Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Yes, Again

Our long-weekend road trip to Florida for Uncle Hal's service didn't count, of course, vacation-wise (although Someone insisted on a swing through Orlando and the Disney Marketplace on the way home from that). No, the vacation came in the last week of July, 2010. And why would anyone in their right mind go to Florida in July? To ask the question is to provide the answer.

After a day with cousin Paula in Boynton Beach, we went to the Radisson in Kissimee again, staying several days. It was rather hot, of course, but overall we enjoyed ourselves.

This blog is turning into a chronicle of Florida journeys. I'm really just trying to catch up. Our 2011 trek took place in late September/early October, since our 2010 trip at that time worked out so well. Still fairly hot without being blistering, and not crowded at all: too soon after the beginning of the school year for anyone to vacation. Again at the Radisson, this time staying five days with a great rate. We endured a vacation-club presentation to get a 50% discount on Disney tickets, and went to the Magic Kingdom again. It rained in the afternoon, but sporadically enough that we were able to avoid the worst showers. The park closed at 7:00 PM in order to open again for Mickey's Halloween Party, which cost an additional arm and leg. Needless to say, we didn't stay for it.

Other than those showers, the weather was cooperative, with a big storm rolling in only as we left Saturday morning and staying with us to Jacksonville. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.

I bought myself a new camera, a Canon EOS DSLR, that I am very pleased with. I have to get the hang of the auto-focus, but otherwise it's great. I find that I literally can't give away my old film SLR, a Canon AE-1 Program. It's still working fine, with a good 70-210 zoom, but it's been overtaken by the digital revolution.

We returned home to find in my email pictures from a friend's Italy trip. This couple previously had gone to Hawaii and San Francisco. Maybe we can get some variety in our holidays. I really would like to sit out next year and build our funds, so we are not living on spaghetti for months after every vacation. We really want to bring the grand-nieces and their mother with us to Florida; the youngest will be five-and-a-half in summer 2013, and that's a good age to have and remember experiences.

Hal Ewing, 1930-2010

My post for March 02, 2010, "Florida, Take Two" told of our second 2009 vacation. I spoke of how old my Uncle Hal seemed. He passed away on Sunday, May 23, 2010, eight months after we last saw him in October 2009. Harold J. Ewing was born on July 26, 1930, and was 79 when he died. He faded physically in his last weeks, I'm told, but was still mentally alert. There was enough time to gather his immediate family and they were at his side when he passed.

A memorial service was held the next Saturday, May 29th, and Sue and I were able to attend; we took that Friday off and drove down, leaving Thursday evening as usual. It was Memorial Day weekend, which gave us enough time for the trip. The ceremony was at the church of one of Hal's daughters. It was informal, with some prayer and then the family and friends eulogizing him. He was well-loved and regarded, and I think would have appreciated the laughter which the anecdotes from friends, family and co-workers elicited.

Afterwards, the family and some guests went to a Cuban restaurant, one of his favorites, and had lunch.

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Halloween 2011

I am not a Halloween fanatic, as my niece is, but I do enjoy seeing all the young folks out and enjoying themselves. We decorate the house with some nice lighted window decorations upstairs, and lighted plastic pumpkins in the basement windows, and some scarecrows in the yard. This year the scarecrows stayed in the garage, and the pumpkin's bulbs all failed, but the window decorations were admired by several kids.

The past few years the weather has been mild, and this year was no exception. In my southeast corner of Connecticut, the unprecedented October snow two days before was relatively light, only a couple of inches, quickly melted. The rest of the state was socked with over a foot, and power lost over most of that, since with leaves still on the trees they held the wet snow and broke under the strain. In many towns, trick-or-treating was postponed until the next Saturday: too dangerous with downed power lines and dangling branches.

My town went forward with our celebration, however, and I rushed to get home, arriving at 6:00pm. My wife was working that night, and she didn't mind: she doesn't like giving out candy. I insisted this time on buying it myself; she tends to buy a variety of different candy, and I end up being the one who has to decide whether a particular kid gets, say, an Almond Joy (good) or Gummy Bears (lame). And she over-buys; we still have candy from last year. I got six bags of Fun-Size Snickers, and two just-in-case bags of Peanut M&Ms packs. For the little kids, a bag of mini-Tootsie Pops rounded out the supplies.

We live in a development of roughly 50 houses that has only one entrance, so no through-traffic. A lot of people bring their kids over as a result. I was eager to get started, and it was already dark when I got home. I hooked a trouble light outside the garage to cast better light on our steps, and had the car pulled up close to the house. SiriusXM satellite radio had a channel dedicated to spooky sounds, and I rolled the windows down and had that blasting out on the car stereo. I prefer to sit outside, rather than coming to the door repeatedly. It gives me a good view of the scene. I brought out a chair and small table. The table had a bowl for the Snickers, and one for the lollipops, and my toy stuffed cat. The latter is very realistic, and fooled many kids-- they'd come creeping up to it, to see if it would react when they petted it.

I was set up by 6:15pm, and  just in time: a lot of trick-or-treaters for about an hour, and then a lull with another set of groups from about 7:30 to 8:00. Just a few after that, and I went inside at 8:30, finally dousing the decorations and porch light at 9:00pm. I went through 5 bags of Snickers (saving one for myself) and half one of M&Ms, and about half of the lollipops: because they were so small I was giving out two at a time, though. Figuring about 20 bars per bag, that's a good 120-odd trick-or-treaters: a good turn-out. Not too many older kids this year, though; past years they used to go around in groups later in the evening, and it was fun watching them messing around as they paraded the street.

Good costumes, too: an excellent Michael Jackson, complete with sunglasses, which the kid had to keep looking over in the dark; one home-made robot head, a cardboard box with blinking lights for eyes; many Jasons and Freddies and vampires. Cute little girls, and sturdy young Army men. All were saying "thank you," and I am always a jerk and insist on them saying "Trick Or Treat!"

One thing I did notice: I could see about 16 houses from my steps, and only seven had lights on. Next door is vacant; the family opposite is on shift work and did light up after about 8:00, missing most of the traffic. Slim pickings. The kids and parents all seemed to be having a good time, and I certainly did; I went through three cups of (decaf) coffee and only three Snickers.