Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

An easy end to a very nice year

Sunday December 29-Tuesday December 31, 2013
Oscar Scherer State Park
Osprey, Florida

 

 

No bugs, and cooler weather.

 

Since we arrived on Saturday at Oscar Scherer we’ve just been hanging around.   We’ve gone running twice to try to get rid of some of the holiday excess.  Or at least I’m trying.  David has no excess to get rid of.  He says he wants to get ‘back in shape’ whatever that means.  His running is good cardio exercise but he can’t afford to lose any weight.  As problems go, I’ll take that one. 

 

 

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I have spent an inordinate amount of time just sitting on the patio reading now that I can.  What a joy to be able to sit outside and eat outside and not be constantly bothered by noseeums. 

The park has a nice rotating book library in the gate house and as you can see I have found a big stack of things to look over and possibly read.  I’m finishing up a memoire by Carolyn Heilbrun and then I’ll read 25 pages of each of the books I found and see which ones pull me in enough to read them through.  I love having a book in my hand, smelling the paper and ink. 

 

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The weather has been chilly in comparison with what we experienced at Sebastian Inlet and perhaps that’s why the bugs are worse over there although when I asked the ranger when there were no noseeums she said ‘never’.  It was lovely the day we arrived but we got here too late in the day to do much and the past two days the high has been 69 and the low 59.  I know, I know, hardly something to complain about but sadly for me not really beach weather.

 

 

It was a long trip to get good news.

The biggest and only event yesterday was a visit to the Moffitt Cancer center in Tampa for David’s 18 month check up.  It was a long drive, 80 miles one way, but worth it to find out that things are still excellent.   Red and white cell counts are still down which is a bit worrisome to me but the doctor says not a big deal and I guess he knows.  This was all a welcome relief especially since a former colleague of David’s was diagnosed with multiple myeloma just over a year ago and died this past month. The news was quite sobering.

 

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In addition to running, we’ve done a bit of biking, up to the library twice, out to the recycling center with the “red bag” and around the campground though we haven’t yet gone out to do any of the 15 miles of trails that run between Sarasota and Caspersen Beach.  There is an entrance onto the trails directly from the park and we would have gone today but we were too tired from running.  We really are out of shape.  But biking is up coming on our agenda.  

 

 

We haven’t had pizza in ages and today I got a craving for it.

 

 

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David had something else planned but I just had a hankering to send off 2013 with a home made pizza.   I was kneading the dough when he said “look over here”.  “Who me”?? Some picture. 

But the pizza turned out delicious.  We used our pizza stone but didn’t put the pizza directly on it.  We put the pizza on our regular pizza pan and put that on the stone to see if we could still get a nice crispy crust without the tricky business of getting the pizza on and off the stone.  Worked great!  We probably will never cook directly on the stone again.

 

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While the dough was rising and the pizza cooking I went outside and cut my hair.  I actually like my hair long but I just can’t get through that stage where it hangs in my eyes.   So the flowbee and I had a date.  A couple of people commented asking what was flowbee when I mentioned it in a previous post.  I’ve put it in my blog several times but thought I’d do a set of pictures again for those who haven’t seen it yet.   I’ve been cutting my own hair, for better or for worse, since we went on the road.  I find that I don’t like the cut the day I do it but it evens out and settles down in a few days.  And then I love it. 

 

Before

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I just turn it on, choose the right length of attachments for the length of my hair and move it all over my head with a bouncing type motion.  I stop, change the attachments making them shorter and shorter as I do it again and again until it’s short enough to suit me.  It layers my hair and puts the cuttings in to the tank on top of the motor.  No mess.  LOVE IT!

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My “new year” started on the day that daylight began to increase but there is the calendar we all are tied to.  I am amazed at how fast the calendar year 2013 has seemingly flown by.  Is the warp speed with which everything happens now and our constant frantic attempts to keep up? Or is it just a phenomenon of aging that makes time seem to go more quickly?

 

In a contrary effort, we don’t have any New Year’s eve plans.  So it will be a quiet evening at home.  We had a very rough 2012 and are thankful that 2013 has been a wonderful year.  Hope yours has been too.  Here’s to a GREAT 2014!

 

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34 comments:

  1. Pizza was a great idea! The pizza stone did make a crispy crust without burning - very nice. I wonder how long my hair might get if I wait until my hair gets in my eyes for a haircut...
    Wish you all happiness in the New Year!

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  2. You deserved a good year after 2012! Hope 2014 is even better.

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  3. We wish you both a wonderful 2014. Happy New Year!

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  4. I'd have to have the flowbee with a much shorter attachment since my hair is shorter than your end result to start with. I like the looks of the pizza except I'd add a ton of cheese. :) Here's hoping you write another great 365 page book!

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  5. Yea for the great checkup report!

    Happy to see you outside and enjoying life!
    Katy in NH

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  6. A pizza stone is a MUST in an RV oven! I bake pizzas in a ventilated pan, and the bottom usually crisps up nicely. If it doesn't, it is easy to transfer it to the stone for just a couple of minutes. Makes a big difference in the "crunch effect". I butter and sprinkle cornmeal on the pan before putting on the dough. This makes it slide off easily onto the stone either for a little crisping, or when it is time to eat it.

    Mmmmm - pizza. Haven't made on in a while. It must be time. ;->

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  7. Your pizza looks delish. I gave our pizza stone to our granddaughter and am sooo sorry. Would love to be an indian giver. But, oh well.

    I really like the way your hair looks.

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  8. Great to hear the good news about David! Here's to continued good health for all.

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  9. Great news David. That flobee works amazingly well. I love the new do, and the old one too. Quiet on the homefront here for New Year's Eve. May 2014 bring you all the best and more.

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  10. We are so happy for David that everything is looking good, what a relief! Nice job with that Flowbee. I'd be afraid to use it because I might lose an ear or something.

    Here's wishing you a great new year and we look forward to catching up with you on the road, we're waaay overdue for some face to face time. :c)

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  11. Hallelujah for the good report!!!!!! And Many more to follow in 2014. My Joe is sick this week so we spent a quiet New Years Eve at home also. He seems to be on the mend as the fever is coming down. Just a nasty respiratory bug that's going around. I had it before Christmas and of course, I share everything with him :)

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  12. Well this is already a HAPPY NEW YEAR for the two of you...so glad to hear the good news about David's checkup!!! WOOO HOOO, I am doing the Happy Dance:o))

    We love our Flowbee too. It is so easy to use and sure saves us a ton of money:o)) I love the reaction from people walking by when we are vacuuming our hair;o))

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  13. So, so happy to hear the report about David. I know that it such a relief! And sorry to hear about his colleague. Sobering news to absorb under any circumstances, but especially for you given David's experience with the same disease. Your New Year's Eve was about as wild as our was! We are so thankful to have enjoyed a wonderful holiday season with friends and family. Now the decorations come down and we start to think about a tough January and February! Will keep you posted.

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  14. That reminds me. I need a hair cut. Time to pull out our flowbee too. Great news about David!
    Sy

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  15. Great news for David. Hopefully we will get a little sun before new years day is over.

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  16. Great new about David. Now you've got me wanting pizza, want to come make some homemade crust for us. I've gotten my hair past the in your eyes stage, will get it trimmed when we get back to VT and see the girl I've been going to for 15 years. Looks like you've found a great place to enjoy for a while, Happy New Year.

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  17. It must be quite a relief to hear such good results from David's checkup. What a great way to cap off the year.

    Relaxing at your new site sounds perfect to me. We have been in low key mode too. It feels great after playing tourists all fall.

    Happy New Year to you and David.

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  18. Yay for the checkup! And the pizza looks delicious. Do you think a flowbee would work on curly hair? I've been trying to figure what to do about my the maintenance of my rat's nest of a hair do when we get on the road.

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  19. Happy New Year! The excellent test results are starting the year off just right! BTW, the pizza looks delicious!

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  20. Happy New year to you both too! I'm sure 2014 has to be a good one, just feeling it :-) We make pizza once in awhile too, just on a pizza pan. Turns out ok. Used to have a stone too, I think the FloBee would be a great gadget, since I have short hair anyway. Wish I could try it before investing in one :-)

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  21. I'm so glad to hear that David got good test results. Do you think there could be any relation to his work place since two of them got the same disease?

    We have had our Flowbee for probably 20 years and love it for both of us.

    I love to make home made pizza, but our convection oven just does not make it right. Thinking of checking into a portable gas oven if they make such a thing.

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  22. Happy 2014! A pizza sounds like a great idea to me. We should do that next time I'm there. Yum! So glad the bugs are not around so you can read and walk and run. Oscar Scherer has so much to offer...too bad it isn't slightly closer to the beach!! Great haircut. I don't think I've actually ever seen the flowbee. Dad's news was the best news :)

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  23. Short hair suits you. I use a RoboCut, very similar to the Flowbee.

    Coincidentally, I just had pizza for lunch. One of my very favorite foods.

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  24. Glad the medical news was all good! Have a great New Year:)

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  25. The pizza really looks good! Sorry the weather is bad and doesn't look like its going to get much better-- so you might get all those books read. So glad Dave's tests were good- all clear on heading west this year! Happy New Year!

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  26. A quiet evening at home with pizza -- either store bought or homemade -- has been our New Year's Eve tradition for many years. This year we broke with tradition and enjoyed a little get together with our fellow volunteers. Even saw the clock strike midnight!

    We're thankful that 2013 was a good year for you and David and hope that 2014 is even better!!

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  27. GREAT news about David …. and oh, yeah.. I kinda sorta remember the flowbee … I suffer from CRS, Sherry …. and well, I liked your before picture ~ what an interesting way to cut your hair… I never … a vacuum that cuts … ha

    Happy New Year to you and David … again, what wonderful news to begin the New Year!

    you make your own pizza dough? wow

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  28. Yeah for the good news! Your haircut looks great. Happy New Year!

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  29. I am glad he is in good shape. Wishing you guys a Happy 2014

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  30. robinkwalton@gmail.comJanuary 4, 2014 at 3:23 PM

    Awesome about your check up David so happy!!!!!!

    Great Haircut Sherry..looks great

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  31. So happy to hear David's good news -- All the blessings of a healthy and adventure-filled 2014 to you both!

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