feel great.

My list of resolutions could go on and on, but let’s keep it simple and reasonable. Notice I am not committing to giving up any bad habits. I’ve decided to focus on the idea that I do have plenty of good habits I so wish to maintain. OK, maybe a few good habits instead of plenty… Maybe one day I will figure a way to rid myself of the bad habits and be perfect like those that think they are perfect and feel like it’s their lot in life to point out my imperfections.

Last time someone tried to verbally beat me up over my bad habits. I asked them repeatedly to change the subject. I explained that I am not perfect. I doubt I ever will be. If they have managed to be perfect with no bad habits, then they are very lucky indeed but please stop berating me for not being perfect.

I am not sure I want to be perfect! It’s so much more fun to be less than perfect. Then I don’t feel so bad when I fail at things.

Recently I listened to an inspirational speaker on TV, (Joel Osteen)who was promoting the idea of ridding oneself of negative folks, to make room for more positive friends. He explained this in such a way, it really made sense. Not all people in our lives are meant to be there forever. It was something I had not realized before. Sometimes you have to let go. He said we were like a big building going up. Some people were the bricks, others were the scaffolding, just meant to be in our lives while we were under construction.

I so hate giving up any of my scaffolding.

December 31, 2011 at 8:32 PM 4 comments

Harley Gets A Brother From Another Mother

Harley wasn’t feeling well at all yesterday. He was c-c-cold, I was c-c-cold. When we went for a walk, we ran into his favorite puppy buddy who poked him. Harley grouched. His buddy playfully poked him again. This time Harley snarled at him.

We laughed about it, then I picked up my little ornory muffin. He was shaking and shivering something awful despite wearing a sweater with his new birthday coat over it. I tucked him inside the warmth of my jacket. We went back to the wheel estate to thaw out.

Harley refused to let me take his coat off. Instead he laid up on his white doggy blanket. He was still vibrating like a palm frond in a hurricane, so I tossed my alpaca shawl over him. I snapped his picture just before he dozed right off.

Drive by shooting…

Ever wonder what an orange grove looks like at 60 miles per hour? Well, I shot this pic while zipping by in the wheel estate to Melbourne Florida.

Harley gets a brother from another mother…

This is Harley’s latest love- his new little brother. I found him in a nearly new shop for 89 cents. Harley plays with him, romps with him, drags him around and generally annoys his little brother as much as possible. But clearly he is smitten. In this picture Harley is saying “Dude? What happened to your ear?”

Another drive by shooting… this one at 10 miles per hour.

Our big wide beautiful world offers up such glorious treats.

Sunset on the prairie resembles wildfire at Three Lakes Wildlife Management area near Kenansville, Florida.

December 30, 2011 at 8:30 PM Leave a comment

Blueberry Explosion

Blueberry Explosion

Well, I drove to the medical mess I have to attend to in Melbourne Florida. Fifty-three miles later, when I arrived, I was thirsty. I opened my refrigerator in my motorhome. Out sprang a pint of treasured blueberries which literally exploded, bouncing merrily across my floor and throw rugs, from one end of the wheel estate to the other.

I spent the next twenty-three minutes picking up one thousand nine hundred and eighty-two blueberries. I had no idea they could pack so many in a pint. Then I spent another eight minutes trying to wash all the debris off of them. For the price I paid for their health giving benefits, I surely couldn’t waste them. (But it was fun to curse them!)

Doggy Collision

I am a very bad pet parent. Normally I have little Harley’s pet bed attached to the seat belt. Harley is then tethered to a dog leash, which is attached to the seat belt. This is to prevent him from accidentally going through the windshield should we have an accident. He isn’t interested in bouncing around the wheel estate when we are moving, so he doesn’t mind this arrangement. But I was in a hurry, the seat belt jammed under the seat when I rotated it back to the forward position. (Many motorhomes like mine have a passenger seat that rotates 360 degrees so you can use it in the living room area too.) I didn’t hook his bed to it. He is so used to sitting in the passenger seat, in his bed, while we ride, that I didn’t attach his leash, which had fallen down into never-never land.

Shame on me. Tsk tsk tsk! I am a very bad pet parent. I feel horrible.

Another driver in the lane to the right of us, put on his right turn signal. Suddenly he jammed on the brakes while cutting to the left, directly in front of my bumper. I hit the brakes so hard to avoid the collision, that I came up out of my seat. I am sure I used up ten thousand miles of rubber. The driver then cut over again, to the next left lane, while his right turn signal was still on. From what I could tell, he just had a turn signal, no brake lights. I thought turn signals automatically turned off, especially if you were turning the opposite direction.

Poor little Harley, bed and all, went cartwheeling into the floorboard with a startled yelp. I felt so awful. Traffic was heavy, and not much I could do to help him but talk softly while my heart raced so heavy and fast, I thought it would leap right out of my chest. He didn’t come crawling out at first. I couldn’t see the passenger floorboard from where I sat to drive. Oh my gosh, did I just kill my puppy?

I managed to briefly compose myself long enough to change lanes to enter a parking lot just as little Harley appeared, looking very worried. I stopped, turned off the engine, then gave Harley loads of loving while consoling him. I am not sure who was more upset. Me or him.

Irate Camper

I went to Wickham Park in Melbourne Florida to check in for a night of camping. I needed to stay overnight, due to my medical mess, which has taken a, hmm, how to say it, I am not sure. But things are quickly becoming critical and I am in a mild state of shock. There are also problems with my workamping, having to do with my health, that I can’t and won’t go into now.

Living and loving each and every day is oh so important. I can’t keep wasting time crying but it sure feels good to have a good long cry anyhow.

I was so lucky to eventually get a spot, because they were nearly booked solid. I had to wait a long time behind an irate man. When I had called a few weeks ago, to get a reservation I was told I needed to book 2 or more nights. This would interfere with my workamping which is already “up in the air” about my future here. So at the time, I didn’t want to spend 2 nights away, if that was going to cause more problems. So I just had to show up and take my chances they could find a spot for me for one night.

Matter of fact, I am so glad I had a wonderful Christmas, because my life has quickly gone upset down, with devastating news that I am still trying to process through my tiny addled brain. I am not going to whine about it right now, besides I am still very confused! Nothing new there is there?

The irate man claimed the lot they gave him was too small, but he liked lot 81, but someone was already parked there, but plugged into lot 82. He wanted them to move the campers in 81 over to 82, so he could have 81. The clerk tried to explain that 81 only had one night open, and his reservation was for 10 days and she had a spot for him for 10 days. On and on he whined and fussed and complained and berated the hapless clerk.

He said lot 81 was huge and he had looked at 77 and deemed it too small. He went on and on about his reservation and that he had reserved some other lot number (I forget which) and they had switched him around. The clerk tried to explain that when they are busy and booked to capacity, they have to sometimes shuffle the lot numbers around. She explained they do not guarantee a specific lot number when you make a reservation but they try hard to honor the requests but it’s not always a perfect world.

After about twenty minutes of patiently waiting and watching this grown man throw a temper tantrum, holding up the line, I was seriously daydreaming about giving him a swift kick in the shins, tell him to grow up, suck it up, and be damn happy he was alive and vacationing in Florida with his family, in his RV (which I looked out the window and suspect he paid well over a quarter million dollars for it.) He was also towing a car that probably cost some where over $35,000 too. Poor fellow. I could see his kids eating at a table inside his RV.

I was starving for a sandwich and worrying whether I would make my medical appointment on time or not. If I skipped the sandwich, would I be even grumpier? I realized I was about to drool, whatever the kids were eating, sure made me even hungrier. For good measure, my stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. It seemed to be the first time the man had noticed that anyone else was waiting to pay rent for a camping spot.

This poor guy really had it tough, oh life was so rough on him. Now the clerk at the park had simply ruined his entire life. He wanted to make sure both she and I knew this. How sad. I debated about bursting into tears and telling the guy that I felt very, very sorry for him and his rotten lot in life.

As time wore on, I realized Harley and I would not be going to the dog park. I had this wild ridiculous dream, I was going to pay for my night at the campground, then go to the dog park 100 yards away, for 30 minutes while Harley played I would eat a sandwich, then we would drive to my medical mess. When we returned we would finally park at the campgound. If we got a spot. If this man ever got tired of his seemingly endless temper tantrum.

I seriously began daydreaming again, wondering what would they do, if I really did kick him in the shin and tell him to get over it? Would I be arrested for assaulting another camper? What would happen to Harley?

Then I took pity. That poor guy really had it ROUGH. I should get out my violin and play him a sad little tune.

Here is little old me with my petty little worries about living and dying and being organized when I do one or the other.

Finally the guy went outside to confer with his wife who was in the RV with the kids.

I put on my biggest goofiest smile, handed over my ID and money, then tried my best to be polite while I asked for a spot, ANY spot, 81 or 77, I didn’t really care, they were all so lovely to me. I also asked if it would be a problem, if my lot sat empty while I went to the doctors, would it still be there when I came back. She assured me that once the lot was paid for, no one would steal it.

She gave me a parking permit with doublestick tape to put on my windshield, and I bolted out the door. I nearly collided with the man who was entering, loudly proclaiming he wanted a refund. Well, good riddance was all I could think. If he was psychic, he would have probably killed me by now, for all the awful things I was thinking.

Harley and I climbed up in my little old motorhome. We were parked next to his palace. We looked like a little toy camper next to his mega rig. I looked at the clock, there wasn’t time for a sandwich nor a dog park. Just time to go battle traffic for my appointment.

Shame on me for not planning better. I forgot to plan for this stranger’s temper tantrum.

When I returned hours later, dead tired, green to the gills, it was pouring down rain. At the doctor’s office, they claimed I had lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks. I think this is preposterous. Funny math going on here!

I politely said I think they made a mistake weighing me. Come to think of it, two weeks ago, I was dressed for summer. Today I was dressed up in layers of clothes for the wintry 46F weather. I should weigh 12 pounds more, not 12 pounds less. Then the next lady to come around, looked at my chart and said I lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks. I laughed and told her it was a mistake. She looked at me like I was crazy.

The other day someone else said I had lost weight too, but I laughed at them and accused them of saying that just so I would smile and laugh. It’s too cold for me to undress and check the mirror to see if I am missing 12 pounds, but I am sure they got that all wrong.

Sadly Harley and I had to drive by the empty dog park, while he frantically pawed at the window, whining for me to pull over and play in the park. I don’t think he quite understood it was pouring down buckets of rain and not a soul was around.

We arrived at camping lot 81 after closely scrutinizing 77. It was empty and it was huge, you could have parked an 18 wheel oversized tractor trailer on 77, with room for 6 more cars and still have space left over for outdoor chairs, table and toys. WHAT was the guy whining about when he told the clerk that 77 was just too small for him?

At lot 81, sure enough, a tiny camper had parked on lot 81, but was plugged into lot 82. I guess the arrows on the utility post meant nothing to them. But much to my happiness, there was still plenty of room for me to park on 81 and plug up my umbilical cord. Sure I would have preferred to park lengthwise on the lot, but if I parked near the post for 81, I would have plenty of room anyhow. Besides it was still raining so hard, I wondered if I should worry about building an ark instead. No one appeared to be home in the tiny camper. Outside, they had a plethora of soggy wet outdoor camping gear.

Then I began to worry, was I on the wrong lot? Was I suppose to be on 81, 82 or on 77? Why couldn’t I remember? I couldn’t find my receipt. How did I lose it so quickly?

I called the office, then said “Someone is parked on 81, plugged into 82, and I am on 81 also, plugged into 81, but 77 is empty, and I can’t find my receipt and am I on the right spot? She paused for a moment, then assured me I was supposed to be on 81. She also told me my receipt was folded up teeny tiny, then stapled to my parking permit which was taped to my windshield.

Ah ha!

Mystery solved.

She said she would send the park ranger out to see about the other camper on 81, and I said not to worry, I didn’t really care, I was already soaking wet just from plugging up the electric cord.

About ten minutes later, a park ranger banged on my door. He explained that the folks sharing 81 with me were supposed to be on 82, but since they were all set up anyhow, and no one was at home, if it was OK with me, then they would just as soon leave them alone. He said he had already mentioned to them that next time they camped, they should pay closer attention to the arrows on the utility post that designate where your lot is. We had a good laugh over it, and I told him it didn’t bother me to share the lot with them.

Later they came home, it was 4 people and one large dog staying in this tiny camper that looked to be about 18 feet long. When the rain stopped, I walked Harley, who stopped to play with their big dog. We chatted for a bit and they said they were sorry they had misunderstood and set up on the wrong lot. I told them it was OK. Life ain’t perfect anyhow.

I wonder where that grumpy old RV-er in his palace went to camp? I was glad he took his bad vibes elsewhere.

December 29, 2011 at 5:32 PM 4 comments

My New Fuffy

Harley and I are headed for Melbourne again. I have medical mess there today and tomorrow then again on January something at 8am. I am not a morning person. I get up, I move around, I make coffee, but that in no way means I am actually awake and functioning. Lately my brain has been slow to get in gear. This makes for a comical life at times.

Last night I was sorting through the mountain of paperwork that is threatening to make my motor home exceed her maximum weight limit. Right when I thought I was about to get some of it under control, I found a huge bag of unopened mail, that has been forwarded from four past addresses. I keep telling the powers to be that I want to do everything electronically, but some just insist it has to be done by mail and not email or internet or phone. Good grief.

I kept making excuses not to tackle the paperwork. This is so funny to me! I used to be a wizard at forms, paperwork, filing and so on. But yesterday, I would wash dishes, do laundry, pet the dog, haul the garbage, anything to seemingly put off the paperwork. I even spent an inordinate amount of time making up the bed, so I could then use it as a sorting table for the mountain of papers.

I did find my new vehicle tags, so I installed them. I found my insurance bill exactly one day before it was due. Funny, I signed up for electronic billing with them too, but they never sent me an email or anything. The forwarded bill finally found me, in the nick of time.

My bedroom wall is in progress, I still need to put it back together. I took it apart for another project I am about half way done with. More on that later. I seem to live in a construction zone.

This morning I planned to sleep late, since I have so much to do when I do get up. But the hunters were lining up outside at 4:30am. I could hear the roar of their engines. The station opens at 5am. By 5:15am, it appeared that no one showed up to open up the hunters station at all and it wasn’t set up for self-service. I could see the line of hunters waiting had grown longer. I reluctantly got up, threw on a dress, because it was the closest thing at hand, grabbed a flashlight then ran over in the rain and opened up. I felt bad the hunters had been waiting so long. I handed out their paperwork, then set everything up for self-service. I came back to the motorhome. Harley didn’t even get up to greet me. Tsk tsk tsk. He did poke his head around from the passenger seat where he has been sleeping lately in his doggy bed. He saw I was OK, then promptly curled back up to sleep. Even he knew it wasn’t our scheduled day to work.

I snapped his sleepy picture when I came back home this morning.

I am super shy today. I don’t feel like going over to wake up the folks that are supposed to work, because I have no idea why they didn’t show up. Maybe there was a schedule change and no one told me. So what if I woke up the wrong people? They might wake up really grouchy and yell at me. Anything to avoid stress… I have a stressful day ahead anyhow, so I am trying to remain calm.

Anyhow, it’s taken care of now, so no worries! I would have just stayed and worked, but I really need to get organized to go to Melbourne. If I miss these appointments, bad things will happen. So I must press forward, rain and all. The unmanned hunters station will have to remain a mystery for now.

A gentle reader sent me a box of goodies for Christmas. Inside a beautifully wrapped package was this super soft alpaca shawl. They had read my two favorite clothing colors were red and purple. The shawl is stunningly beautiful and oh so soft, woven from red and purple. I feel like a newborn baby when it touches my skin.

As a bonus, it coordinates so nicely with the upholstery, that I will never put it away. It will get loads of use, to ward off the chills that plague me at the strangest times.

It is so big, so luxurious, that I am using it as a lap blanket as I type this morning, trying to redo my schedule. Sleeping late (until 8am) isn’t going to happen now that I am up since 5am anyhow.

This velvety alpaca is my new “fuffy”. When I was a mere babe, I was an avid thumb sucker with a security blanket which I called my “fuffy”. It was a super soft baby blanket that I came home from the hospital in. As I grew old enough to talk, my mother said I couldn’t pronounce fluffy, so “fuffy” it became. I thought I was the only child in the whole wide world who required a fuffy and thumb sucking to be happy. Then around Christmas, in 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” aired. I was enthralled to meet Linus, the thumb-sucking, blanket-toting character. I felt so empowered. I was not alone! There was someone else who was like me. It was like being from another planet, and finally meeting someone who knew where I came from.

Linus, you rock my world!

Although I gave up the thumb sucking to attend first grade without ridicule, my fuffy stayed with me until my home burned down just before midnight, on leap year day in 1976. Even though I wasn’t carrying fuffy around 24/7 anymore, I was cuddling with it every night as I slept. After my home burned down, I seriously suffered from insomnia. It had slept me with me every night of my life. I was bereft. Nothing in this world has ever come close to replacing my fuffy, until now.

Am I regressing? Could be! Can’t remember…

An odd note about “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is that the network execs hated it! It was criticized as being too religious—Linus quotes straight from the King James Bible (Luke 2:8-14). It was criticized for featuring contemporary jazz, an offbeat choice for a cartoon. It was criticized for not having a laugh track. It was criticized for using the voices of real children (except for Snoopy).

Luke 2:8-14
King James Version

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Yet, ”A Charlie Brown Christmas“ was an instant hit. It is now the longest running cartoon special in history, airing every year since its debut. Just goes to show that then, like now, the network execs are often clueless as to what the people want, enjoy and cherish. For me, it also introduced me to a life long love of jazz.

I even watched it this year! I was trying to find wholesome Christmas specials to watch. My old boyfriend often claims my taste in movies and TV is about equal to that of a 10 year old.

Most of my life I have happily lived without a TV. I’ve set foot in a movie theater so few times, I can count them all on both hands and even name off those few movies I saw in a theater. This lack of TV and movies, has probably contributed to my voracious consumption of a zillion books. When it comes to books, I read anything, the naughty, the nice, the gruesome, the adventurous, the true, the novel, the sad, the happy. But with TV or movies, the pendulum swings the other way, I pretty much have a G-rated interest.

After two years of no TV in the motorhome, I have recently become a main stream American who now owns a TV. I am not sure whether to be ashamed or excited. It turns out my wheel estate has a built-in roof top TV antenna, that can be cranked up vertically. Amazingly, I get a lot of channels, since I am parked in the middle of nowhere on flat land. I pick up signals that are 50 miles away.

My favorite buttons on the remote are MUTE and OFF. When the commercials come on, I mute them. When my G-rated show is over, I turn it off. I avoid the news, but I sneak peeks at the weather channel since I wrote informal Caribbean weather reports for 15 years. That is how I became “Dear Miss Mermaid”. Another story, for another day.

For now, I am curling up with my new fuffy, sucking at my coffee cup, rather than my thumb.

A big thank you to a certain angel, for such a wonderful surprise on Christmas! My new fuffy! This has been the best Christmas ever. WOW, I must be spoiled rotten.

December 27, 2011 at 5:39 PM 1 comment

A Good Laugh Or A Good Life

My right arm isn’t working right this morning. (It’s pretending to be left.) I tried to make coffee and made a huge mess. Clean up on aisle two please!

Harley’s birthday, (he is two paws old now) just wore him out yesterday. He collapsed in his favorite spot on his blankie. This prime location fit him well as a puppy, but he has grown to an astonishing six-and-a-half pounds! He is wedged on top of the back of the dining settee which is behind the driver’s seat. His blankie is draped over the back of the driver’s seat headrest and the settee’s back cushion. I moved the driver’s seat to an upright position, which leaves a little gap where his blankie dips down. This gives him a little more room to squeeze into his treasured spot. Normally he likes to patrol from this location, as it commands him a wide view out windows on all sides. But the poor little fellow was just wore out.

He had all his favorite foods, plus a long play date with the other doggy that lives in the workampers’ area. Another workamper sang Happy Birthday to him while sitting down. Harley stood up on two legs, resting his paws on the thigh of the crooner, looking into his eyes while he sang. Oh I need to learn how to make videos with this camera, it was oh so cute.

Last week I was driving back from Leesburg Florida down highway 441 south. The weather was pleasant, I had my windows down, enjoying the fresh air in spite of the holiday traffic pollution. I heard a loud roar coming up along side me. I just had to grab my camera for a drive-by shooting.

I would have loved to have met this woman. She obviously thinks outside the box. While she may go with the flow of traffic, she certainly doesn’t follow the crowd. She leads. I love it when people grasp their dreams, turning them into reality. At a traffic signal we all slowed down, but it turned green before we came to a complete stop. I got a nanosecond glimpse of her happy contented face.

This is the ham and pineapple I baked for our Christmas Birthday dinner with the other workampers.

I just love garlic bread, but had no bread on hand. Oh wait. I had parbaked pizza crust on hand. These were on sale two for a dollar, so I bought a small stack of them, as the “use by date’ was far off and I do love pizza now and then.

Anyhow, I sliced up the pizza dough into 8 wedges, then stir fried them in a pan with olive oil and garlic, then arranged them on a plate. This gave diners a choice of crispy or not so crispy garlic bread.

I also made baked beans in the crockpot and red skin potato salad with red, green and yellow bell peppers. I tossed up some fresh cooked baby carrots with honey,butter, ginger and cinnamon. The other cook brought this heavenly seafood dish with aromatic creamy rice plus sausage baked en croute for hors s’oeuvres and an awesome homemade cheesecake. We had a mountain of food for Christmas! We are all so blessed. I feel so very lucky.

This is the gazebo about 10 minutes before the guests arrived. The computer is set up, playing endless assorted Christmas tunes with a continuous roaring fireplace on the screen. The guests laughed that I built an electronic fire for Christmas! Some of the Christmas tunes were from the Caribbean, which gave them a giggle too. Now they are all singing “Santa Claus got a sunburn…”

The white curtain, is attached to the gazebo frame with spring clamps. Sometimes the sun is so intense, it is blinding, so I can move the curtain and spring clamps to block the direct sun. It’s actually a thin blanket, but it’s thick enough to block the sun but still let the light through. Everything in my little old RV has to do double and triple duty to be useful. Luckily the blanket is just the right length not to drag on the ground. The patio mat looks like a real rug but it’s really made of polypropylene. It’s woven so that is is breathable and doesn’t kill the grass underneath, hence mine is a tad lumpy. I’ve been using my patio mat for nearly 2 years now. It is still in great shape. It’s a reversible pattern too. Mine is 9×12 feet.

The screaming red chair is my Santa Claus chair. Angels gave me some cash gifties. When this Sunbrella recliner chair was reduced to less than half price, I bought it as my gift. I am very lucky! The last two Decembers, I was in such dire straights, that cash gifts went for bare necessities such as food. This year, I had all my needs met, so I splurged on a chair since 3 of mine are falling apart. The other chairs in the picture were mostly borrowed. I feel oh so naughty! It’s high backed with 4 recliner positions and a pillow that attaches by velcro. Underneath it is a little tray table that slides in and out. The box arrived just before Christmas. It is very comfortable. (The chair, not the box.) The high back gives excellent back support. It reclines so nicely, that the day it arrived, I reclined in it, then fell asleep with Harley in my lap.

Maybe I spent my gifties too soon, because just this morning, my tooth broke off and fell out, much to my horror. Today seems to be a national holiday, so no chance of finding a dentist. I hate to price compare, but I have no choice. Last year I saw a dentist in Orlando that I liked a lot. He was extremely reasonable, I hope he still is. But I have a medical appointment in Melbourne tomorrow for something else. So my medical care is being spread out far and wide.

Last week a friend came to visit. She gave me a Christmas gift of a huge bottle of rum with an equally huge bottle of pina colada mix. I rarely drink, wondering what I would do with this huge bottle of rum. So I put it out for Christmas. A few had drinks. One lady said she just wanted the coconut, so I made her a drink with just ice and the pina colada mix which is coconut and pineapple. I didn’t put any rum in it, because I thought she was a non-drinker.

About a half hour later, she said she was tired, that rum was making her very drunk! I tried to explain there was no rum in her drink but she claimed to be drunk. Since her husband had seen me make the drink, he could verify her drink was a virgin. We had a good laugh and offered her some real rum. She scrutinized the pina colada mix to verify there was no rum in it.

Harley and the other puppy played nearby on their tethers with the outdoor doggy toys. They were such good little doggies, they each had their share of ham plus bacon dog treats too. Harley was thrilled to have his buddies around him on his birthday. It was way too warm for him to wear his new coat, but I am sure he will get to prance around in it plenty, come January. He and the other dog play wrestled, then play fought over the toys, then they dug a hole and play fought over who ruled the hole. They kept us laughing while we stuffed our faces with all the great food.

Harley was hooked to his tether with his new bungee cord he got for his birthday a day early. He entertained us by running full speed ahead until he reached the end of his long tether, causing him to do a back flip! Now that he realizes he has a bungee cord again, he is doing his best to wear it out by bungee jumping and back flipping.

Silly dog!