Archive by Author

If Calories Didn’t Count

21 Oct

From the Heart

Louise GibsonA photo by Ben White. unsplash.com/photos/4K2lIP0zc_k

 

 

‘”The two biggest sellers in any book store
are the cook books and the diet books.

The cook book tells you how to prepare
the food, and the diet books tell you how
not to eat any of it.”
Andy Rooney

If calories didn’t count. we could eat whatever
we wanted
and the number on the scales wouldn’t mount.
If calories didn’t matter and wouldn’t make us
gain a pound,
We could throw away our scales,
and forget about growing round.

“Which book is in YOUR hand? : -)

Louise Gibson

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My 2016 Mid-West Trip~Part 16

19 Oct

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

 

Day 16 (Sunday)

 

I began the day with a nice drive west on I-10 from Mobile to Gulfport, Mississippi. Since it was Sunday, I didn’t expect any of the museums to be open, and most of them were not. But I wanted to take a look at their locations anyway. My first stop was to check out the Busted Wrench Garage & Museum there at Gulfport. The building was closed and very small, and didn’t look big enough to house a lot of cars. But, when I Googled the museum, I was surprised to see photos of a nice collection of beautifully restored cars that I missed.

 

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Just down the road a ways was my next stop at the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum. Here again the museum was closed, and the building was not very large.   I could see through the window that they had a good sized model railroad layout, but not much room for anything else.

 

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Next I drove a sort distance south of I-10 to check out the Gulfport Dragway strip. The fellow attending the entrance gate informed me that they had drag races on Wednesdays only, and no other races were scheduled for today. That made three closed attractions in a row so far today.

 

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As part of the planning for this trip I had contacted my son about the possibility of meeting my granddaughter in Gulfport for lunch. Lacey is attending college in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, about 65 Miles north of Gulfport, and this would provide the perfect opportunity for us to meet and spend some time together. As it turned out, she was able to meet with me and we had a delightful lunch at Shaggy’s Gulfport Beach Restaurant on U.S. 90 overlooking the beach.

 

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After lunch I took some time to drive around the beautiful Gulfport Marina, and took some pictures. There was a large ship tied up at the Gulfport docks, which looked like it might have been a cable-laying ship. I had never seen anything like it, and couldn’t figure out how it might work.

 

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Then I headed west again on I-10 for New Orleans, LA. I tried the Cars of Yesteryear’s Museum in Metairie Louisiana, but here again they were closed.

 

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Next I took on the 24 mile long Lake Pontchartrain Causeway from New Orleans to Madisonville. My objective was to visit the Lake Pontchartrain Maritime Museum.  This was a very nice museum filled with a large verity of local historical memorabilia.

 

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Of course, there was also a considerable amount of information about the Civil War. This included a replica of the 2-man Confederate submarine CSS Pioneer (1861), which was a predecessor to the famous Confederate Civil War submarine, the CSS H. L. Hunley (1864). I had never heard of the CSS Pioneer and was surprised to discover that during initial sea trials, it sank with the loss of the crew of 2. After being raised and refitted for more sea trials, it was scuttled, for fear of capture, when the Union Army advanced on New Orleans in April of 1862.

 

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More well-known is the Confederate Civil War submarine CSS H. L. Hunley, which was even more deadly than the Pioneer. During the sea trials of the Hunley, it sank on two different occasions, with the loss of the entire crew of 8 both times. Each time the submarine was raised, improved and refitted for more sea trials. Then finally, in February of 1864, when the Hunley was successfully used to attack and sink the Union ship USS Housatonic, it became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship during wartime. Unfortunately, the Hunley was lost, on that sorte the final time, taking all 8 crew members to their death, including the inventor Horace L. Hunley. Interestingly, I saw a full-scale replica of the CSS H. L. Hunley when I visited the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL just yesterday.

 

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As I was leaving Madisonville I noticed a complex of unusual condos over-looking a small bay and marina. The owners had their living quarters on the second floor and underneath each condo was a protected slip for their private boat moorings. How convenient.

 

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Driving North from Madisonville, back across that 24 mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, seemed to take a lot longer than it did going south. I was curious about the construction of the causeway and found the following details on Wikipedia. The two, 2-lane bridges that make up the Causeway qualify it, in the Guinness World Records, as the longest “continuous” bridge over water in the world, at 23.83 miles long. The two spans were built between 1955-1956 & 1967-1969, and the two causeway bridges are supported on 9,500 concrete pilings, and 40,000 cars cross the Causeway daily.

 

 

By the time I got to the motel, I was ready to relax and have some supper. I had enough of the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza left over from last night to satisfy me. Then I had a cup of Blueberry yogurt for dessert. That did the trick for my hunger, and I headed to the motel’s computer to check-in for tomorrow’s flight home.

 

—–To Be Continued—–

 

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When Do We Grow Old!

14 Oct

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

fall-lake-header

 

 

 

I woke up in the morning,
mind refreshed and full of hope.
There is so much I want to do-
all within my scope.

 

My mind is willing, my mind alert-
I’ll spring right out of bed.
My mind is saying, “Go girl”
but my back says, “Whoa” instead.

 

Ego! Yes, ego is the culprit
in this aging game we play.
I don’t mind saying “I’m 87″
But,” getting old??? “No way!”

 

“None are as old as those who
have outlived their enthusiasm”

Henry David Thoreau

 

 

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Getting my Ducks in a Row~Part 2

13 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

 

We remained inside most of the day after the winds of the hurricane began to die down. Traffic lights were not working and we didn’t want to deal with the hassle driving would be. So Saturday we decided to venture out. We visited a friend and helped take down her boards and later in the day we drove to the marina. There were four sailboats that had washed ashore, but I only took pictures of two as the others were further away.

The yellow is to keep oil and fuel from escaping into the water.

On the way home from our friends home we drove through a neighborhood where we once lived. It is an older subdivision with a lot of oak trees. I was fascinated with the moss that covered yards and the road, The hurricane stripped the tress so that some yards appeared to have gray snow on them. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the moss as husband felt a tad odd taking pictures while people were in the yard cleaning up.

 

On our way home from the marina, we drove down “river road.” It has a name, but it has always been called this by locals. There was far less damage than I expected as the news had been warning of a storm surge. Thankfully they were wrong. When we were almost at the end of the road, we saw it was blocked by a tree and back tracked.

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On Monday, we went to the local Target to get away from the house.  The third day after the storm passed, freezer cases remained almost bare.

I was nervous before the storm about not being able to board up. We were fine, no wind damage alt all.  I do think it would be a good idea to order some of the plylox to have on hand in the future.

One of the heart warming and encouraging results of the storm is the way churches reached out to help people, especially widows, single moms and the elderly prepare for the storm . We are blessed to have young pastors who have a heart of love for the community. On Sunday, instead of holding a service, they are meeting to go out into the community and aid in clean-up activities.

Monday afternoon was a big day for many of our residents. Power crews were able to restore electricity to homes that had been out since Thursday night. I was visiting with a friend when her power returned and there was a lot of whooping and hollering going on. Power company linemen are heroes in our community and we are thankful for every single one who left their families and came to our aid.

One thing was missing in the midst of this disaster. No one asked who one was voting for in the Presidential election. Neighbors talked to each other. They shared information and acts of kindness were the norm. This is who we are. This election period has brought out the worst in our country, but Hurricane Matthew a force of destruction,  brought out the best in us.

 

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My 2016 Mid-West Trip Part 15

12 Oct

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Day 15 (Saturday)

 

It was a beautiful fall morning as I left Montgomery and headed south on I-65 for Mobile, Alabama.  My first stop was to visit the Foley Railroad Station Museum located just north of Oyster Bay in Foley, Alabama. This was a small museum with early Railroad memorabilia and a nicely restored collection of rolling stock.

 

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In a separate building they had a large model railroad layout that fascinated adults and children alike. A High Point for many of the children was the small scale train that the museum provided for rides around the museum property. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a young child that didn’t like to ride in a small scale train like that.

 

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Next I headed across Mobile Bay on I-10 to visit the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. This Memorial Park is made up of the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60), the submarine USS Drum (SS-228), a replica of the Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley, various types of Army, Navy & Air Force airplanes/vehicles, as well as an indoor aircraft pavilion. It’s a very nicely laid out attraction, but the outside display aircraft and vehicles need some help with protection from the elements. The aircraft in the aircraft pavilion are beautifully restored and very nicely displayed.

 

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Next I checked out the Fort Conde (4/5th scale reproduction) located in downtown Mobile. According to Wikipedia, Mobile and its Fort Conde (originally called Mobille & Fort Louis de la Mobille) were founded by the French in 1702, and actually located some 27 miles north of its present location. Then after heavy damage by the flooding Mobile River in 1711, the town and fort were relocated to their present location.

 

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Over the years (1702-1813) the region around Mobile was occupied by the French, British, Spanish, and finally the United States. There was a lot of construction going on around the fort, which made it difficult to access. I finally found a parking lot close enough that I could take a picture of the fort, but opted not to go inside today.

 

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Down the street and around the corner was the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. There was a large group of Young mothers with their 2-4 year old children in hand, entering the center as I pulled up in front. I surmised, from the looks of things, that this was an “education day” for these kids and decided I did not want to share the experience with all that noise.

 

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Not far from the science center I visited the Mobile Carnival Museum. This was a new experience for me. Not being a fan of the Mardi Gras, I did not think this would be a very interesting museum. As it turned out, this was probably the high point of my day. I never knew that the annual Carnival Celebration (Mardi Gras) is celebrated pretty much worldwide, and I had never heard of it being a big deal anywhere in the United States, except for New Orleans. Do I lead a sheltered life or what?

 

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The Mardi Gras costumes, and history of the celebration, as explained to me by the museum tour guide, was astounding. The other fact that was hard for me to get my head around was that Mobile was the first city in the United States to celebrate Mardi Gras (1703). And all this time, to me, New Orleans (founded in 1718) was getting the credit for that. The tour guide also informed me that Mobile puts on about 35 Carnival type parades each year that draws an average of 1.5 million visitors. All this activity keeps an entire community industry busy, year around, designing and fabricating all the necessary costumes and floats. For an in-depth picture of the history of the Mobile Mardi Gras, I would suggest the book “Mardi Gras in Mobile “ by L. Craig Roberts, who just happened to be my tour guide today.

 

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Next I visited the Continental Classic Cars collection located in west Mobile, only to discover that it was a private collection. However the owner, Dennis, was in his office and was gracious enough to show me his collection of automobiles. They consisted mostly of beautifully restored 1950s-1970s muscle cars, and a few classic hot rods.

 

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When I told him I was disappointed not to be able to find more automobile museums in the Mobile area, he suggested I check out the Henderson Collection, which was not too far down the road. He said that Jim Henderson had a collection of over 100 beautifully restored cars, and that if I could catch him at his Mobile Lumber Company office, he might agree to give me a tour of his private collection. The lumber company office was closed and Greta and I tried diligently to find Mr. Henderson’s building, that houses his collection, but to no avail.

 

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So, I called it a day and headed for tonight’s motel for some rest. On the way to the motel I spotted a Taco Bell and stopped to feast on a Mexican Pizza and a Beefy Chedder Crunchwrap Slider. The Slider was OK but, the Mexican Pizza with lots of Verde sauce to spice things up was much better, in my opinion.

 

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

 

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Your security depends on what you choose from the menu.

8 Oct

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Menu of life

I sat at a large table among friends at a restaurant famous for its delicious Bar-B-Q. The smell would make anyone’s mouth water. We laughed, made comments and oohed and aahed at the menu items.

And since I don’t eat red meat, I tasted delicious moments with dear friends instead.

I looked in the direction of the waiter standing beside me. “I’ll order a side salad and cole slaw…and a baked potato with nothing on it.”

“Sure,” he said, “And your meat? Ribs, steak, chicken, pork?”

“No I’m fine with my salad,”

“You mean…” he said with disbelief in his tone, “You don’t want to order any meat?”

I shook my head and grinned as I always do when folks ask me that question in that you-must-be-crazy tone.

The same happens even in airplanes. A passenger seated beside me and I chatted for a long time. I told him a bit of my story and we discussed faiths.

“I don’t believe in religions,” he said. “I think we’re here on this earth to serve a purpose for the next life and that’s it.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“For example,” he said, “since you like to help people and you can’t see, you probably will come back as a guide dog in your next life.”

Gulp.

And when I stated that Christ Jesus, the one who died for my sins, is the Lord of my life, the ruler of my days and my guarantee for life eternal in heaven, he gave the are-you-crazy tone similar to the waiter

That’s okay because in John 14, the Bible makes it all clear. We don’t come back as dogs or other creatures, we remain in heaven for eternity because…

  • In heaven is where Jesus prepared a mansion for us.
  • He extends that invitation to all.
  • Jesus healed the sick to display His power.
  • He transformed souls to leave room for freedom.
  • He’s the only truth so we would see clearly.
  • Jesus died on the cross to kill our sin.
  • He rose from the dead, so we would, too.
  • He wrote Scripture to guide our path.
  • And finally He loves unconditionally, passionately, eternally so when the world lets us down, we can count on Him.

While you analyze the menu of religions, philosophies, beliefs and notions what do you choose to feed your soul?

Source: Your security depends on what you choose from the menu. | Janet Perez Eckles

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Celebrate Who You Are

7 Oct

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Fresh journal page by DiVoran Lites

Fresh journal page by DiVoran Lites

 

 

There is more to life
than what we can see.
Who we really are
is our true identity.

 

Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by talents of others.
God created you to be unique!
He gave you special gifts of your own –
You are far more talented than you think.

 

We are all actors on the stage of life.
Study the script, my friend.
Notice that even the brevity of parts
doesn’t determine the end!

 

Do your best to honor the Lord –
Serve honestly and be fervent.
In the end you’ll hear the Master’s words,
“Welcome to the joy of the Lord,
good and faithful servant.”

 

Quote by Reverend Oliver G. Green
“Use what talents you have –
the woods would have little music
if no birds sang their song
except those who sang best.”

 

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Getting my Ducks in a Row

6 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

UPDATE 10/8/2016

Waiting for Hurricane Matthew to arrive was making the whole family edgy. We spent Thursday morning picking up a couple of items  like extra snacks and a tote in which to store photo albums. Aside from rain, the weather did not deteriorate until around 10 pm.  By then I was worn out and decided to try to sleep as the worst winds were expected after 3 am. Friday morning came and the storm was still growing strong but thankfully, we still had electricity and air-conditioning it. I will write more on this in my Thursday blog

I’m writing this on Wednesday night instead of my usual last minute on Thursday post. It seems preparing for a hurricane spurred me to be more organized and “get my ducks in a row.”

 

I have found the retirement life,with flexible plans and few deadlines, feeds my procrastination gene. However, this week I discovered a remedy and its name is Hurricane Matthew! We have been steadily watching the path of the large storm and feeling safe since it was predicted to move east and away from Florida. On Monday it became apparent that Matthew might not agree with the projected track and Rebekah and I decided to top off our hurricane supplies. To be honest, I was feeling a bit smug that we were being proactive and not waiting until the last minute. That night we discussed the pros and cons of boarding up windows as they are relatively protected by a porch and the side walls of other townhouses.

We decided to board two windows that might be vulnerable and headed out to the home improvement store early the next morning. When we arrived at the store it  was busy but  without the craziness one sees when a storm is imminent. We planned to look first for Plylox, clips to hold the plywood in place over the windows, then grab a piece of plywood and hopefully have it cut to make it easier to carry home.

Plylox clips

Plylox clip

On our way to locate the clips, we passed the area where a large saw is set up to custom cut wood. To our dismay, a sign stating the saw was out of order was taped to it. Oh well, we should be able to find a way to get the wood home on top of our car. We hung a right and went to the far end of the aisle where a large container for the Plylox clips stood…empty. To be honest, we were irritated that the home improvement store was so unprepared.

Do you see the humor in that? We were upset that they were unprepared. Our daughter has owned this home for eight years and this is the first time any of us gave thought to purchasing supplies to board up for a hurricane.  I guess the best plans can have a flaw. Our flaw could be a major one, but I have a peace about our safety even though Hurricane Matthew has tracked further west and may make landfall in our county early Friday morning.

hurrican-im-here

Since the hurricane will be passing over us during daylight hours, I hope to get some photos and will post them here as an update when power is restored. Prayers for the safety of everyone in the path of this storm are appreciated.

Luke 8:22-25 The Message

22-24 One day he and his disciples got in a boat. “Let’s cross the lake,” he said. And off they went. It was smooth sailing, and he fell asleep. A terrific storm came up suddenly on the lake. Water poured in, and they were about to capsize. They woke Jesus: “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

Getting to his feet, he told the wind, “Silence!” and the waves, “Quiet down!” They did it. The lake became smooth as glass.

25 Then he said to his disciples, “Why can’t you trust me?”

They were in absolute awe, staggered and stammering, “Who is this, anyway? He calls out to the winds and sea, and they do what he tells them!”

 

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My 2016 Mid-West Trip~Part 14

5 Oct

A Slice of LIfe

 Bill Lites

 

Day 14 (Friday)

 

Leaving the Birmingham area this morning I headed south on I-65 for Calera, Alabama to visit the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. I got there before they opened and it was obvious that it was a very small museum that could only house local railroad memorabilia. There were a couple of steam engines on display and some Pullman cars. Other than that, most of the rolling stock on the museum grounds was old and unkempt.

 

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Next on the list down the road was to check out the Airpark at the Maxwell Air Force Base, located just northwest of Montgomery, Alabama. The Internet had implied the Airpark was open to the public, but at the base visitor’s center I was informed it was not.

 

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So, I headed south again, around Montgomery, some 50 miles on U.S. 231 to visit the Pioneer Museum of Alabama located in Troy, Alabama. This was a nicely restored early Alabama farming community representation, consisting of several log structures. The memorabilia area inside the museum building had some very interesting early 19th century exhibits. The many outside community buildings included a log cabin, barn, grist mill, chicken house, church, and a general store.

 

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On the way back from Troy, I stopped by the Hyundai Manufacturing Facility, just south of Montgomery, to see if I could get a space on one of their guided tours. They said the tours were by reservation only, and they did not have any cancellations for the tours today. So I moved on toward Montgomery.

 

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I drove into downtown Montgomery to check out the Capital of Alabama. The capital building is a magnificent structure, as were several other government buildings, surrounding the central area around the capital building.

 

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Next I took another 40 mile side trip, west on U.S. 80 out of Montgomery, to Selma, Alabama to visit the Old Depot Museum. This famous route of the civil rights movement is dedicated to those who were at the forefront of that struggle.  Each of the four-day overnight stop locations, associated with that famous civil rights march, has dedicated historical markers on each side of the highway. The Old Depot Museum in Selma turned out to be located in an old restored railroad station. The museum itself was mainly a collection of very interesting memorabilia related to the history of the civil rights movement, and some early history of the city of Selma, Alabama.

 

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My trip to Troy and Selma doubled the number of miles I had expected to travel today, so by the time I got back to Montgomery I was getting hungry. After I located the motel and got checked in, I warmed up my leftover Longhorn Baby Back Ribs and sweet potatoe. I missed the garden salad, but the ribs and potatoe still made for a marvelous meal again tonight. Now it was time to relax and see if I could find anything good to watch on TV. No luck! So, I gave up and set to work recording today’s activities and prepared tomorrow’s list of museums.

 

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—–To Be Continued—–

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Pictures

2 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

 

I think I’ve mentioned several things before:

 

  1. My Aunt Jessie – my mother’s only sibling, collector of plates and other items

 

  1. I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

  1. I did scrapbooking for quite a while

 

  1. Fred and I eat at Cracker Barrel quite often

What brought these things to mind, is that we were at Cracker Barrel recently and I saw a picture that I had noticed before. I kept telling Fred that it reminded me of pictures I have of Aunt Jessie as a small child – actually wondering whether or not it actually was my Aunt Jessie. I know that Cracker Barrel collects odds and ends of “old times” to display in their restaurant/store. I suspect they travel far and wide at antique stores, and such, to find the treasures they want. They have items on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. I keep forgetting to “look up” and see what they have. Interesting stuff.

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Credit Google search and Cracker Barrel website

 

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Credit Google search and Cracker Barrel website

 

I have also mentioned the deer head hanging above the Cracker Barrel fireplace in every Cracker Barrel I’ve been in. It reminds me of the one we had hanging in our dining room all the years I was growing up (please see my post of July 10, 2016 – Family Treasures – Part 6).

The particular picture I have of Aunt Jessie that reminded me of this picture connection, is on a 3″ x 3″ piece of glass, and is literally painted on that glass. It has always fascinated me.

I probably would not have made any connection between those two pictures, had I not done a lot of scrapbooking, and that glass picture was there for me to place in a book. I always thought it was a neat thing to have – a picture painted on a piece of glass – but it wasn’t until I saw the picture in Cracker Barrel that I made any connection.

My shot of the Cracker Barrel picture
Picture on glass

So I thought I would show my readers what prompted me to write about it. I told Fred recently that when I got the pictures together, I would probably say, “oh, they don’t look anything alike after all!” But it’s fun to think about.

Who knows? It could be a long-lost picture of one of my family members! Stranger things have happened!

And here are a couple of other pictures of Jessie, that actually look more like that Cracker Barrel picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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