The Honeymooners.

Trying to get back into the swing of things after a couple of lovely weeks hanging around Charleston and cruising about at sea is no easy thing. It ain't all champagne and strawberries out there, you know.

Reflections on Turning Fifty.

I turned fifty a few days ago. After my old buddy Russ did it five months ago, I figured that this might happen to me. My fiance, the lovely Lady Di, bought me a super-duper chair, and put together an amazing party for me, too. My brother, the Amazing AndyMan, came up from Tampa, as did high school buddies Phil and Terrie. My oldest (non-relative) friend, Russ, and his girlfriend, and his mom (who, as I've mentioned not a few times in this space, is my "second mom"), Frandy, drove up from Panama City, FL. My running partner, Kevin, and his fiance made it, along with lots of friends from Church and out and about (I'll post more pictures on FaceBook, if you wanna look). An early rain burned off, and the weather was perfect. Lots of food, music, and camaraderie were made possible by the hard work and planning of my true love, Diane. Out of a slew of blessings for which I am grateful, Diane is my greatest.



I love you, Baby.

They'll Get Ya.

Kids. What are you gonna do? You get some "that's my boy! (or girl)" moments; you get some trips to the Principal's office. A couple of months ago, Lady Di and I helped Davis move up to his cousin Rob's house in Greenville. Rob's kids were over, and I snapped this lovely pic of LD holding Rob's youngest. They actually got along quite well, in spite of the appearances here. I thought the picture was a pretty good summary of the relationship between parents and children: we love 'em; we do our best to teach them stuff; we sacrifice our wants for their needs (and sometimes for their wants). And they poke us in the eye. Of course, if you're doing a cost/benefit analysis, then children aren't a great investment. But it isn't about that, is it? Love is its own reward, in spite of everything. I like the way C.S. Lewis (he of the "Narnia Chronicles", "Mere Christianity" and "The Screwtape Letters") put it in "The Four Loves" (and I've quoted him a lot, through the years):

"Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in a casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation."

Roadtrip: Hilton Head Island

My Intended and I took a 24 hour vacation to nearby Hilton Head Island this weekend. We checked in to one of the many inns in the area...

The complementary breakfast wasn't half-bad. Enough food for the day, right? Not hardly.


If you go to a beach resort town, you got to go to the beach, right?

For lunch, we indulged in some wings at a sports bar. Yum.

The big treat of the weekend was a night of jazz and fine food and adult beverages at The Jazz Corner. We decided to scout the place out in advance of our evening arrival.


You can't make music without instruments. They told us we'd be right up front, and we were. The company, food and music were all outstanding. Young jazz phenom Grace Kelly (no, not THAT Grace Kelly), and the Bob Alberti trio played two great sets. She's only 18 years old, and has at least two c.d.s out. We bought her 2008 effort, and she was gracious (well, you knew that was coming, right?) enough to sign it. See? There we are:




I filmed a twenty or second snippet from the show. She was really good. Here's a Sampling from YouTube, if you want to hear more.

A Nice Salad

If my mom ever went to France, she never mentioned it. Thus I remained perplexed at her insistence on serving a Nice_Salad with meals. You know, "Well, I guess we can have some pork chops, green beans, and a nice salad". Oh... "nice" with a long "I", not Nice like my brother's daughter. Gotcha. 'Course, I'm not really sure what "nice" adds to the description. Nice as opposed to what? "We can have some pork chops, and maybe a surly salad, because, frankly, I'm feeling rather churlish". Whatever. Diane served up a nice salad the other night. Glad she was in a good mood.

These Aren't a Few of My Favorite Things.

Some good things did happen in 2009, most especially I got engaged to a wonderful gal. 'Course, like most anything worthwhile, that means more work. Got to get my house in order. Yesterday was "bring the pain" day. A trip to the dentist. Trying to get tax stuff together. And, in preparation for pre-marital counseling, I've had to find my old divorce decree. Taxes, divorce and the dentist all in one day. Yikes! Guess I know how Eminem feels:

(warning: Eminem is a rapper. Like most rappers, his language is... well, he's a rapper. Offending people is sorta what rappers do).

Well, There's That, Anyway.

I got troubles. Everyone does. But I got plenty of good stuff going on, too. Thanks, Diane.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes.

Internet friend Tam pointed out that I have let you down. I posted my relationship status change on FaceBook before posting it here. I got engaged to my lovely girlfriend, Diane, and killed an alligator on the same day. I posted the one event, but didn't think I could do justice to the other. I also figured that I've mentioned Diane in so many treacly posts already that you were all going to go into diabetic shock. I'll post something at some point.

It is meat and right, so to do.

Picked up the gator meat from the processor just outside of Monck's Corner yesterday. I got the idea that this wasn't a familiar haunt for Diane (truth be told, I even felt a little like I was checking into the Bates Hotel). Sampled the sausage there. I'll let you know if the tail's worth telling.

Six Days on the Road, Part 2

It's late Summer, and those of you who grew up watching three channels of t.v. know what that means: reruns. Okay, though I ran Sawyer Brown's "Six Days on the Road" a month or so ago, this this isn't technically a rerun. This time it's Graham Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Anyway, I like the song and felt like posting it again. K?

D and D

Funny, smart, purdy, goofy and a really, really good cook. She's also Episcopalian with moderate political views. My GF is off in Meechigan visiting family. I miss her already.