The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #6 in VA,NC,SC,GA &
FL 12/04/97
Hi Everyone!, Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! from Me
& my shadow and my GPS Friends Gertrude, & Gus.
I have heard that time goes faster when you are having fun. If
this is so, I sure must have had a lot of fun in 1997, it seems
like it was just a few days ago that I was writing 1996 on my
checks and now it's just about time to start writing 1998. I expect
to have even more fun in 1998, not being in Nebraska in the winter
will be a good start. I am now in Florida and wearing short sleeve
shirts again. It sure feels good after all that cold weather way
up north in MD & VA.
I believe there was a conspiracy in Virginia Beach to keep me
there all winter. They kept feeding me food that tasted sooo good
and I kept telling them that I'm not supposed to eat food that
tastes good, I'm supposed to spit it out. If I had stayed there
all winter I don't think I would have lasted till spring. However,
waiting in that cold weather for the thanksgiving turkey was worth
it. The flavor is fantastic, I believe it was the injection with
Creole Butter and the Cajun Seasoning that does it. Deep frying
in Peanut oil is definitely fast but I believe that the same turkey
injected with Creole Butter and the Cajun seasoning on it would
taste the same after roasting in the oven. I do know that every
turkey that was fried (there were several) was soon
reduced to a skeleton that looked like the vultures had just left.
Even my 2 year old Great granddaughter Madison didn't stop eating
it till it was gone.
When I was up at Jenny's place I tried to use her computer and
it was so agonizingly slow that I told her I was giving her a
new one for Christmas. I ordered one and it came in just before
I was to head south. I borrowed Jimmy's pickup truck and made
another payment on the second bridge tunnel (it will soon be finished)
and drove up there in the rain to help her get it running. As
she inherited poor spelling from her father and she sometimes
uses a correctly spelled word in the wrong place (I know two of
you out there who also do it) I ordered from Parsons a program
called "Websters talking dictionary" it has a computer
generated female voice. The instant I heard the voice I was haunted
by a 60+ year old memory of another voice. This one came from
a little girl about my age who had been robbed of her beauty,
her smile made crooked and her voice distorted by having a "hair
lip". Today it is called a "cleft lip" and plastic
surgery can restore much of the beauty, the smile and the voice.
I can still see her today, looking at me with that crooked smile
and talking to me. She was looking for, and needed another friend.
In my stupidity at that time I turned and walked away. I regretted
what I had done and wished that I had returned her smile and made
her my friend. She still haunts me and always will, I don't recall
that I ever heard her name and I didn't understand what she said.
Because of this memory I have named this new computer voice "Hairiot"
Hairiot Nozitall Webster. She is very bright and always ready
to tell me the definition of a word but I have a hard time understanding
her. I don't think plastic surgery will help in this case. Maybe
my understanding will improve as I hear more from her. The longer
that I use Gertrude and Gus the easier it is to understand them.
In Georgia I found out that I don't need to ask Gus for help when
I miss a turn and need to know how to get back on the course.
I deliberately got over on another street running along side of
the one I was supposed to be on and every time I was coming to
a cross street that would take me over to the one I was supposed
to be on, he would tell me to "turn right on this street
in so many seconds" I would ignore him and he never gave
up like Gertrude would, he would just call out the next street.
After I try Gus out in southern California I may be able to fire
Gertrude. I am also happy to report that Gus' head cold seems
to be getting better in this warm weather, but I still wish he
would blow his nose.
The trip south went well, my first stop was in Jacksonville Beach
to see my niece Karen & Jack and daughter Tori. I hadn't seen
Karen & Jack since their wedding about 16 years ago. Had a
nice visit and next time I'll make it on a weekend so we can have
more time together. Headed south to Orlando from there. I was
enjoying the warm weather so much that I pulled into an RV Park
north of Orlando in early afternoon so I could plug in and use
the computer to start this letter to let those of you in Nebraska
know that there is an alternative to the cold weather. However,
Karen reminded me of one of the disadvantages of living here.
She said that she can't leave Tori in the back yard by herself
as she might end up in the belly of an alligator. On the news
they talk about the mountain lions coming into neighborhoods in
southern California, so if you can stand the cold weather, Nebraska
still looks pretty good.
Till next time, Dallas, or Dad if it fits.