Lost and Found

 Far Guy lost some medications...then he found them in the mailbox...it kept him busy half the afternoon.   All is well...then he spent some time on the treadmill.

Last Fall I found something that has been missing for a number of years...23 years to be exact.  It wasn't exactly lost...but was found. 

The winter of 1998-1999 we spent the winter in Florida.  We walked on the beach almost everyday  we collected shells and drilled a hole in the top for a ribbon....mailed them to people for Christmas ornaments...even though we washed them and rinsed them well it was a smelly shell that was delivered.  Uffda...not sure how many were used.  I found ours in  a rubbermaid container full of shells that was put up in the rafters of my garage...Andy got it down for me.   It was a fun project going through all the wonderful shells we picked up that winter.  I put them in large peanut butter jars for a garage sale someday.

Christmas 1998 at Tyndall AFB in Panama City Florida.  We went out for Christmas Dinner at the Officer's Club and spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine!   We also spent Christmas 1973 in Florida at Mac Dill AFB in Tampa....I have a few red satin ornaments packed away from our tree that year.  

The cold wind howled all day yesterday, it was even blizzard like in town. 

Far Side

1973/1974 Florida

Back in 1973/1974 we lived in Tampa Florida on South West Shore Blvd not far from the Air Base.  Trica our oldest daughter was 14 months old when we arrived there and almost 2 years old when we left.

We did potty training in Florida.  She was a busy child...and would take off all her clothes by herself and put them in the laundry if she had an accident.  Then she would run around the house naked and giggling only to stop if her favorite commercials were on TV.

We had a tiny 12 inch black and white television.   We got one or two channels with the rabbit ears...sometimes we hung aluminum foil from them.

Entertainment for a child was commercials.  Trica loved two commercials in particular and would stop in front of the TV and  recite them...Chick Smith Ford in sparkling downtown Clearwater and learn to play guitar with Kenny Rogers.   I thought of those early times yesterday when I heard of Kenny Roger's death.  He was 81...that means he was 34 years old when he made that commercial.

Seems like only yesterday.

Trica 1973 18 months old in Tampa Florida.

Our stove and fridge were a lovely shade of  pink, some mornings were cool in Florida so I would turn the oven on to take the chill out of the kitchen. One day Trica asked me if she could have soup.  I said "Sure in a minute"  the next thing I heard was an explosion.  She must have decided to make soup herself and put the can of soup she wanted in the oven.  What a mess.

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: The Grain Bin

Back in 1998  the grain bin was put together piece by piece.  It was just like a big jigsaw puzzle.  It was a team effort one of us would be on the outside shoving the bolts inside where they got a nut, then they got tightened up whilst the person on the inside held the nut in place with a box end wrench.

During the winter 1998/1999 while wintering in Florida we ran onto a fishing net on a private beach.  We dug part of the net out one day, got too tired and hot and returned the next day to finish digging it out. We let it dry out and shook most of the sand from it, but it was still really heavy.  It was draped around the grain bin in the spring of 1999.

Like I said before we use the grain bin for storage.  Lord only knows what is really in there.

This photo was taken in 2000.  We edged the bin garden with little logs of Oak.

This was the year we planted Morning Glory ‘Heavenly Blue’ around the whole thing.  Too bad I didn’t get a photo when they were in bloom.

 

This was the other side of the grain bin the year I ordered too many Non Stop Begonias.  Someplace I have some photographs of the Honeysuckle Trumpet Vine that grew wonderfully a few years..then it got a bug and died.  I tried to grow fancy varieties of Clematis to climb up that homemade ladder several years with no luck.  My two old lumberjack saws have been retired to the garage.

2013

The old fishing net is still there.  The vine Clematis paniculata or Sweet Virgin’s Bower is growing well and is beginning to spread northward.

It is in full bloom now, it smells wonderful.   Originally I got this “start” of a plant from my good friend Faye.  The vine dies back to the ground every year, it sends up new shoots every spring which we try to help by tucking it into the old fishing net:)

Florida Thoughts

It was 36 below zero this morning.. just another chilly day in the state of FROZEN. If you are dressed in layers, and resemble a polar bear..you will survive. Have you ever been so cold that your tears freeze on your face, so cold that you can't feel your fingers anymore, and your feet feel like chunks of wood, heavy and cumbersome? You shiver, but shivering is good because because it generates heat. When you are so cold that you stop shivering..you have a big problem. If you look all glamorous in a skirt and some fancy boots with heels you are gonna be sorry if you car stalls today. Luckily anyone that lives in Minnesota will have a heart today..and stop for your sorry frozen butt.

Ah Florida..how I miss your oranges...and your warmth. Far Guy was stationed at MacDill AFB back in 1973, MacDill is in Tampa..we spent a fair amount of time at Clearwater Beach. Disney World had recently opened..we made trips over there to Orlando when we could afford it. I worked at the Base Day Care Center usually in the toddler room..children aged 2 to 5...sometimes I also worked in the Nursery..lotza babies. Trica was just little..she was one. It was cheaper for me to hire a nanny to take care of her..so I did. A young gal and her husband Frankie who was an Air Force Fire Fighter lived across the street from us, her name was Kathy and she was from Tennessee. She was a wonderful mentor..and taught this northern gal all about preparing for hurricanes. They had a little girl almost the same age as Trica ..her name was Tina..Trica called her Tee Wee. Kathy would tote the two little girls around..her husband worked 24 on and 24 off so on days when he was home sleeping she would camp out at our place..she also took care of our dog "Snuffer" and the four little pups that appreared after a secret rendevous with a neighbor dog..must have been a quickie.

Trica named those pups.. Flower who she called Flowie, Blackie, Brownie and Fatty. She was just little, I thought she did wonderful with the original names! Flowie and Fatty went to homes with children, they were raised under my gentle hand..but also with the hugs and kisses of a one year old..so they were not afraid of children. Blackie became "Baby Snuffer" and when she was old enough to be put on an airplane she made the trip to Louisville and became Far Guys Sisters dog. She was a marvelous little pup and looked exactly like Toto in the Wizard of Oz.. she lived a long and pampered life in Indiana. Far Guy gave away Brownie one day when I was at work. He just knew I was going to keep that pup for myself. Wouldn't you know it..an elderly gentleman just happened to come by one afternoon and he was lonely after his old faithful dog died. Well..it was a good sob story..but it didn't stop me from bawling, and I was pretty ticked off too.

June 1973 we were on leave between Lowry AFB and MacDill AFB, this was taken at my parents farm in front of the picture tree.

I went to work in Florida because we bought a new car a 1973 Gremlin..white..but we couldn't go very far..because there was a gas shortage that year. The rest of the country may have been fine..but I waited in line that year (winter of 1974) for gas..sometimes for hours. The car payment was sixty dollars a month. Not much by today's standards..but back then it was quite a chunk of change.

Florida was better than Germany..that was where he was supposed to go..back then you could trade assignments...within your specialty..remember me telling you how brilliant the Armed Services are..and remember they would have issued my husband a wife, child and dog if they had wanted him to have them. Germany..and yes we could go..but we would have to pay for it ourselves..I would have to live someplace and save up for the trip..the dog would have had to go into quarantine for six months ..Far Guy traded with a friend who was single he wanted to go overseas but he got MacDill. ( The powers that be are all idiots! ) The next day we could have had Mountain Home, Idaho and 100 dollars.. life is just not fair sometimes. But Florida was better than Germany..but not as much fun as Mountain Home. We loved the mountains when we were stationed in Colorado.

Far Guy took part in a program called Palace Chase..it took active duty people and put them in The Air National Guard for a six year commitment.. so he joined up and picked Hector Field in Fargo, ND as his base. Thus began a career that spanned twenty six years (1972 to 1998) . In essence I was a single parent..never knowing where he was going or when he would be back. Every chance I got, the girls and I would go south to Florida or Mississippi where he was TDY ( temporary duty).

When Far Guy was retired from The Air Guard in 1998, we began building here where we live now. We had to clear the land of trees and carve out a spot for the Greenhouse business..we bought a camper..let me tell you living in a camper in Minnesota really sucks in the winter..we escaped to Florida (Tyndall AFB, Panama City Florida with twelve miles of private beach) for the worst months.. Far Guy absolutely hated being in Florida..I absolutely loved it.. we made a deal..we would build a small tiny little house and we would live six months in Minnesota and six months in Florida..it was a great plan..except we built a much larger house than we needed in Minnesota..so we are stuck here.. actually Far Guy said that I could go to Florida anytime I want..but I wouldn't leave him behind..or would I? Mornings like this make me wonder:)

Jeanne asked me yesterday about the time we spent in Florida..thanks for the nudge to write about it!  If you haven't visited The Raisin Chronicles..now is your chance!