Covered docks...lost cover...Taylor Creek Marina 
Oct 28, 2004
Fixin’ Things
Yesterday, Charlie and I, made a whirl-wind trip to Okeechobee….
Renting a car…..getting an upgrade because of lack of ‘mid-size’….
at 9:00 a.m. we left for our 2 ½ hr. trip to Okeechobee…
The rental car had the ‘Satellite Radio’ which was fun….
The Milagro’s out drive was damaged in one of the two storms that hit hard
in the Okeechobee area…..Charley or Jeanne.
My husband, Charlie, had pulled the Milagro out of the water last week and ’she’ was sitting on a trailer….looking so ….forlorn.
Our little Florida style fishing Marina was really hit hard….damage not being repaired….yet. See pictures below.
Within one hour of our arrival, Charlie and I had the out drive removed and was back on the road to deliver it to his out drive expert, Steve in St. Pete. all accomplished by 3:00 p.m.
Steve has been in the business for many a year and he said that he had never seen an out drive broken in quite the way of this one.
The severe winds lurching the boat up and down created an ’unnatural’ force which broke the arms holding it in place plus some internal damage….expensive damage.
Could have been worse as it was in many, many cases here in Florida.
Picking up the pieces of life and moving on is part of ‘normalcy’ anymore.
Thank God that our ‘damage’ is about ‘things’….and not people.
Course I know some people who need to be ‘fixed’ too….beginning with ME!
Oct 26, 2004
I Know Something GOOD....About YOU!!!
Wouldn't this old world be better If the folks we meet would say, "I know something good about you!"
And then treat us just that way?
Wouldn't it be fine and dandy If each handclasp warm and true Carried with it this assurance, "I know something good about you!"
Wouldn't life be lots more happy, If the good that's in us all Were the only things about us That folks bothered to recall?
Wouldn't life be lots more happy, If we praised the good we see?
For there's such a lot of goodness In the worst of you and me.
Wouldn't it be nice to practice That fine way of thinking, too?
Especially in the good ole U.S.A.?
You know something good about me!
I know something good about you!
Find someone today....and start with these words..."I know something GOOD about YOU!".
You will be surprised by how 'Happy' this will make others....and yourself!
Oct 25, 2004
It’s Not Too Late….
Listening to a friend of mine speak about some ‘unrealized dreams’ made me remember that I, too….have a few that have been put on the shelf.
Actually, I’m a little bit lazy these days so bringing up an issue that will require something vital from me…..makes me want to procrastinate……
I hate it!
Which is more burdensome? ….knowing you must face something until it is resolved…or denying it and have it haunt you from time to time….
One is actually as bad as the other….
There is an ole saying from my Mom….’Go ahead and bite the bullet’ that I hear ringing in my ears…..
It is much better to go ahead and ‘resolve’ nagging issues…..then leave them unresolved….
Therefore, this week I will be working on one of my dreams….
…..To be continued!
Oct 22, 2004
The….’Truth’
Getting together with my prayer girls last night was a very good….and interesting experience.
Two of our group of four have conflicting schedules for our regular weekly meeting therefore we are trying to meet one evening a month.
Last night brought two other new friends as well.
Why would six busy, perfectly sane (?) women get together to share their hearts content about life and their family, with each other….and the God of the Universe?
Why subject oneself to such close scrutiny at all?
A stranger viewing our group last night….would have been appalled at the laughing we did when recounting our own foolishness, the crying we did at the pain and suffering we felt for our children, our families and dear ones.
And most of all…..the blessedness we each experienced internally….from the warm and wonderful presence of God through our faith united together.
I believe this is ’true’ worship in the spiritual sense…..
When emptied of all the ’crap’ of life that is totally unnecessary…..allowing the ‘truths of God’ to be released from within the human heart…..there is a sacred wholeness which can be gained in no other way….
This is why we come together…..because we become equipped, again, to go out and do our best in our family and community in which we live.
…..Jesus told us this in Matthew 18:19&20.….
“Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven…
This is true because if two or three people come together IN MY NAME, ….I AM THERE WITH THEM….”
In Jesus words above…....and by our own ‘faith’ experience….our prayers get heard….and answered…this is the ‘Truth’.
That is why 6 ‘women of the faith’ lay aside all the busyness of life to get together……for a common cause!
That’s……Faith!
Oct 21, 2004
Resolution
Have you ever had a problem that looked like it was…..more problem than it was worth? Finally, throwing up your hands and saying, “forget it, I quit!’
becomes your solution….
Amazingly enough it seems that answers, solutions that were not even entertained in your imagination……suddenly came ’out of the blue’.
To people of ‘the faith’……this is known as ‘A Miracle’…..
Well, that is just what has happened today.
Charlie can confirm this since he was the one praying and trying to put a plan together to get our big boat, The Milagro, (Spanish word for Miracle) out of the water this week-end in order to reconnect the outdrive which was damaged during Hurricane Jeanne….
Suddenly ….a plan comes together……out of ’nowhere’.
Yet there are a network of people who are involved in the solution….
God put it together….using ‘earth angels’ (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha) with unlikely names like…..Kurt/Bozo with a heart of gold, Sam the ‘always there’ man, Dockie with a plan, Jim the big truck provider…..and Charlie who will help anyone, anytime he can…..
Resolution, sweet resolution that benefited everyone concerned came in answer to prayer…..
Like the “A” Team used to say….
….”I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!”
Oct 20, 2004
Venting…..
Yesterday I called technical support for help with a new 3-in-1 Lexmark printer…..was on the phone for about 30 minutes….
A month ago, Abby and I talked several days to HP technical support.
In both cases we were speaking to a support person in…..India!
……What happened, America?
How did we get so ‘international’?
Oh, yeah, I understand the ‘reasoning’ of the economics…..as it is being explained to we..... ‘layman’…..yet something in my head tells me that this is…..insane, absurd, or even bizarre.
…..I, also, know that this did not happen in ’Big Business’ overnight but has been years in the making….
Americans general attitude of ‘who cares’ of which I, too, am guilty…..has certainly blown us….”off course” using a nautical term…
…..I am reminded of reading about dear ole…..Sam Walton.
When Sam became ‘big’, one of the first things he did was go to the little business man and give them a contract for their ’made in the U.S.A.’ product that he would buy from them……In some cases, these little businesses….had in fact gone out of business….but in several cases Sam Walton invested in putting them back into business in order to produce on a larger scale and therefore be able to……remain in business.
Sam did this with a candle manufacturer and a basket company in ’mid-America‘….two cases I know of…but there were many others….
Andrew Carnegie had this same mindset of ’social responsibility’ to the land that offered him the opportunity to ’succeed’ on a large scale…..
Carnegie built….buildings….for instance libraries……but he expected the local town and community to raise the money to put books in the library…
Carnegie knew that if others were more personally involved (rather than handing it on a silver platter, so to speak)…..they would more aptly feel pride and responsibility for the care and future of the community project….
Again, I say……what happened America?
By the way, I received excellent technical support yesterday from ’Dino’ in India….He was very knowledgeable, precise, patient….. gracious and polite to ’no end’….
It was a very pleasant. painless and successful encounter.
…….What do I care who resolves my problem?
Somehow…..I can not…..NOT CARE!
Below you will find a short biography of Andrew Carnegie who has long been one of my ‘early American hero’s’…..
Yep, I know….that was then….this is NOW!~
…..Wake up….the Bill Gates, the Donald Trumps (saying “you are fired“), and all such ‘the rich-made-in-America’ in 2004.
Oh, well…..I vented today…..how about you…..
Send your comments to Link #2.…and….God Bless America!
Biography of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835. The son of a weaver, he came with his family to the United States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Carnegie went to work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a succession of jobs with Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to establish his own business enterprises and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company, which launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five, he sold the company , U.S. Steel, to J. P. Morgan for $480 million (the equivalent of $10.6 billion today) who then devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy on a level not then seen in America or anywhere else. Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes. In 1889 he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community.
Carnegie set about disposing of his fortune through innumerable personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. In his thirties, Carnegie had already begun to give away some of his fast-accumulating funds. His first large gifts were made to his native town. Later he created seven philanthropic and educational organizations in the United States, including Carnegie Corporation of New York, and several more in Europe.
One of Carnegie's lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when, in 1881, Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Corporation subsequently spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world.
After termination of this program in 1917, the Corporation continued for about forty years an interest in the improvement of library services. Other major programs in the Corporation's early history included adult education and education in the fine arts.
During his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million. By his death, Mr. Carnegie had given away 90 percent of his fortune. He died in Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 11, 1919....
…..I am reminded of reading about dear ole…..Sam Walton.
When Sam became ‘big’, one of the first things he did was go to the little business man and give them a contract for their ’made in the U.S.A.’ product that he would buy from them……In some cases, these little businesses….had in fact gone out of business….but in several cases Sam Walton invested in putting them back into business in order to produce on a larger scale and therefore be able to……remain in business.
Sam did this with a candle manufacturer and a basket company in ’mid-America‘….two cases I know of…but there were many others….
Andrew Carnegie had this same mindset of ’social responsibility’ to the land that offered him the opportunity to ’succeed’ on a large scale…..
Carnegie built….buildings….for instance libraries……but he expected the local town and community to raise the money to put books in the library…
Carnegie knew that if others were more personally involved (rather than handing it on a silver platter, so to speak)…..they would more aptly feel pride and responsibility for the care and future of the community project….
Again, I say……what happened America?
By the way, I received excellent technical support yesterday from ’Dino’ in India….He was very knowledgeable, precise, patient….. gracious and polite to ’no end’….
It was a very pleasant. painless and successful encounter.
…….What do I care who resolves my problem?
Somehow…..I can not…..NOT CARE!
Below you will find a short biography of Andrew Carnegie who has long been one of my ‘early American hero’s’…..
Yep, I know….that was then….this is NOW!~
…..Wake up….the Bill Gates, the Donald Trumps (saying “you are fired“), and all such ‘the rich-made-in-America’ in 2004.
Oh, well…..I vented today…..how about you…..
Send your comments to Link #2.…and….God Bless America!
Biography of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835. The son of a weaver, he came with his family to the United States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Carnegie went to work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a succession of jobs with Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to establish his own business enterprises and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company, which launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five, he sold the company , U.S. Steel, to J. P. Morgan for $480 million (the equivalent of $10.6 billion today) who then devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy on a level not then seen in America or anywhere else. Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes. In 1889 he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community.
Carnegie set about disposing of his fortune through innumerable personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. In his thirties, Carnegie had already begun to give away some of his fast-accumulating funds. His first large gifts were made to his native town. Later he created seven philanthropic and educational organizations in the United States, including Carnegie Corporation of New York, and several more in Europe.
One of Carnegie's lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when, in 1881, Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Corporation subsequently spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world.
After termination of this program in 1917, the Corporation continued for about forty years an interest in the improvement of library services. Other major programs in the Corporation's early history included adult education and education in the fine arts.
During his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million. By his death, Mr. Carnegie had given away 90 percent of his fortune. He died in Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 11, 1919....
Oct 18, 2004
Jump for Joy!
The joy I feel while sitting on a dock on a warm day and dangling my feet in cool water….makes me bust out in a song….
The joy I ‘feel’ upon hearing good news from a loved one….like Brittney getting a new car, finally….
The joy I feel upon having a whole, beautiful, awesome day to call my own…without any restrictions, responsibilities or ’planned schedules’….
The ’JOY’ of being alive in beautiful, Florida….in awesome America!
You will just have to pardon me….as my heart…leaps for joy!
Oct 13, 2004
Answers…..are GREAT!
Yesterday I received three different phones calls telling me of answers to prayer for family members…..
Two were great big, awesome MIRACLES….unheard of solutions to long ago prayers by many people….
Out of the blue, it seemed!
The third one was a simple, clear answer….a quite discernment to a ‘nagging problem’…..which put the problem into a proper perspective for easy solution….
This morning my Daily Word Devotional speaks clearly to such guidance through prayer….it says:
……”If faced with a difficult choice, I know that I can turn within to God for guidance. In prayer, I find the option that is right for me at this time. I also know that I can make this a practice for life’s smaller choices as well.
Spiritual discernment includes soul wisdom….understanding that is deeper than the appearances of the moment….and the ability to release the outcome to God. In daily prayer, I am very aware of my connection to the God of the Universe, and with clear spiritual discernment, I make wise choices….”
(THIS IS KEY) The world is full of alternatives, options, solutions, answers….MANY OF WHICH ONLY BECOME APPARENT IN PRAYER!…I thank God for every opportunity to choose and for the ability to see the abundance of possibilities available to me…”
This reminds me of a young man who was agitated with a problem he absolutely could not solve….Finally, he bowed his head and began talking to God about it…..suddenly out of the blue the answer came as clear as day….so he ended his prayer with…”You can forget it now God…I’ve got the answer!”…..
Lest we forget…..prayer releases answers that can be gained no other way…
Why worry? …. When we can pray!
Proverbs 3:13.….”Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding.”
Oct 12, 2004
A Dose of…..Reality
Vacations are FUN….returning home to ’life as usual’ can be a rude awakening!
Take today for instance…..I’m going to the dentist for a crown….a screen repair company called at 8:00 a.m. with estimate for storm repair which must be communicated to insurance adjuster….a friend says she needs some help today….have to meet Charlie at Home Depot to match up paint for our new ’kitchen’ remake‘…plus any other ’unknowns’ along the way….
What happened to…..sheer luxury?
….I have to admit that I have always been a failure at changing gears from fun to work! My dear ‘Southern Mamma’ taught me a wonderful, healthy, way to do this successfully…..
…..Make work….FUN!
Singing along the way, listening to music in traffic, especially my new Caribbean Steel Drum instrumental of ‘Don’t Worry + Be Happy!’, acting silly whenever the occasion arises….or in other words….
Enjoying the moment…this places a demand on the psyche, the will, the discipline or choice…..and
I WILL Be Happy….I WILL enjoy The Good Life…so help me God!
That’s my hearts prayer….for myself….and YOU!!!
Oct 11, 2004
Sheer Luxury..
Returning from a week in ‘The Florida Keys’ takes quite a mental adjustment. Freedom from responsibility feels so good that I could easily become a ‘beach bum’….if my family would agree….
Taking four small boats….Kurt’s, Dockie’s, Sam’s and our “Go Gator” gave us access to the ’blue waters’ .
Our ’home’ was in Islamorada….The Collins Family have been going to the same condo/time-share for 20 years specifically for the Lobster Season.
Kurt & Melissa’s children were trained in scuba diving/lobster chasing during all these years. Son, Joe, now being in the Coast Guard, was ‘well trained’ for his ‘now’ career in these same water ways as a youth.
In the last four years, we ’fellow nautical friends’ have made it a prime agenda on our schedule….This year it appeared that it would not come to pass due to the damage of so many storms….but Sam and Sally and Dockie and Ann decided that they needed ‘therapy’ that only the Keys could give….
The Collins Family included Nurse April, Speed Queen Pammy, artist nephew and his artist wife from Indiana, Brad and Angie….
Kurt is really a ’pro’ in getting lobsters….he taught Brad so well that Brad produced lobsters every day using a kayak for transportation to rocky areas…. April and Kurt did scuba diving for their supply….April still looking graceful and tropical even with bulky gear as her companion.
She, too, is a pro like her Dad.
Little sis. Pammy’s, delight is to bring their boat, the Key West, back to port as fast as her Dad will allow!
Charlie finally got the ‘hang of it’ the day before we left….and was thrilled with the successful adventure.
Needless to say, the eating of lobsters that were swimming only a couple of hours before….is ….sheer luxury.
Melissa is the expert on cooking….splitting the back of the lobster, inserting real butter into the meat, covering with thick foil and grilling to perfection is certainly a cuisine delight! Adding sautéed scallops from our Steinhatchee trip, clam chowder, fresh salad and of course, key lime pie…..again, sheer luxury!
On Wednesday we all went into Key West for the day…and leather sandals!
Taking a conch trolley tour which provided interesting information and history was great….
Another interesting sight was the repair of electric lines….by helicopter!
All in all it was a much needed week of rest, fun with friends and adventure in the beautiful Florida Keys…..
Brad made a comment to Melissa on the phone before coming to the Keys from Indiana…
….”Since we decided to go with you to the Keys….my mind has not been right….can’t think of anything else!”
I know what he means….hard to harness the mind back to ….the jungle of reality….
See pictures below….click on picture to enlarge….then back to this page…
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