Central Florida Thru My Eyes

Palm Coast Red Knights 9/11 Memorial Run Slide Show

2008-09-11T10:52:00.002-04:00

Last year I brought you photos of a 9/11 Memorial I attended in Palm Coast that was sponsored by the Palm Coast Red Knights Chapter 11. It was incredible! 400 bikes, a beautiful service, and a picture perfect day who could ask for more?

Getting to do again!

Over the past year I was fortunate to get to know the people who are from Chapter 11 of the Red Knights through other charity events, I asked if they were doing the 9/11 Memorial Ride again? When I was told yes, I was elated. I told their president Joe Vece that I would like to photograph it for them.

We figured out the best spot along their 87 mile route for me to shoot them as they go by, however I didn't know how they were going to arrive there.

One week before the Memorial/Ride I emailed them and within minutes I received a map and directions and the next day a phone call with directions. We were all set!

Steve and I arrived at Heroes Memorial Park at about 9:10 AM and there were already double the bikes, and they were arriving at a steady pace, filling the park up quickly.

The service opened with again the presentation of colors, the American Flag being brought to Half Mast.

The Ancient City Pipes & Drums was next, they played Amazing Grace so beautifully, words can't describe to you how it made me feel. Next year I'll do video.

We then had a local minister or pastor (and I do apologize for not getting his title correct) give a short but very meaningful service followed by one of his church members and local National Guard member singing God Bless The USA.

Taps was then played by a member of the Palm Coast Red Knights to finish our 30 minute Memorial Service. We were then briefed by one of the Flagler County Sheriffs Motorcycle and it was bikers to your bikes!

Let me show you what I mean, sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

9-11 Memorial Run ~ Sponsored By The Palm Coast Red Knights

2008-09-04T10:19:00.010-04:00

Last year I attended the Red Knights 9/11 Memorial Run For The Fallen Hero's and what an experience it was. (Click the link to see the photos and read about it.)

A lot has happened in the past year and I have gotten to know members of the Palm Coast Red Knights while attending charity events around the area, what a super group of people!

These firefighters on bikes, active and retired do so much for folks in our area, you have no idea! They attend charity events for folks with cancer, folks who lost their homes to fires, they were huge supporters of our Annual Bikes And Blues With Mickey Jones benefiting St. Jude Children's Hospital, just to name a few.

Once a year The Red Knights organize a beautiful service for those we lost on 9/11/01 held at Hero's Memorial Park in Palm Coast, FL. The service is like non I've ever attended.

Following the service there is a 85 mile Police Escorted ride through out our beautiful area. It leaves Hero's Memorial Park and heads north to St. John's County, then south back through Flagler County, touches a bit on Volusia County and this year will end at the White Eagle Lounge in Korona.

The ride is going to be this Sunday, 9/7/08.

Sign up begins at 9:00 AM @ Hero's Memorial Park on Palm Coast Parkway
The Service will start at 10:00 AM

ALL MOTOR VEHICLES ARE WELCOME!

My Boss Is Going to MDA JAIL! Help Me Bail Her Out, Please!?!!

2008-08-07T16:08:00.013-04:00

Midori Miller, Manger of Century 21 Sundance's Pelican Bay office is going to jail!

Yes, you read right! JAIL!

Ok... not city or county jail but

MDA Jail!

Here's the deal:

Midori is giving up her time to go behind bars until her "bail" of $3,200 is met to free her.

How you can help:

The Muscular Dystrophy Association & Midori have a secure site set up where you can donate money towards setting her free!

It doesn't have to be a lot, just a few dollars.

The money goes towards fighting MDA and helping Jerry's Kids.

Did you know:

There are over FORTY different types of Muscular Dystrophy?

Some diseases begin in infancy, some early childhood, others early to mature adulthood.

ALS Or Lou Gehrig's Disease is also a form of Muscular Dystrophy.

What was that link again?

Muscular Dystrophy Association

Help me help Midori raise some money for a good cause and maybe one day we won't need The Muscular Dystrophy Association anymore...

"Your 100% tax-deductible donation will help MDA continue research into the cause and the possible cure of the 43 neuromuscular diseases they cover. Your support of the MDA Lock-Up will also help MDA provide medical equipment, clinic visits, support groups and a magical week of MDA Summer Camp for the families served by the Association in our local area! " Midori Miller, Century 21 Sundance

Round & Round With A Limo Company

2008-06-10T13:24:00.011-04:00

Sometimes celebrities would come to town and not want limo service. They would prefer a van so that they wouldn't get run over by fans, or could fit their luggage, guitars, clubs in the vehicle with them.

One such limo company would "farm out" his celebrity pickups to E&M Tours. We had two special vans that we would use for just such a pick up, they were 13 passenger vans, but they had an aisle with nice seats on either side then a bench seat in back. We also had T.V.'s in them, they were smooth and quiet riding. Big stuff for the 80s!

We had two woman employed by the company, one a driver and me as the airport dispatcher, neither were supposed to be near those vans when there was a celebrity pick up. My dispatcher didn't like that too well and on occasion neither did the owner.

Normally my radio and PAX List (Arriving passenger sheet) were dropped off at the airport by one of the drivers at around 1100AM. On this day, someone called me (I believe it was Kingsly our dispatcher and not the owner) and asked me to come to the house and ride in with the van. I was a little confused, he then explained to me that this way on my last pickup I would ride back in with the last pick up (a limo account) to their hotel and then back to the house. I was always up for causing a little trouble and I was all for this one, I don't like discrimination.

When I arrived at the house where our vans are kept and ask who are we picking up? I'm told we're picking up the band RATT and I'm to ride in the van with them. Make up any excuse needed when the limo company owner asks why I am there.

Just as planned the owner shows up with the band, smiles his smile and all is fine until I get in the front passenger seat. The owner was a houli like me, (that's Hawaiian for white), but blond as the day was long. His smile turned to a teeth gritting grin thing, and his face beet red when I climbed in with the driver. He asked what are you doing? I remember telling him that the band was the last scheduled pick up of the day and I was headed back for the yard, this was my ride, oh yeah, have a great night!

The band was really nice. We talked on the 15 minute ride to Waikiki. They never knew what had just transpired at the airport, but they had no problem with me riding in the van with them. I helped the driver unload the luggage and back to the yard we went. No harm, no foul. RATT was really cool.

As far as the band knew, my car was at the yard and I needed to go home. Every time I hear this song I think of that day so many years ago.

Round And Round~RATT

The limo company owner got over his anger that day. We didn't lose the account, we later picked up someone else in much the same way. This time though, I didn't ride in as it was a 3 day charter. That was a great 3 days for our driver. There is a story behind that one too.

photo courtsey of deviantArt.com

The Day I Met The Piano Man

2008-06-05T11:42:00.010-04:00

Climb aboard my time machine with me, take a walk with me through some of my fonder memories..

It had to have been 1983, I was still living with my dad at Hickam A.F.B. and I bet meeting the Piano Man and his girl were the first celebrities I met in the 5 years I worked at the Honolulu Airport.

I was meeting a "inter island" flight at the inter island terminal, Hawaiian Airlines if I'm not mistaken. There were no jetways there, you came down the stairs of the 737, walked across the tarmac to the baggage claim, which was open air. There was a wall with a doorways and gates so one could not access the tarmac without permission, the rest of the baggage claim could be accessed by anyone.

The passengers began to come through the doorway as I stood there with my sign, my dispatcher from E&M Tours was also there with me. As I watch the passengers walk by I see a beautiful blond woman walk towards me with a bright smile, and a golden glow. The glow almost reminds me of an aura. The man she is with is shorter then her, wearing dark sunglasses, and has dark hair.

As they walk past me, it hits me who they are. I stare in amazement, more like gawk. I then look at my dispatcher who seems to be in another world, I asked him if he'd seen who just walked by him. He said who?

I was stunned. I remember telling him "the most beautiful woman in the world just walked by you and you didn't even see her!", he just smiled.

Yes, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley had just passed by me and it seemed that no one had noticed but me.

I collected my passengers, we got their luggage and put them on the transportation to their hotel. I then walked over to Billy and Christie who were chatting with their limo driver and summoned up the courage to ask for their autographs.

Christie smiled that beautiful wholesome smile, she took my pen and paper and signed her name for me, then handed it to Billy, who I could tell was very shy. He kept his dark glasses on, his head tilted, almost as he was nervous about looking me in the eye. He was not rude though, he was very polite, almost child like. It was an amazing moment in time for me. There was only one other couple I met during the 80s who impressed me more. I will tell you about them soon.

I'm glad Billy and Christie are still friends today. They seemed like genuinely good people that day 25 yrs ago. They still bring a smile to my face to this day, that is a true fact.

photo courtsey of deviantArt.com

Interview With Mickey Jones

2008-06-05T10:36:00.007-04:00

When Mickey was in town for our Bikes and Blues event back in April he along with Reuben the "Lounge Lizard" did a radio interview with Shannon Burke. Reuben put the interview on youtube with photos from Mickey and Mickey's book, "That Would Be Me".

Reuben and Mickey also sing Double Bogie Blues and there are some of my pictures on the video I took of them singing this song at the WHOG Studios a year ago.

Thanks Reuben!

Enjoy!

Coming Out Of The Fog!

2008-06-04T11:14:00.008-04:00

Have you ever been in that awkward moment when the conversation lags and you or the person you've been speaking with have nothing else to say? Sure you have!

In times like these I go back to my memories of the 80s and working at the Honolulu Airport. Most of these times were fun and I got to meet some pretty cool people. Steve says I name drop, but he says it with a smile. To me it was a way of keeping a conversation going. Its memories of good times and some neat people I happened across during my day to day life.

In order to get out of my BLOG FOG I've decided to tell you a bit about my life in the 80s working at the airport in Honolulu. I wanted to go happy with this series, I hope you can feel my smile as you read on.

My Airport History:

I began working at the airport as a Lei Greeter for a company called Aloha Lei Greeters in 1983. No, I wasn't wearing a grass skirt and bikini top, that was for the models that posed for pictures.

I wore a long muumuu with slits on the sides, one was sky blue and white and the other was a dark red and black pattern. We had one major account, Tradewind Tours and several smaller or private accounts. My job was to hold up a sign at the gate of the airline with the passengers name (or tour group name) and meet them with a lei and kiss.

If the passenger was on a tour, I would take them to the models for photos, then to the baggage claim and finally make sure they got on their transportation to their final destination, (hotel or outer island).

At one point I began meeting the 1st flight of the day arriving from Alaska at either 4:55AM or 5:55AM depending on the time of year, then move on to the customs area and meet the flights from Japan, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. (I had Japanese group escorts who would actually meet the passengers then bring them to me for their leis). I would finish my day at noon so I took a 2nd job as a dispatcher for E&M Tours, a transportation company that would take passengers back and forth from the airport to their hotels.

Tiring of working strictly at the airport I took a job at Waikiki Express driving the passengers myself. I loved that! I was one of two girls driving for the company, the other one mainly dispatched and I had the respect of all of the men there. At night one of them always waited for me at the station where we parked our vans if I was running behind. We usually went out after for a bit of fun until I made the fatal mistake of dating one of the other drivers. I was making good money then, tips plus a good hourly wage and threw it away for a man who couldn't take that a woman who could drive as well and toss luggage as high as he could.

I gave renting cars a try for a bit.. but they wanted me to push the coverage. I believed in it and still do to this day, but got let go because I wouldn't push it. I went back to the airport...

I went to work for a porter company, Paradise Sky Cap, under contract for United Airlines who took care of their wheelchair bound and unaccompanied minor passengers. That was pretty cool for a bit, but the pay was really low and tips hard to come and I soon found myself back at Aloha Lei Greeters as Asst. Manager.

Now, to remember the who's and whens, and will I be able to find pictures that I am allowed to use?

photo courtsey of deviantArt.com

Life After Living With Addiction ~ The End!

2008-04-18T15:31:00.008-04:00

It's finally time to wrap up this series! Time to tell you how life can go from bad to good to wonderful.

If you want to catch up I'll leave all the links to the past posts at the bottom of this post.

When I last posted (aways back) in Life After Living With Addiction ~ Part 1 I told you I that a ride was coming up for St. Jude and I would be going with a friends husband. That ride was taking place in April, after Bike Week of 2006.

Bike Week that year was quite exciting for me, I spent it with my girlfriend and her 39 Chevy Sedan and boy did we turn some heads. Her man had to go out of town that week so we decided to go out and have some fun. Let me tell you, this car is one heck of a hot rod. It used to drag all over the NE Circuit back in the 60s. In fact one person even recognized it and told us it used to be painted silver. I got the biggest kick out of watching my girlfriend shock the men by knowing every inch of her car and being able to answer every question they threw at her.

The last Friday of Bike Week, her and I along with a 3rd friend went to the White Eagle and she introduced me to someone who was about to change my life. It was the night I met Steve.

There he was sitting on the bench in front of the bar, just watching the crowd & minding his own business when my girlfriend sat next to him and began talking to him. I remember it like yesterday. She introduced me and our other friend to Steve and jokingly mentioned she was trying to find a date for me. I shot back some wise crack that next time I gave out my number I was going to get the guys number at the same time. Next thing I know I had a card in my hand.

About that time I had to run off and get a camera to a friend and when I went back to the bench Steve was gone. I remember thinking to myself, I blew that one.

About a month later Steve calls me at work. (took him long enough!) He invites me to go on a Poker Run which I believe was a week after the St. Jude ride. He actually wanted to take me on the Bikes and Blues ride, but I had already made plans and didn't want to break them.

At this point in my life, I didn't think I was ready for a full time relationship. I told Steve that up front, I just wanted to have fun and enjoy life.

We did the poker run and we had a great time. We both felt we really connected that day. The next day was Sunday, my day to meet my friends on Main Street, he called me as I was headed that way and I invited him to meet me there, he was about 15 mins behind me. We've been pretty much inseparable every since.

Steve has been the best thing to ever happen me as far as a partner in my life goes. He treats me like a person, an equal and a lady. He treats me better then anyone has ever treated me before.

I remember when I used to run away to the beach while married to the addict, I would see couples that seemed to be in what is called "the golden years" holding hands, I would feel jealous. I knew I didn't have that kind of love and I thought then I never would would. Well my friends, never say never.

I've finally found that happiness. I wasn't even trying.

Thank you for not believing a word I said Baby!

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII

Living With Addition ~ Part XIII
Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV

Living With Addiction ~ Part XV
Living With Addiction ~ Part XVI ~ Freedom?

Life After Living With Addiction ~ Part 1

Bikes & Blues 2008~The Photos!

2008-04-17T09:58:00.013-04:00

On April 5th over 750 bikers from in and around Volusia County, FL got together to ride for a cure. A cure for childhood cancer.

The event, Bikes and Blues with Mickey Jones to benefit St. Jude Children's Hospital.

Mickey Jones along with Big Mike Griffin and Bubba Baker joined forces with Rock Hartley for the 3rd year in a row for this particular ride out of the Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach.

The ride, police escorted headed to A1A, followed the beach north to Highbridge road and into the famous Ormond Loop through a beautiful canopy of ancient oak trees and back to the Iron Horse, 23 miles in all taking about 50 minutes to complete. The riders were also treated to a fly over by the Spruce Creek Gaggles, a team of retired pilots from the Spruce Creek area of Daytona Beach.

Once back at the Iron Horse Saloon, the riders were treated to the best biker blues courtesy of Big Mike Griffin, raffles, auctions and some really great weather.

Between the ride and Golf Classic that was held the next day over $40,000 was raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!

To view photos taken during the ride or golf event please click either Bikes and Blues 08 (ride shots) or Golf Classic 08

Thanks to everyone who was involved in this years events!

A Clip From The Red Skeleton Show Circa 1969

2008-03-19T10:54:00.003-04:00

A short clip of Red Skeleton from his show in 1969,

Take the time to watch and you will get chills...

More Bike Week Photos

2008-03-13T15:52:00.003-04:00

Harley Davidson Fire Fighter Special Edition Pictured Below

Friday, March 7th, is the day that Steve and I think we had the most fun. It rained 2.5 inches at our house but that didn't slow anyone down from laughing or having a really good time anywhere we went.

Visit my Active Rain Blog to see just how much fun some people had!

My Bike Photos From Bike Week 2008

2008-03-12T14:10:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately you won't find those photos here... This format is just too frustrating for me to upload a lot of photos too, I did try but it drove me nuts!

I decided to upload them to ActiveRain and Localism and you can see them here:
Bike Week 08 ~ The Photos & A Video (Part 1)

Bike Week 08 ~ The Photos (Part 2)

Retinoblastoma, A Childhood Cancer, Takes A Guitar Legend at 41

2008-03-04T18:03:00.001-05:00

Jeff Healey, self taught guitaist, singer, and blues icon was stricken with Retinoblastoma at the age of 1 and lost his eyesight. He lost his fight to this cancer over the weekend. He is already missed by his fans and friends he has made around the music industry.

Read more of my post at my other blog site on Activerain, you will learn why Jeff's passing hit so close to home.

Northern Right Whale Sighting Update 2/29/2008

2008-02-29T11:39:00.007-05:00

I know, it’s been 15 days since my last update, but I promise you there is good reason for this.

No one has spotted a Northern Right Whale since February 12th.

This isn’t completely unusual to my friends Joy and Jim as they had one year where they went 17 days without a sighting, but as of today they can make that 2 years. As of February 17th, there were still sightings in the Jacksonville and Brunswick area.

According to the Marineland Right Whale Project, due to our warmer then usual weather and water temperatures the whales may have actually began their long trip back north. The good news is so far 16 distinct mother/calf pairs have been “tentatively identified”!

If you are in the area on vacation, or just an avid animal lover/whale watcher like me do not give up hope on seeing whales, just because the northern right whales may have gone home doesn’t mean we don’t have any in the area….

Monday, February 25th a beautiful humpback whale was spotted in Beverly Beach. I did not know we had a humpback whale season here, I thought they were here year round. Apparently when it is time for the northern right whales to go home that signals the time for the humpbacks to arrive. (I have some new research to do!)

The folks at The Marineland Right Whale Project ask that you continue with your phone calls with all whale sightings to them as any sightings assist in their research in both species of whales. One way to tell the difference in the two species, the humpback whale has a small fin on its back and the right whale does not. Also a right whale has a V Spout when it surfaces and a humpback does not, it has a single spout.

I’ve also seen a dwarf sperm whale playing just off shore so you just never know what you may see!

If you spot a whale off the Florida Coastline,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Pre-Register For Bikes & Blues 08 At Bike Week With Big Mike Griffin

2008-02-18T10:24:00.021-05:00

A good friend of mine, Big Mike Griffin will be rolling into Ormond Beach, FL for Bike Week this year!

He will be playing at both The Broken Spoke and The Iron Horse Saloon beginning with his first show on Sunday, March 2 at 1PM at the Broken Spoke Saloon.

The rest of his Bike Week schedule looks like this:

Monday, March 3rd Mike will be at the Iron Horse Saloon from 11PM until 2AM

Wednesday, March 5th back Big Mike and his band return to the Broken Spoke Saloon and play from 1PM til 7PM

Thursday, still at the Broken Spoke Saloon on stage at 7PM until midnight

And as of right now their last show, also at the Broken Spoke Saloon on Saturday from 1PM to 7Pm.

Bike Mike will be debuting his new DVD of his award winning documentary, Iron City Blues while here too and you will be able to purchase advanced copies of the DVD at his shows.

Just a little tease about Iron City Blues:

"Urban legends tell of an isolated Southern town where the residents ran-off their police department and outsiders fear to tread. To blues musician Big Mike Griffin, it seemed like great material for a song."

Some of you know that I am a committee member for the Bikes And Blues With Mickey Jones events that benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Big Mike is also one of our members!

Being on the Bikes and Blues committee is how I got to meet Big Mike and his lady Miss Emilie last year. I then got to spend a little time with them last Biketoberfest, but not near enough as I would have liked because they were in South Daytona. I’m so excited that they will be in the northern part of the county this year!

This year we are trying something new with our bike event, we are pre-registering riders.

I will be at Big Mike’s merchandise table on Sunday, March 2nd pre-registering anyone that prefers to pay in person. (I will also be assisting with Big Mike’s merchandise sales)

The first two riders to show up together and tell me that you read about pre-registering for the Bikes and Blues Bike Event in this post will ride for free in the event.

Can't wait to see all of you Bike Week 08 at the Broken Spoke Saloon!

Remember! Together, We Can Make A Difference!

Life After Living With Addiction ~ Part 1

2008-02-14T15:06:00.018-05:00

Contined from my Living With Addiction Series.

I guess from reading other posts in this blog you can tell I've been a pretty happy & busy girl the past couple three years.

I can't begin to imagine staying in that marriage with the way things were.

I look around at some people I know now who have family members with the same type of addiction, I don't know if they have the luxury I did. The luxury of turning their backs and walking away.

How does a brother, sister, mother or father tell their child or sibling to straighten up or get out, then when they don't, kick them out of their lives? Permanently? Turn their back on them and walk away?

As you know if you've read my series, it took a lot for me to turn my back and walk. It was the best thing I ever did for myself though. The freedom it offered me felt incredible. I knew my ex's problems were not my fault. These issues were around long before I was.

We, as the spouse or family member of the addict are not the cause of the addiction, please always remember that, no matter what you have been told.

The first thing I had to do was to learn how to be happy with me before anything else. I feel that if we are not happy with who we are we will never be happy in any type of relationship.

I had to discover who I was, what I was about. Life was now about ME.

Honestly, I had the best time discovering myself. I would walk the beach after work, rent any movie I wanted, and I found a new passion..

My new love was my camera. I found it so easy to find something to photograph no matter where I went. I would photograph ghost crabs on the beach, jelly fish, surfers, bike week events, you name it I took photos of it.

My camera was and still is with me 99% of the time.

I would be silly with my friends, go out and have fun with them. Work on my house, I actually painted the whole outside of my rental duplex for extra money. I had a good time doing it too.

I soon figured out I missed riding, I even thought about taking a motorcycle class and possibly getting my own bike one day. However I have severe arthritus and that just won't happen with hands the way they are.

My friends husband would take me out if she had to work, we were/are friends with Blackfoot and he and I rode to Sanford to see them Biketoberfest of 05. It was a blast.

Then one day I opened the Pennysaver and saw Mickey Jones would be in town for a St Jude benefit ride. I loved Mickey in Home Improvement, how cool! As for St. Jude? What better charity event is there? Lucky for me, my friend had to work and her husband said he would be my escort..

To Be Continued....

Northern Right Whale Sighting Update 2/5 ~ 2/12/2008

2008-02-11T13:43:00.020-05:00

I was sure hoping to have a new photo of my own to share with you today, but no such luck.

Once again we had the perfect weather to watch for the whales, a slight chilly wind, but other then that, nice seas and sunny for the most part.

I started out later then usual, hit the beach around noon. I did get some great pelican photos, this one on the top of what's left of the Ormond Pier.

And this one that was waiting for a fisherman to reel in something so he could beg for it.

Then this juggler showed up and kept me occupied for a bit.. He was quite good actually!

I slowly made my way north after making my call to see if there had been any sightings yet and once again nothing.. I got to the Flagler Pier and hung out there for about 30 minutes before making my way back south to Ormond where I waiting a little while longer before calling it a day.

At least I got to see some kind of wildlife though!

On to Joy's email updates..

I received one on February 5th stating they were very active that weekend before starting on Friday the 1st with the sighting of #1622.

#1622 was first spotted in New Smyrna Beach by the Marine Resources Council who said that the whales (mom and calf) were headed north.

Saturday, the 2nd, #1622 and baby were spotted in Daytona Beach, confirmed by the Projects Sector 4 "mobile team leader". The whales were confirmed while swimming north by the aerial and ground teams.

On Sunday the 3rd, The Projects Aircam took off after the fog lifted and spotted a mother and calf north of the St Augustine Inlet. Introducing right whale #3292 and her 1st calf! This is moms first visit to our area, she is a young mother, only 6. Joy tells us right whales usually wait to become a mom when they are around 10 years old or so.

A hour later in Ormond By The Sea #1622 and baby were spotted at Highbridge Road and A1A (on of my stops on Saturday). According to Joy they "put on quite a show". I wonder if that means a lot of breaching and tail slapping? Apparently quite a crowd gathered and parking at that particular area is slim (about 10 spots) which brought out the Sheriffs deputies to keep the traffic flow moving.

#1622 and calf were last seen at the Matanzas Inlet still headed north, spotted by one of the Projects ground teams on their way to conduct surveys.

Wednesday, the 6th @ 8:830 am Arpeggio (AKA right whale #2753) and calf showed back up again at Crescent Beach headed slowly south but they were still north of Matanzas around noon. Apparently it was at that time that the seas and winds kicked up and our spotter teams had a hard time seeing the whales so they headed on out. At 4:40PM The staff at Marineland spotted a mother calf pair who were quickly ID'd as Arpeggio and baby. The pair literally hung out near the Dolphin Conservation Center until 6PM until the evening skies made it hard to see them any longer.

Thursday, the 7th, 7:50AM, a call came in stating a camper at the Beverly Camptown RV Park had spotted a whale, the mobile response team arrived confirming 2 whales, mother and calf. The ground response team caught up to the whales in Flagler Beach and found Arpeggio and her calf who spent most of the day there.

My girlfriend called me at 5:30pm that day to tell me she was in Flagler Beach and she was watching a whale also that she had her camera. I wasn't sure which whale she she was watching since she didn't see a baby. She called back a half hour later to tell me there were about 20 dolphins playing around the whale and this whale was huge. I told her if there are dolphins there must be a baby. She spotted the baby while we were talking. She was watching Arpeggio and calf. I'm very happy for her as she is moving to Denver soon, she won't be seeing many whales there.

Tuesday, 2/12, The Projects Sector 2 Mobile Team spotted a SAG (Surface Active Group) of 5 whales heading north from the Hammock area of Flagler County.

A half hour later the staff from The Marineland staff called in with a sighting of a right whales to the east. The responder verified a mother and calf headed south. The gang followed the mother calf duo south trying to catch glimpses of them through windy choppy seas and every now and then seeing a white chin and belly on the calf they believe the pair to be Arpeggio and baby.

The SAG spotted earlier broke up but seemed to reform later in the day near the Flagler By The Sea RV Park. Joy hopes to see them again and ID individuals in the group.

I hope she and the gang succeed! The weather is finally nice today, a bit chilly with light winds, and this weekends highs back in the mid 70s along the coast. Not sure about the winds though.

If I hit the beach again, I wonder if I'll have a chance at seeing Arpeggio and her beautiful baby. It's almost like a quest for me at this point.

Have A Happy Valentines Day!

And Remember!

If you spot a whale off the Florida Coastline,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

I'm Taking Good Care Of Your Robins While They Are Here!

2008-02-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

I had quite the surprise yesterday morning, a yard full of robins! This is the second group to come by this winter. They only stay a day or so.

These little guys really enjoyed the bird bath and backyard though, they enjoyed it so much they came back yesterday evening too.

I put together a photo and video movie of them for you so you can see that they will be just fine while on their winter vacation here in Florida. In the afternoon footage of the video, if you listen carefully, you will hear the cars practicing at the Daytona International Speedway for the 500. Hope you enjoy! (Keep watching after Bye Bye, I couldn't edit that out..)

Life Is Funny Sometimes

2008-02-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

I know I need to catch up on some posts, I've really fallen behind.

Our "snowbirds", the Northern Right Whales have been very active and I have to get that in here, and hopefully find one or two myself.

I also want to finish my Addiction series.

I hope the words I chose to explain to you just how lucky I do feel can make you feel it too.

It seems my birds have taken my attention away from the other two posts!

I get some good video of them and want to share the video with you.

The interaction I have with some wild animals, it makes me feel all the luckier. I honestly know that if I didn't go through the things I went through in my past I wouldn't have that interaction I do.

I wouldn't know the people I know, have the job that I have or the life I have now or more importantly I wouldn't have Steve in my life.

I'll write more about that in another post though.. Lets get back to my feathered friends shall we?

The other day I posted Bird Antics At Pelican Bay about my buddies a Anahinga and a Great Blue Heron that visit me for their breakfast or lunch at my office.

The Anahinga can be very territorial at times even chasing me away... In this video, I started the video a little late, he is coming out of the water with his "catch of the day" right at my feet...

Enjoy!

Bird Antics At Pelican Bay

2008-02-04T09:54:00.000-05:00

I have made friends with a Great Blue Heron at my office. He figured out that I feed the fish and he (or she) gets an easy meal.

When the heron is paying attention or hungry and sees me come outside, it will glide across the water right to me to hunt its prey.

This bird stands about 4 to 4.5 feet tall when fully stretched out, a pretty tall and graceful animal.

This isn't the only water foul that has me figured out though.

This bird pictured to the left is a Anahinga also known as the Snake Bird.

This is a male bird, and he swims through the water to hunt or stalk his prey, then brings it out of the water to dine on it.

When I took this photo, he had come out of the water so close to me I could smell him.. like he was showing off his prize.

However, he has become very territorial of this feeding area.

He has on many occasions chased the Great Blue Heron out of the water and even come after me! No, I'm not telling you a fish tale.. This 2 foot tall bird has no fear of anything.

Have a look at the video, you'll see what I mean. Oh, and yes, that is me backpeddling while shooting the video...

Northern Right Whale Sighting Update 1/19-1/28

2008-01-28T17:26:00.001-05:00

I know I am so far behind and I am so sorry! Life has a funny way of catching up to me sometimes!

First I wanted to update everyone on the right whale calf that washed up in Ormond By The Sea over the weekend. It was apparently a new born with "remnants of the umbilical cord still attached". They believe the death was natural causes, but as soon as they post the results of the necropsy everyone will know for sure.

Joy doesn't think that he was one of the whales that the Marineland volunteers have spotted and cataloged this season. (There have been 8 mother and calf pairs so far)

Joy also goes on to say in the email that if the Right Whales behavior is like that of the bottlenosed dolphin, "once the baby is out of the mothers sight" they no longer appear to grieve. The behavior I read about last year when the mother appeared erratic, she may have been in sight of her baby when washed up on shore in Jacksonville after a ship strike.

SIGHTINGS

January 19, 2008

Arpeggio and baby were spotted throughout the day in northern Flagler County.

They were first spotted at around 9:45 am by the Survey team that was on the look out at Sea Colony but disappeared quickly. They were spotted again a mile north of Sea Colony just after 12 noon by someone living at the Surf Club condo. Joy and company were able to photograph and get a positive ID on Arpeggio as she has white scars that help them identify her.

They also were able to witness Arpeggio roll onto her back, then her calf swim through Arpeggio's pectoral fins and onto its moms chest. Man, I would love to see interaction like that.

The Project's Survey members watched these two on and off until about 5pm.

January 23, 2008

Right Whale #1622 was sighted in the area with her fourth calf. This whale is very special to Joy as she is the first whale Joy ever photographed from an AirCam.

#1622 and calf were sighted 2 days in a row, first in Ormond By The Sea. The AirCam was able to fly over and get some great photos of mother and calf. According to Joy's update, one photos has the calf upside down on it's mother tail giving them "a rare chance to figure out its gender" which appears to be male.

(I was terrified that this may be the male that washed up on shore Friday, January 25th and was relieved I was wrong)

On the 24th the pair may have been spotted again in S. Daytona. It was a rather gray and windy day, not a good AirCam day. The Project had to rely on ground photos and from those photos they believe the pair was once again #1622 and calf.

January 25, 2008

First thing in the morning two whale sighting calls were received. The first was from New Symra Beach and the Marine Resources Council Response Team soon discovered #1622 and her calf there.

The second sighting was in Daytona Beach by the Volusia County Beach Patrol. Unfortunately we had a low fog deck that day and was several hours until AirCam could safely take off to search for the whales.

The AirCam team found the Daytona Beach whale about 2:30pm. They believe it was a juvenile and as yet do not have an ID on it.

AirCam then made its way south in search of #1633 and her calf and found them at the north end of Canaveral Seashore. She must like it there as she spent some time in that area with her third calf in 2005.

Janaury 28, 2008

Arpeggio reappears with calf in tow! The two were spotted near Crescent Beach in Northern Flagler County around 1:15pm and The Response Team had them ID'd by around 2:10.

The Response Team stayed with the pair following them south across the Matanzas Inlet and about a half mile south of that where the pair pretty much remained until 5:15 when the Team left for the day.

In Joy's email she states, "Although we soon learned that the dead calf who came ashore on Friday evening was a newborn, the white belly initially had us concerned since Arpeggio's calf also has a white belly. What a relief to see these two behaving in a similar manner as we have observed them over the course of our many sightings".

When I saw the photo of the calf and its white belly in the News Journal, my heart stopped, my first thought was of Arpeggio's calf. Even after learning it was a newborn, I felt so much better when I got the updates on #1622 with her calf along with this one about Arpeggio and her baby.

If you spot a whale off the Florida Coastline,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo above is of Arpeggio and her calf and was taken by Joy Hampp and is property of The Marineland Right Whale Project, used with their permission.

Death Of Right Whale Calf A Mystery For Now

2008-01-27T08:29:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, I hate when I am right. The dead right whale calf that washed up in Ormond By The Sea on Friday night was a male. So far, that is all I am right about though.

Researchers do know that the calf was not killed by a ship strike or by entanglement. First they will try to determine if the calf was alive when it was born. If he was alive then they will need to find out why he died.

The researchers are very concerned about "toxic algae" which was mentioned in today's News Journal. I'm not sure if that is the same as Red Tide as that is a algae bloom too that is toxic to our smaller fish.

You can read more on this story in today's Daytona Beach News Journal story here

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

A Sad Day For The Northern Right Whales

2008-01-26T16:18:00.001-05:00

No photos to post today, I do have sightings to catch up on and will possibly do that tomorrow. We lost a calf last night in Ormond By The Sea. It was about 10 feet long and was washed ashore about 7-7:30PM.

When a friend told me this today I felt like someone kicked me in the chest. There was a mother and calf sighted in Ormond By The Sea on Wednesday and they were photographed by the AirCam team. Joy stated that they believed the calf was a male.

I wonder if this was the baby we lost? It is as hard on the mother whale as it is on us humans when a baby is lost. They become very erratic and visibly upset from what I've read.

They are taking the whale to University of Florida where a necropsy will be done to find out what happened to it.

We've recently had a couple dolphin wash up also and not too long ago a real bad red tide. Some of us that don't know what we are talking about are wondering if this all ties in. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

You can read the article that was published in today's Daytona Beach News Journal here.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Northern Right Whales Arpeggio And Calf Sighting Confirmed!

2008-01-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

The Marineland Right Whale Project celebrated it's seven year anniversary of it's first whale sighting on Friday, January 18th with sightings of two mothers and calf's!

The first pair were sighted by one of the Projects survey volunteers who was at her post near "Clicker Beach" which is close to Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast at about 9:30AM.

Joy and the response team arrived soon after and confirmed that the pair were a mom and baby. I mentioned before that when I've seen a mom with her calf, I didn't get to see much animation out of either of them, at the most a wave from the baby. This particular calf apparently got very animated after awhile and did nine breaches before the pair swam off towards the east "around noon". Nine breaches.. wow, would I love to have seen that.

In my post, Have Right Whales, Arpeggio And Her Baby Returned?, I mentioned how the volunteers at Marineland were constantly scanning the ocean's horizon in the hopes of spotting Arpeggio and her calf the day I visited.

Well, their work payed off on Friday when they spotted a mother and calf moving slowly south. Joy and her team caught up to them and confirmed that the folks at Marineland finally got to see Arpeggio and her baby.

The team also confirmed that the mother and calf they spotted on Wednesday and Thursday were indeed Arpeggio and child!

Hopefully the team will be able to give us a ID on the other mother and calf. I can't wait to see who the mom is. Will it be a frequent visitor to our waters, or a first time mom?

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo above is of Arpeggio and her calf and was taken by Joy Hampp and is property of The Marineland Right Whale Project, used with their permission.

Introducing Nothern Right Whales Arpeggio And Her Calf!

2008-01-19T07:01:00.000-05:00

Last evening I received permission from Joy Hampp and Jim Hain to post this photo of Arpeggio and her calf. It is the property of Jim Hain and The Marineland Right Whale Project and was taken by Joy at Beverly Beach, FL on December 10th. They estimate the baby was at least 6 days old in this photo.

Photos like this one are extremely important to the Project for identifying the whales. If you look at Arpeggio's head you'll notice a white patch, that white patch is called callosities. Callosities are basically whale lice that lives in/on the whales skin.

The first time I met Jim, he explained to me and everyone at our office that the callosities are like our fingerprints. They remain in the same place on the whale for it's life span. I imagine they do cover a larger area on the babies as the babies grow.

Photos like the one above are added to a catalog of Right Whales that is used by many different agencies dedicated to help keep these creatures safe. This way they can track their journeys north and south, how old they are, if and when they've had a calf. They also use it to keep track of the number of Northern Right Whales in the ocean.

Ariel photos, if the weather cooperates, are incredible. Some of the photos I've seen of these amazing creatures from above would take your breath away. The scientists can get a better look at the callosities and learn more about the whales "behaviors" without disturbing them. For instance like the photo I told you about yesterday of Arpeggio on her back with her calf resting its head on her chest. We can't see that type of interaction from the shore, unless one is lucky enough to have a waterfront condo at least 2 stories up.

Some good news:

The first time I saw a Northern Right Whale in 2004, their total count at that time was about 350. Only 350 of them in the world..

When I spoke to Jim a couple weeks ago I asked him how many whales did he think there were now.

He told me they believe the number of whales has now increased to 400!

This is great news, increasing the number of whales by 50 in 4 years may not seem a lot, but given the dangers they face and their slow reproduction rate, this number was more then I expected.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Living With Addiction ~ Part XVI ~ Freedom?

2008-01-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part XV

It felt so good to have him out of my life, to be free of worry, free from his addiction, free from him ~ so to speak.

He promised he would help with money by paying my car insurance and he stuck to that promise.. However he would call me, a lot. I got sick of it, I didn't want to talk to him. I was happy for the first time in many years and when ever he would contact me via computer or phone it would put a dent in that happiness.

I began blocking him on the computer and not answering his calls, he threatened to stop the insurance payments unless "I was nice to him".

I was no longer falling for his emotional blackmail.

I wasn't going to let him run my life anymore.

I no longer had any feelings for this person anymore and had no desire to be in contact with him. He had screwed with my emotions too too many times and I was done with it.

He was true to his word (for once) and quit paying my insurance, since he lived up north I guess the notice went to him and not me so I was not aware that had been cancelled until I went to renew my car registration 6 months later. In the long run he cost me quite a bit on that little temper tantrum.

It was worth every single cent though.

In October I began filing for divorce. This is where I discovered how funny life is. It cost us $25.00 to obtain a marriage license in the state of CT. It cost me $350.00 to file for divorce in the state of FL. That's without any legal help. Why do you think this is??

(Not sure how much it costs to obtain a marriage license in FL)

It cost another $70/75 to have him served in CT by one of their State Marshall's. Once I got verification he was served all I had to do was wait for a court date.

Of course, he was not thrilled with being served with divorce papers and swore that he would have one of his fathers lawyers stop the divorce. Knowing then what I did, I called his bluff and dared him to try. At this point I had more then drug abuse to fight him back with and no judge in the world would have listened to him. I almost wish he would have made good on that threat. Heck the Judge would have probably thrown him in the loony bin...

The afternoon of December 1, 2005 I walked into the judges chambers to finalize everything. It was very different then my first divorce.. The judge asked "Are you sure.." and I said "Yes" very sure of myself and that was it.

I left the courthouse feeling better then I had felt in a long time. As I crossed the Main Street bridge there was a American Bald Eagle flying low over my car, now kids, if that isn't a sign I don't know what is!

There is one last post to come one how happy I still am and how improved my life has become.. stay tuned! I am super busy right now so it may take me a little while to get it to you, but it will come!

Past Posts in this series:

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII

Living With Addition ~ Part XIII
Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV

Living With Addiction ~ Part XV

Have Right Whales, Arpeggio And Her Baby Returned?

2008-01-18T09:42:00.000-05:00

Up until now, our whale sighting reports have been zero since January 1st.

Nothing, nada, zilch...

I went in search of our famous mother/baby duo on Saturday, January 5th and found nothing.

I even called Jim Hain, Scientist from The Associated Scientists At Woods Hole in Woods Hole, Massachusetts to see if they (him and Joy Hampp, Project Coordinator for The Marineland Right Whale Project) were out watching the whales anywhere.

Jim told me no, that no whales had been sighted, but if I made it as far north as Marineland to please stop and say hi.

I did make it that far and stopped to see Jim. I was treated to photographs that Joy had taken from the Projects spotter plane of Arpeggio and her baby.

The one photo I will never forget was of Arpeggio laying on her back in the ocean, showing her white belly with her calf resting its head on Arpeggios chest area with the rest of the calf's body resting in the ocean. Joy takes the most beautiful whale photos I have ever seen. In this particular photo, you could see the love the two share for each other.

As I left, Jim said he would call if any whales were sighted. Since the The Marineland Right Whale Project's office is across A1A from Marineland, I went over to Marineland and spent a couple hours watching the dolphins play and talking with the volunteers there who were all abuzz about Arpeggio and constantly scanning the ocean for her and her baby.

After 2 weeks of no emails updates, I awoke to an update from Joy yesterday morning with a possible sighting of Arpeggio and her calf in St. Augustine Beach!

One of the Project's volunteer team leaders was just getting ready to leave his condo (I think to go to his sector to watch for the whales) when he spotted a mother and her calf in the churning seas. (not a easy thing to do!) He immediately called it in and the "response team" rushed to his condo to attempt to make a positive ID. (Our weather hasn't been ideal for whale watching the last two days, overcast and very windy, making it hard to get a good look at the animals) Joy reports they are sure that this pair was Arpeggio and her baby! They are "waiting for tentative ID"

Yesterday was once again windy along with rainy conditions but, a resident was able to spot a mother and her calf. She called the Reponse Team, who within a half hour had confirmed the pair, but due to the poor conditions only got one good look at their heads. They did however get a good look at one of their bellies and it was white! Joy thinks this pair could have been the pair from the day before, AKA Arpeggio and her baby!

I hope this means we will be seeing a lot more of them and maybe even I will get to see them in person too!

(There is another sighting of a single whale I want to tell you about, however I am waiting for permission to use a photo to go with the sighting. As soon as I obtain permission I will post that sighting as well.)

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo used above is a photo I took in 2006 in Ormond By The Sea of a Mother Calf pair. It could be a Right Whale known as Piper with her calf. She was in the area that day along with another Right whale and her baby.

I do not have persmission to use anyone else's photo's of the whales at this time, and will not take anyone's photos without their permission. This is why I keep using photos from the 2006 Right Whale season for my blog. For those of you that aren't aware~it is illegal to use other people's photos without their permission unless otherwise stated from the photographer.

Proud Right Whale Mom Arpreggio, And Her Calf Still Cruising Florida's Coast Line!

2008-01-02T14:32:00.001-05:00

The now famous Northern Right Whale fondly called Arpeggio and her calf are still hanging out near St. Augustine and Matanzas Inlet.

Friday, December 28th was a beautiful day, and apparently there were a lot of boats out taking advantage of the weather near St. Augustine Inlet. When the mother and calf appeared one boater began to follow dangerously close to them.

Because these whales are endangered, all boats are required to stay at least 500 yds away from the whales. (Boat strikes are a major threat to these incredible creatures)

The folks from The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission were able to intervene and keep our famous pair safe. Once the whales had enough excitement in the St. Augustine Inlet they swam off towards Vilano Beach to spend the night.

Saturday, December 29th, The Marineland Right Whale Project received two whale sighting calls. Both sightings were for whales spotted south of the St. Augustine Pier. Joy and gang along with the Florida Wildlife Research Institutes's Right Whale staff found our pair near Anastasia State Park. The group was concerned that the whales would go back into the inlet (Saturday was even nicer then Friday) but they stayed south of the inlet this time.

Joy's email mentions that on occasion Arpeggio would roll over on her back and once they saw the calf's head on mama's chest. That had to have been an amazing sight to see.

Steve and I should have got on the bike and headed north on A1A Saturday, our high was 85º. Instead we stayed close to home. Maybe I'll take a ride up that way this coming weekend and see what I can find.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within 500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Whale photo is of a juvenile Northern Right Whale I took in 2006

New Years Party At The Kickstart Saloon!

2007-12-30T06:56:00.001-05:00

Come on down to the Kickstart Saloon on US 1 in Ormond Beach and ring in the New Year!

Entertainment provided by Red Stripe Mike!

Free champagne at midnight!

No cover!

Festivities start when you arrive!

Have no plans? You do now! Hope to see you there!

Have a Happy Safe New Year!

Our Annual Bikes And Blues With Mickey Jones To Benefit..

2007-12-29T06:56:00.000-05:00

St Jude Children's Research Hospital is just 4 months away!

This year our events will be held the weekend of April 5th and 6th, with our Bike Event being held on Saturday hosted once again by The Iron Horse Saloon on US 1 in Ormond Beach. Our Golf Classic will take place on April 6th at Pelican Bay in Daytona Beach off Beville Road.

We are currently looking for Bikers, Golfers and Sponsors to help make this the biggest event yet.

To see what's in store watch this video...

If you would like to join us or help out with a sponsorship, you can contact me or Rock Hartley, like Mickey said, "Together We Can Make A Difference"

North Atlantic Right Whale's Are On The Move In Florida 12/27/2007

2007-12-27T14:44:00.000-05:00

My favorite "snowbird" is the Northern Atlantic Right Whale, and they have already started to arrive here in Florida!

I receive Right Whale Sighting Update emails from Joy Hampp, Project Coordinator of the Marineland Right Whale Project here in Marineland, FL.

I recently asked Joy if it would be OK if I began posting her updates, (in my own words). Her reply was it would be fine, "We would like to get the word out.", so here I am!

The Marineland Right Whale Project Officially began on December 9th of this year with the sighting of a mother/calf pair in St. Johns County, FL. The pair moved north to St. Augustine Beach, stuck around for a little while then went south to Matanzas Inlet. When the spotter team left the whales, the whales were still very slowly heading south. The mother whale was ID'd as Right Whale #2753, Arpeggio.

On December 10th, Arpreggio and her calf were spotted further south in Flagler County, near Beverly Beach Camptown which is located just north of Flagler Beach. They then headed north to Painters Hill for a little while, then back south to Flagler Beach again where they hung out for about 45 minutes then headed back north then out to sea.

Arpreggio must be super proud of her baby as she continued to show it off on December 13th St. Augustine Beach and Matanzas Inlet again! She was reported to do three "spyhops" then swim off...

On Friday, December 14th the sea was foggy, but the pair were still hanging out off the Northern Florida shoreline. As the fog lifted they were spotted by residents of the Surf Club at Matanzas Shores, my friends from Marineland confirmed our proud mama and calf and stayed with them until sundown.

Saturday, December 15th, they were once again spotted north of St. Augustine.

Apparently Arpeggio and her baby were spotted a few times in Ponte Vedra the following week, then on December 23rd they were spotted back in our area in Crescent Beach. They traveled to the north end of Butler Beach where they turned south for parts unknown.

On December 23rd another whale pair were spotted in the Daytona Beach area! They were identified through "TV news helicopter footage" (per Joy Hampp) as Right Whale #1701 and the calf she gave birth to last year! Joy states: "While not common, there have been a few mothers in past seasons that have returned the following year with their calves."

Christmas Day appeared to be very exciting for the Marineland Right Whale Project. Arpeggio and her baby showed up again in front of the Surf Club at Matanzas Shores. Once again the volunteers followed them north and south until they disappeared.

Then, later in the afternoon a call came in from Hammock Dunes, another sighting. This time three Right Whales, The Projects "first SAG (Surface Active Group) of the season!" The team stayed with the group watching the three interact until sundown.

Now we are all up to date! This is my 2nd year receiving the emails from Joy and I am thrilled at all the activity the Marineland team is seeing.

They have already spotted 7 whales this season, last season their total was 34 confirmed right whale sightings, 18 mother/calf, 7 singles, 6 pairs, and 3 SAGS. I'm not sure what the Right Whale numbers are up to, I believe it is around 400, when I first got interested in this species it was 350. Yes, 350 of this particular species of whale in the whole world.

The photo at the top of this post is a photo I took 2 years ago of a mother and calf that came by my office in Ormond By The Sea. It could be a whale named Piper as she was in the area that day with her calf along with a 2nd whale and calf. If you are driving along our coast and see a sight like the whales pictured above, one sure way to tell if they are Right Whales is when they exhale they will spray the water into a V spout.

If you are lucky enough to see this, please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Living With Addiction ~ Part XV

2007-12-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV ...

It was either 3 yrs ago today or tomorrow when my ex packed up a small U-haul trailer and our two dogs and left for his hometown up north. That was one of the best/worst days of my life.

He had made me a deal, he would pay my car insurance to help me make my bills. I thought that was the least he could do for me after what he put me through.

Before they all left, I sat on the floor in the corner of my bedroom and held Shadow tight and just cried.

(The ex offered to let Shadow stay with me, but that damn dog loved him so much she would get depressed when he was out of town. How could I keep her away from him? I'm just not that selfish.)

Shadow had enough of my blubbering after a couple minutes and went bounding out of the bedroom, unaware what was happening.

I of course continued to cry and he came in to cry to console me. I told him to just leave, go... I didn't want him near me.

I guess he thought I was sad at him leaving, (yeah, he was that into himself) I was sad at the fact Shadow was leaving. She had been in our lives since she was old enough to leave her mama, 6 or 7 weeks old. Just a tiny black ball of fur, raised by two cats.

I remained on the floor for a good 15 minutes after I heard the car pull away, making sure it wouldn't return. I didn't want my last memory of Shadow to be seeing her in that car pulling away.

Once I was sure they were gone for good I jumped up from the floor and started to clean house. No, I don't mean with a broom, I mean with strength I didn't know I had.

The first thing to go? The bedding! I had purchased new bedding with my Christmas bonus and had it in my trunk. Any furniture he left behind, I pulled right out the front door straight to the street.

My visiting girlfriend was still here, she thought at first she would help, but decided to stay out of my way. (She later told me I had scared her.) I was a woman on a mission. I did find quite a few of his things that I boxed up and put in my outside storage in case he ever noticed it missing.

I wasn't done until the house no longer looked like he ever lived there. It felt damn good, When I was done, I felt like a ton of weight had been taken from my shoulders. I felt free for the first time since 1989. (the year I met my first husband)

My father was coming soon too. I was so looking forward to it. I would no longer be embarrassed of my home or anything else in my life.

A new year and a new life were waiting for me... but I didn't have him totally out of my life just yet...

Past Posts in this series:

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII

Living With Addition ~ Part XIII
Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV

Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV

2007-12-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

In Living With Addition ~ Part XIII, I told you how I finally got the courage to tell my ex I wanted out of the marriage. He was using again and of course denying it, even when I confronted him with the evidence.

Since I was the one who wanted out, I would be the one moving out. We weren't paying a lot for our half of the duplex we were living in, at least by Volusia County standards. I began looking for a place of my own, and looking and looking.

I had until after Christmas to find a place, he wanted me to stay thru the holidays and dummy me gave in. I figured this way I had time to look.

It really began to frustrate me, both living with him and not being able to find a place I could afford. He was basically driving me nuts, the only time I wanted to be home was when he wasn't there. On the weekends I would hit the beach the minute I woke up and hope he would be at work when I got home.

Then one day around Thanksgiving, I had about given up hope on finding a place to live, when he told me he was moving back north.

Yes!! I didn't have to move! He was leaving a couple days after Christmas.

It shouldn't be too bad, my girlfriend from NY was coming for the holiday so I wouldn't be alone with him. The only bad part about him leaving was he would be taking Shadow our cocker spaniel and Noel, the lab/shepherd mix. Other then that, I couldn't wait for him to go.

My girlfriend arrived Christmas eve in Jacksonville, delayed of course. We got back to the house late, don't really remember what we did.

Christmas morning, the little kid in me woke early as she does every year and got the rest of the house up for coffee and presents. I then began making our Christmas meal. As our meal was cooking, my girlfriend and I decided to watch Pay Per View all day in our pajamas.

They had a good selection of movies on, even some Christmas ones. So as I was baking our bird I was also snuggled in my recliner with Shadow in my Christmas PJs enjoying a very lazy day. We decided to make it a tradition. Christmas in PJS!

My friend had a friend in Jacksonville, he came down for dinner and I believe spent the night as he ate too much turkey to go home safely. My girlfriend is a baker, she bakes the best treats, no scratch that, the yummiest treats and made us wonderful homemade truffles for dessert. It was a good meal for sure.

Even though it was a semi tense Christmas it wasn't a bad one. The ex was on his best behavior. We were all friends for the moment and were able to put aside our differences for the holiday.

Just a couple days left now in this marriage from hell, but not the end of the story....

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII
Living With Addition ~ Part XIII

A Break In The Addiction

2007-12-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

I've taken a small break in writing the Addiction series.

Putting it all out for all of you to see has actually has brought me some, no, a lot of healing.

However it has also brought in some nightmares. You know the kind where you wake up sweating and breathless?

One I had ~ it wasn't the ex who was shot it was me. Another, there was a lot of drugs everywhere. Even though I've not written anything in a week, I had one the other night that I thankfully don't remember, but I know it took me a good hour to feel comfortable enough to go back to bed.

I know that all that has happened in the past, and now I have a life that when I was living in that past I could only dream of having. (See, dreams can come true!) I know they are just dreams and nightmares and those can't hurt me, but they are still scary just the same.

I have Steve who is so supportive of me and treats me like every woman wants a man to treat her. With lots of love and respect.

My parents are extremely proud of me right now and where I am at in my life.

I have the respect of my Broker/Owner and my Broker/Managers along with a string of Real Estate agents that I work with.

I really can't ask for anything more, now can I? I'm the lucky one, and yes, I am a survivor and damn proud of it.

I guess I never realized how badly the events of those 7 years affected me mentally. I know that some folks fighting addiction realize who they've hurt and to what degree. But, I can guarantee you that person I was married to had no clue.

How many others are out there like me?? Have they healed? Have they forgiven? Have they forgot?

I still have more to tell you on this story, today just wasn't the day, I know you understand. :)

Living With Addition ~ Part XIII

2007-12-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addition ~ Part XII

When I started this series I thought it would only go about 5 or 6 posts. I had no idea it would grow to become the monster it did.

Hurricanes Charley and Frances had come through the Daytona area and did a pretty good job of uprooting homes, property and lives.

They made me realize what was important in life and what was trivial. Hurricane Jeanne was on her way now, she was a small storm compared to the last two, but I had had enough.

At some point that September of 2004, I don't remember if it was between Frances and Jeanne or after, the ex fell but he wouldn't admit it. I busted him dead to rights too.

You see, when he used, he would fall asleep sitting up, straight up, right smack in the middle of doing something. Then, he would jerk awake and continue doing whatever it was he was doing when he fell asleep. For instance, lighting a cigarette.

Once I saw this I waited for my chance to search the house, when I got that chance I found the evidence. The container of liquefied drugs he would inject with a needle just like he used to do.

Yes, I went ballistic. I put the container back and waited for him to return home.

When he did, I waited for him to go in the bathroom and take "his time" in there. When he came out I confronted him with the container once he started to "nod off".

He back peddled as hard as he could, I wouldn't hear any of it. He tried to tell me it was allergy pills. He thought I was that dumb.

Even the people at the meetings were telling me he was back using again. I wasn't even going to the meetings and word was getting back to me. (I did go to his 1 year anniversary meeting, some people there thought that he didn't deserve that one year chip. This happened between hurricanes Frances and Jeanne too.)

This stopped for a couple weeks, then one night we were trying to decide between pizza and Wendy's for dinner. He didn't want to go pick up so we were going to get pizza. His sponsor called, he told his sponsor he had a headache, the next thing I knew he was more then willing to go get Wendy's.

Yeah, I was born yesterday.. The next day I found the container of liquid in a new hiding place in the bathroom.

I told him that night I wanted out. He cried, he swore he wasn't using. I told him I didn't believe him, I saw the proof, he couldn't hide it from me. I didn't love him anymore, it was time for me to go.

Addicts don't get it.

They think we're blind to their actions and even after 7 years of watching them we don't see what they are doing. They will lie through their teeth to get what they want from you, to get you to do what they want. Only you can break that cycle.

I was about to do that very thing...

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII

Living With Addition ~ Part XII

2007-12-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part XI

No sooner did we get power restored and our county partially cleaned up from Hurricane Charley then another hurricane came knocking on our door.

Hurricane Frances decided to grace us with her presence for 3 very long days during Labor Day Weekend. Although she wasn't a very strong hurricane, since she remained over us for 3 days

with continued winds and rain she caused more damage in our area then Hurricane Charley even thought about doing.

This is poor Shadow trying to do her thing in hurricane force winds..

Of course with Hurricane Charley still very fresh in our memory, the ex didn't even think about leaving me alone.

At this point however, I didn't care if he left or not. In fact, after the first day of us being couped up in the house and now having no power I asked him to go where ever he wished.

By the second day, I actually asked him to get me out of the house too, that's when I took these photos.

After seeing this street signal in the middle of US 1 and feeling the actual force of the winds, I didn't like not being home with the animals and asked him to take me back home.

He didn't know that I was considering getting out of our marriage yet.

I remember when I got back to the house and he left, sitting there with the dogs and cats I liked being home without him.

I had not as of yet made up my mind though.

Once the storm was over, it was time for me to get out of the house and I went Beachside to check on our office.

Our building was still standing, but heavily damaged. We had lost the roof. We would be closed for at least a month, like other Beachside business's

I believe it actually took 3 weeks to restore power to the Beachside after Frances came through. Even if we could work in our office, we wouldn't have power.

Luckily we have 3 offices and I was able to work out of another one.

Back at home, my birthday was coming up once again. I was still not celebrating it after the events of 9/11/01.

The ex wanted to do something with me to make up for the year before but after what I been through the last year and two major hurricanes he was the last person I wanted to be with on my birthday.

I wanted to go to Marineland and just spend the whole day there watching the dolphins, alone. What I didn't know until I got there was that Hurricane Frances also did heavy damage to Marineland and it was shut down.

I was halfway to St. Augustine, so I just continued north. I got myself some good ice cream there some cheapie jewelry and had a nice day.

Little did I know a third hurricane was on the way along with a relapse and my way out.

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX

Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI

Whose Your Look Alike?

2007-12-05T15:26:00.001-05:00

Monika McGillicuddy turned me on to this site, so I thought I would give it a try. It surprised me who the computer rated higher as my look alike. I never heard of the person (can't even remember who it was now) and I didn't think I looked anything like her.

However, when I saw the similarities between Debra Winger and me I was floored..

Take a look!

Granted I used a photo with poor resolution but still, I thought this result was pretty cool.

Give it a try and let me know who you look like.

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI

2007-12-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

This is a continuing series I have been doing about what it was like living with my ex husband, who was addicted to prescription pain medicine. So far he has done things like throw himself down a flight of stairs, set his hand on fire, and shot himself in the stomach to get pain pills.

The last post I did he was active in Alcoholics Anonymous and seemed to be making an effort to stay sober after what seemed an accidental OD on Ultram in February of 2004.

Over the summer I would go very early to the beach on the weekends and leave about the time it would start to get crowded and hot. I started to look forward to those days of quiet, just me and the ocean though I didn't know why.

Things at the house had been going very well. He was going to work, going to his meetings and staying sober, but something was changing.

Then Friday, August 13th came along. We were prepared, but how prepared can one be for a hurricane? The day before Hurricane Charley decided it was going to move towards SW Florida and come across the state and exit at Daytona Beach. All this was to happen on Friday the 13th.

The morning of Friday the 13th, Charley hit SW Florida as a Cat 4 hurricane. (at one point it did hit a cat. 5 for a few minutes) It devastated the town of Punta Gorda then began coming towards us and I was terrified.

The ex was still at the Salvation Army and had to go to work. He was going to leave me home alone and go to work. He wasn't making much more then minimum wage, it wasn't like this was a real important job. I was livid. How dare he even think about leaving me home alone with the animals while this monster storm was bearing down on us.

He left at about 4PM, the outer bands were just coming in, I wouldn't even talk to him. I just sat with the news on and my computer up watching every move Charley was making on his march across the state.

Two hours later the ex was home, I was very relieved so were the animals. I understand there isn't anything he could do to make the storm stay away, however I didn't want to be alone.

Charley finally hit us around 10PM and was gone by 11PM. We lost power around 1015 and I went to bed and believe it or not went right to sleep. My dad called from TX to tell me the storm had passed and couldn't believe I was asleep.

For some reason at some point after the storm had passed we had to go to the ER again. I only remember because we had no power and it had only been 2 days & I was waiting in my car because I was angry at him about this ER trip. I remember sitting in my car and listening to the radio, I remember people calling in complaining they had no power and how angry I got at them.

People had no homes left, some had no roof on their house, some lost their lives, and these people who have a roof and a small inconvenience of no power are whining.

That ER trip, for whatever reason we went, was the last ER trip I made with him. This was the beginning of the end of everything I worked to save over the last year.

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part X

2007-11-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part IX

At some point after that ER trip in January my ex lost his job that had brought us to Florida.

It was really no big deal, I couldn't stand his boss or the boss's wife. Funny thing looking back now, my ex wasn't much different from them.

His birthday fell around NASCAR's biggest race, the Daytona 500 and I was able to get him a ticket and he was invited to go with our friends.

He was like a kid in a candy store. I figured he deserved it. He had a whole new attitude and was attending the AA meetings every day, talking with his sponsor, doing what was right.

So I thought...

He had a blast at the race, came home all smiles and exhausted, all of them were smiles. I don't remember who won, but I remember everyone had a good time. He was exhausted though, he been at the track since 8am and it was about 8pm so he went straight to bed.

Thirty minutes later I heard a strange noise coming from the bedroom, at first I thought it was Shadow, the cocker spaniel snoring. When I heard it again I went in and looked and it was the ex having breathing trouble, almost chocking.

I took his head off the pillow and tilted his head back so his airway would have a less restricted passage and once again called the same friends I called the last two times, the very same friends he was with that day. (I did call his sponsor also, but no answer) Our friends advised me to call another friend that had 11 yrs sober and 911.

Yep, here we go again..

The friend I called said he would meet me at the ER.

I had the EMT's take my ex to a closer ER, I wasn't about to make the same mistake I did last time.

The EMT's asked what he was taking and I gave them every bottle of medicine that he had. At this point he was back on the Depicote along with anxiety meds and something else that I can't think of right now.

I was asked to wait in the waiting room, while checking him in they asked me what he was taking and I told them they had everything.

It seemed they didn't believe me.

Our friend showed up and we waited maybe 10 minutes before being called in. (making the total wait 20 minutes) The Dr. met us in the hall, I gave him the OK to talk in front of the friend explaining his presence and he told us my ex had overdosed on something called Ultram.

I knew that Ultram was a prescription pain medicine, what I didn't know that it was in the narcotic family and that it was a synthetic type of morphine, or that he was taking it. I'm sure my ex knew it was a narcotic.

I was shocked, but not angry. Why? Who knows. When we walked into the the room he was totally alert and smiling, yes.. smiling. He was surprised to see our friend, but happy that I had called him.

I remember my ex specifically asking our friend with 11 yrs sobriety if he had to pick up a *white chip because of what happened and our friend said "no.. you made a mistake"

The ex's story was he had a headache from all the noise at the track and he had taken 4 Ultram instead of 2. We believed him at that moment, I don't believe it now, I don't think our friend ever did.

*(In AA, when you first join or return to "drinking or drugging" then go back "in to the rooms" you pick up a white chip)

When we got home, he actually seemed to be thankful that I saved his life, he seemed truly scared he almost died that night. I think it really hit home a few weeks later when his own sponsor died suddenly of a heart attack while at work.

Things were OK until summer, he found work at the Salvation Army, it didn't pay well but it was work. He got a new sponsor who I never met and still attending his meetings regularly. He appeared to be working the steps and doing what he was supposed to be to get well.

It was the beginning of the end though....

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living WIth Addiction ~ Part IX

2007-11-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

Continued From Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

A new year (2004) has begun and with that new hurdles are put up.

One evening my ex was taking a nap, I don't remember what prompted me to go in to the bedroom but I noticed something was not right. His lips were very pale, he was breathing, but not breathing right.

I tried to wake him, he wouldn't wake up. I attempted to call his sponsor and got voice mail, I left a message then called the same friends I called back in September. They were near by and came right over. They had me call 911, at this point his lips were blue.

The EMT's asked where to take him, I didn't know any better, still only a year new to the area had them take him back to the same hospital he was in back in September.

Apparently he "came to" on the trip to the hospital and was not happy to be at the same hospital that put him in a rehab facility after a psychiatric ward.
They would only allow two of us to go into the ER with him, my friends husband and I went in. Apparently my friends husband (dressed in his leathers and do-rag) made the hospital staff nervous along with my ex's behavior, a security guard also came in.

At some point we got it out of my ex that his "head hurt", the Dr. wouldn't treat him until he did a drug test. After all, the hospital knows my ex's past.. He did the drug test and passed, nothing was there that wasn't supposed to be there, however my ex was really mad he had to take one.

The Dr. would only offer him over the counter head ache medicine to help his headache, this upset the ex even more. He began to cause more of a scene. We were then asked to leave the ER and hospital.

The four of us decided to go to another ER that was less busy and wouldn't treat the ex like a leper was treated back in the 1600's.

Upon arrival at the 2nd ER, we filled out the paperwork, he was brought in right away. He told the Dr. EVERYTHING that happened at the first hospital and how upset it made him. Boom, here came a security guard to the waiting room.

The Dr. called the 1st hospital to confirm his story, the security guard watched us in the waiting room, a male nurse sat with my ex and they talked. Everything was fine. The security guard left, I got called in to the room, my ex was calm, the Dr was friendly.

The Dr. gave my ex a neck brace, it seemed to relieve pressure. He was also not going to give any type of narcotic to my ex, however he had a better bedside manner and made my ex feel like a member of the human race again.

We never did find out what caused this first trip of the year to the ER, but if you come back you will find out what caused the 2nd ER trip the next month......
Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Photo courtesy of Deviantart

Natural Flea Remedies

2007-11-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

Living the "Gypsy Lifestyle" I have, I've learned a thing or two about these pesky insects we call Fleas:

The first one this is that nowhere is immune from fleas as long as you have a pet, even if the pet is constantly indoors.

I lived on the 21st floor of a condo in Hawaii back in the 80s and my cat had fleas. Yep, those lil buggers hitch hiked up the elevators on my jeans to my unit then lived happily on my poor kitty until I got rid of them.

I never had a problem in CA, TX, even Upstate NY and I had 2 dogs there, then I came down to FL, welcome back fleas.

Things have changed quite a bit since the mid 80s and days of dipping and fogging. Thank You So Much! Man was that a chore, have you ever bathed a unwilling cat before?

Not Fun!!

Then fogging your house, you had to leave your home for 4 to 6 hours while you fogged the home until all non human life forms were dead, and then you had to wash the dishware and utensils (didn't you?).

Now we have Advantage, Front Line, Sentinel and other Veterinarian prescribed flea meds that makes life so much easier.

Hey folks, please do not use over the counter flea remedies, please!

There is one brand out there I put on a cat and she started foaming at the mouth the minute it touched her skin, I immediately stuck her under the sink (UGH!) and used Dawn to get the stuff off her. I just learned yesterday a flea shampoo made by the same company has been known to kill pets, then found this article this am from MSNBC I will never use over the counter flea meds ever again.

But Advantage and Front Line are so expensive you say, and it's putting poison on my pets! you cry... My house is so clean you can eat off my floors! you protest (that means the fleas can also) It doesn't matter, fleas don't discriminate!

Ok let's look at some ALL NATURAL things to use instead of pesticides to keep your 4 legged baby flea free....

Garlic! Yep if it's good enough for vampires it's good enough for fleas. When I moved here to Florida I had my 2 dogs and 1 cat, I was told a sliver of garlic (fresh) a day with the dogs food would stop fleas from infesting the house. During the time I did think to use the garlic trick and it worked, but dang those dogs had some bad doggie garlic breath. Some even recommend adding Brewers Yeast to the garlic too. They say the fleas don't like the smell.

Ok Too Late, I have Fleas in the house..

Treat the yard! Sprinkle diatomaceous Earth all over the yard, you can purchase it in large bags at any pool supply store apparently. You can also mix it with salt if you wish. I've found this on a few websites.

Put mothballs in your vacuum cleaner bag, if it has bags. I have a bagless vacuum and I empty the container every time I use it, fleas can live in the bags or containers and will get out.

Sprinkle a little salt on the carpet, it'll kill the fleas and eggs, let sit overnight, vacuum then dump the bag, or bagless container in the outside garbage. If you have hard wood floors, sweep them thoroughly.

Borax also does the same.. but it isn't as safe if you have small ones that play on the carpet.

Cedar chips around your property line also are rumored to stop fleas from getting into your yard. Sounds like an invisible fence for fleas huh? Too bad the dogs invisible fences aren't as cheap.....

You can lead a flea to water but he can't swim! Place a large dish of water with a drop of dish soap in the water on the floor when you go to bed (out of the way of traffic areas) and a small lamp next to it with a 25 amp bulb.

Fleas are "drawn to the light" when they jump towards the lamp they land in the water, the soap in the water makes them sink and drown, gives a whole new meaning to "go into the light!" It is recommended to do this a few nights in a row.

Please don't think that removing the animal removes the fleas from the home. It doesn't work that way. The fleas lay their eggs in the carpet, not on the pet. If you are going to fight the flea battle with natural remedies, you need to fight it on the carpet.

Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

2007-11-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

It's now October of 2003, we're in a new rental home, his scars are beginning to heal and he is attending AA meetings with a temporary sponsor. I mentioned in Part VI at one point he felt he didn't have a drug problem and he was angry that people thought he did.

It was suggested that he go to AA instead of NA for reasons I can't discuss, I can't tell you if I think things would have been different either way. It was a fight throughout the month of October for him to go to the meetings.

It really sucked that I would actually have to throw in his face what he did in September, I hate to do things like that. It got him angry, but he would go to the meetings and I would go with him. I would watch his face to see if he was "getting any of it".

Finally, he found a permanent sponsor, a man named Dave. Dave had been through the same addictions my ex has and then some. It seemed like a good match. The ex began going to meetings 7 days a week and seemed to be "getting it". He began to spend a lot of time with Dave his sponsor and began "working the steps".

December came and my office always collected canned goods for a local charity, this year we decided to collect for a family that rented from our office that had really hit some hard times.

The food we collected for them was specifically for a Christmas dinner, then we also got small toy presents for their grandchildren that just moved in with them recently.

The office heard my ex had access to a Santa suit and decided him and I needed to be part of a "miracle". We were to play Santa and Mrs. Claus with the food and deliver the food to their home just before Christmas Day. We were up for that.

We loaded the SUV with all the food and drove over to the house. My ex, a rather short skinny Santa knocked on the door with one box of food as I waited at the truck. They knew me, I wanted them to be surprised so I waited before I brought my box in.

As we brought more and more food in and the games and toys for the children, they did realize who I was and figured out where their dinner came from. The tears flowed and the thank yous came.

It was not only going to be a Merry Christmas for them but for us as well.

More To Come . . . .

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

2007-11-24T07:20:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part VI..

When I last left you hanging, we had been evicted with 2 weeks to find a new home and my ex was beginning AA meetings. He had just come home from the hospital.

I mentioned in Part IV that I had dug the bullet out of the bed so that he would see it when he got home, "a reminder of what he did that day and how it affected me". Mind you, the bullet was squished from going through him and the mattress, at this point it was a small chuck of metal. I had left it on top of a shelf above the kitchen sink.

Supposedly he didn't see it right away, I think it took him a few days. We were both in the kitchen when he allegedly first spied it on the shelf. He picked it up and asked why it was there, I told him the hard truth and it "upset" him. He said that he never wanted to see it again and threw it as hard as he could from the back door into the yard.

I don't think he got it, do you?

As luck would have it, our friendly neighbors across the street spotted a rental and told us about it. We went to look at it and it wasn't bad. We called the owner, told him about ALL the pets, not a problem he said. Within 2 days we were writing a lease.

The move was at the last minute, we were finished at midnight on the final day of our notice. Our new house was a duplex, smaller then the beachside bungalow we were renting but I already liked it more. Perhaps this is what we needed... A new start..

Maybe things were going to finally get better?

To Be Continued...

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ The Series

2007-11-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

To those of you new to this series~

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II
Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV
Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

The events I am writing in the posts leading up to now all happened in and before 2003.

I am happy to let you know that this is not my life now.

I still have much more to tell you and will continue the posts after this Thanksgiving holiday.

I have much to be thankful for and don't want to dwell on the past today. I am sure you understand!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

More Free Graphics at pYzam.com

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

2007-11-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part V

My girlfriend and her fiance (at the time) that came the night of he shot himself is a member of "The Program" better known as AA. They wanted to help my ex rise above all this. They had been beating addiction for awhile now and thought he could do it too. He was willing to go to a Friday "Speaker Meeting", I was too. It was going to be a two person battle, I wasn't going to give up just yet.

A couple days before this meeting, I called the house ~ no answer. I called a couple more times, still no answer. Becoming suspicious and working close to home, I went to the house, pulling up in time to see him getting out of a taxi with a prescription bag in his hand.

Needless to say ~ Pissed Off didn't begin to describe what I was feeling. I went back to work fuming. When I got home that night he was sober, he told me he flushed the pills. He saw how hurt and angry I was. I don't know if it is was true or not, I do know I saw no drub abuse at that time.

Just when I thought things may start to smooth out, I got called into a closed door meeting at the office by the company Broker/Owner, the bookkeeper and my office manager. I thought oh no, now what did I do?

Property Management had to tell the homeowner of the house we were renting of the incident. The gardner/landscaper as I mentioned before was scared to mow the lawn and our next door neighbors called the office and said we screamed at each other every weekend. (This coming from a woman that dragged her young son around by the arm all the while screaming at him?)

The homeowner wanted him out and the Broker/Owners lawyer also advised her that it was in her best interest that my ex move out. In looking at our lease we discovered I was not on it, why? I had no idea. I thought I was. Had I been on the lease I could have stayed, mind you that would not have happened, but it was nice to know I wasn't the one being kicked out.

Once again, I had lost control of my life, we had 15 days to find a new home and move. We had 2 dogs, 3 cats and 1 job. We weren't sure if he would have a job when he was allowed to go back to work and living in FL isn't exactly cheap.

The next night our friends picked us up for the Friday Speaker Meeting in Daytona. This is when his denial set in. He was very going through the motions, pretending to listen, doing what was expected of him, trying to fake me out. I was forewarned of this, I don't know that he actually picked up his white chip at this meeting or the next one he went to.

His anger was soon to set in though. In his eyes he had no problem, no addiction. He didn't need to go to those meetings. This didn't happen til after we moved though.

Still More To Come....

Image Courtesy Of Recovery-world.com

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II
Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV
Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

2007-11-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

..Continued From Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Once he was let out of ICU he was admitted the hospitals Psychiatric Ward. There his new doctor evaluated him and called me on a daily basis.

I explained to the new doctor what went on in New York and how well things went with the old doctor, the Bi-Polar diagnosis, the meds he was on then etc.. It was then this doctor asked me to come in to meet with him and my ex.

My ex wasn't cooperating, he would just lay in bed and feel sorry for himself. The new doctor thought maybe I could get him out of bed and on the way to recovery. All my ex wanted was pain killers. After all he had major surgery to repair the damage that bullet did and a 12 inch incision to show for it, plus an entrance and exit wound.

Apparently the only time my ex would get out of bed was when it was med time and to use the restroom. He knew exactly what time he would get his pain killers, and like a dog begging for a bone he would be at the nurses station for those pills

I agreed to go in, and keep my anger in check. Even though it was September 11th, 2003, my birthday. Our honeymoon was to be in 2 weeks, a cruise someone gave us as a wedding present. I couldn't reschedule the cruise because of the timing, the tickets had just been issued. Not even with a doctors note.

I go meet with him and the doctor, I don't remember that particular conversation. I do remember the ex had nothing to say. He sat there trying to make us feel sorry for him. The next day, the doctor phoned me to tell me that he didn't feel my ex was Bi-Polar. He didn't show the classic signs. He told me my ex is addicted to pain meds and needs to go to Stewart Marchman for rehab, and that was where he was sending him when he was released from the hospital.

Dummy me, still not wanting to believe, even after I all had been through told the doctor that my ex didn't need to go to Stuart Marchman, he needed to go home. Oh my ex was good all right. All addicts are when they want you to believe something. They can fool a lot of smart people.

The doctor led us to believe he would come home instead of going to rehab, then about 2 weeks into this ordeal I get a phone call from my ex saying he is at the rehab center. He's upset, he feels betrayed, he wants to go home.

I bring him some clothes, after all he went to the hospital with nothing. I tell him he just needs to do what is asked of him, then he can come home.

10:00 that night, a knock on the door, it's him... he tricked them into letting him come home and took a cab.

I couldn't keep this secret from my neighbors, my work, or my landlord. We rented from the same place I worked. My neighbors that I knew and company were supportive, very supportive. However 1 neighbor, (who I thought about calling DCF on) told lies to our Property Management office about us and our landscaper was "afraid" to come mow the lawn now...

More To Come...

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II
Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Photo courtesy of Deviantart

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

2007-11-20T15:54:00.001-05:00

Continued from Living With Addiction Part III

I don't remember sleeping that night. I remember it was around midnight before we got back to my friends house from the hospital. I just wanted to get home to the animals, mainly the dogs.

My girlfriend took me home early the next morning to let them out and feed them, then off to the airport to get my mom. At some point during all the chaos of the evening before, Mom had called his family up north to let them know what happened. She told them she was on the way and would let them know if they needed to come out too.

We went from the airport to the hospital and ICU. We stood outside ICU with the nurse assigned to him for a moment and talked. The minute he knew we were there, the moaning began again.

I asked the nurse if he had been doing this all night, she said no. I think it was then the realisation of what was happening hit me. I don't know this for fact, but I believe deep in my soul he did this for pain killers.

I didn't want to stay any longer, I wanted to go home. I had someone coming to look at the bed to see if it could be cleaned. In this day and age with blood labeled a bio-hazard it was going to be a pain to get rid of it without an explanation.

Meanwhile, my girlfriend had made arrangements for my mom to stay at a local condotel on the beach. They decided no one should sleep in the house. Again, I had no say, and no will to fight them.

Mom had called his family up north, gave them an update. "No, don't come. He is in good hands at the hospital, all you would be doing is sitting in the ICU ward." Thank you mom...

We got to the house, my friend that cleans carpets and sofas showed up, "nope, we can't get that out, best to get a new bed. Why did he do that?? I had no answer, what was I going to say? I wasn't sure at that the time myself.

Mom didn't want me to sleep in that bed, she wanted me with her that night. Once again I couldn't sleep. I wanted to be home. I didn't care about the bed.

We stopped by the hospital once a day for a few minutes. The same thing would happen every time, the moaning when he knew we were close, it would stop when he thought we were gone. We got a new bed, I had to cut out the ruined portions of the old bed before it was to be picked up and put them in plastic to be disposed of another way.

Before I cut the bed up, I dug the bullet out. I was angry, he was going to see it when he got home, a reminder of what he did that day and how it affected me and the animals. We had new kittens, 4 months or so old at the time, probably under the bed when it happened.

I was angry alright, he could have hit one of them in his selfishness. Where was Shadow when he did this anyway? What if he hit our cocker? Noel was in her crate, she was ok...I thought my world had been turned upside down, but things were about to get even worse..

To Be Continued...

Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II
Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Photo courtesy of Deviantart

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

2007-11-18T10:15:00.000-05:00

In Living With Addiction ~ Part I AND Living With Addiction ~ Part II

I gave you a hint of life living with an addict. My ex was had a pain pill addiction that I lived with for 7 yrs.

If you've not read part one & two, please do so so that you can possibly understand part three.

The beginning of September of 03, three months after we got married the proverbial bottom fell out of the floor of my life...

I came home from work to find our Cocker Spaniel waiting for me on our recliner slowly wagging her tail instead of jumping up and down at the door like normal. I walked into our bedroom, he was lying on the bed, blood oozing from the right side of his stomach, a rifle laying to his left.

He had shot himself.. The sheriff arrived first, a young tiny woman, gun drawn to make sure someone didn't shoot her. Then the paramedics and fire dept. show up. As my girlfriend pulls up a helicopter lands in the middle of our small street.

I felt as if I was in the middle of a bad dream.
They placed crime scene tape around my bedroom door, loaded him in the helicopter, Shadow was becoming more animated and my Lab, Noel had yet to come out of her crate but not barking at the chaos in our house. The helicopter was taking off, I don't think I could have heard a barking dog if it was next to me.

I was no longer in charge of my life. I was taken to a police car and questioned for about 30 minutes about my ex. Why would he do this, was he suicidal, has he ever done things like this before? I just wanted to run back in the house and be with my dogs and cats. I wanted to be left alone.

A big spot of my bed was covered in blood, my friends didn't want me to spend the night there, I didn't want not to. No one gave me a choice in the matter. They would take me to the hospital to see how my ex was then to their house.

At this point I was too mentally exhausted to argue. I was now a marionette, pull my strings, I'll dance for you.

My mom was on her way from Phoenix, she had been called or called while this was happening. I don't remember if I spoke with her or not. She would be arriving in the morning.

By the time we arrived at the ICU it had been 5 hours since all this began and he was out of surgery, he would live. I don't remember if I was upset, confused, mad or all of the above. The minute he saw us he began moaning in pain. We didn't stay long. Take me home..

To Be Continued..

Photo courtsey of Deviantart

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

2007-11-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

This is part 2 in what will probably be a 6 - 10 part post on my life living with a prescription pill addict.

Yesterday I posted Living With Addiction ~ Part 1 and left you with the fact that the doctors would believe there was pain, and would find reasons for the pain every time we would visit the ER or doctors office.

At one point he was referred to a specialist who diagnosed my ex with Bi-Polar disorder. The doctor placed my ex on all sorts of medication to treat the disorder, including klonopin to treat a "panic disorder" on top of the bi-polar. Things actually went very well with this doctor. He was no nonsense and what he told me made sense.

I looked up everything I could on the internet on Bi-polar disorder. A lot of what I read fit with the behavior I lived with. The mood swings, etc.. there were also things that did not fit, he never talked real fast and there was also one other thing that did not fit, but one doesn't have to have every symptom.

While under this doctors care, the pain pill issue seemed to have disappear completely too. However, like I said, there were those 3 days every week in New York City so there is no telling what happened then.

We planned our upcoming wedding and unexpected move to Florida. Unfortunatley the good doctor didn't move with us...

He did try to find another doctor like the one he had in NY, but even I didn't like the ones here. I can't remember the isssues we had with them now though. Maybe he or we didn't try hard enough.

Things quickly ran downhill within months of arriving here in Florida~ he threw himself down a set of stairs at work, set his hand on fire, just to name a couple things ~ just to get high. The stair incident got him Oxycontin by the way, he would go through 30 pills in about 4 days.

From there it from bad to worse...

To Be Continued...

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

Photo courtsey of Deviantart

Living With Addiction ~ Part I

2007-11-18T10:02:00.004-05:00

I lived with addiction for years, I am writing about it now for a couple reasons...

1. I hope writing about it will help me relieve some of the anger I still harbor inside.

2. I hope that I can help just one person in my situation overcome the hell they are living in.

The 2nd person I married was a prescription pill addict. He would do incredibly stupid things to get his "fix". In the beginning I was either blind, stupid or just plain unwilling to see the truth on what was going on in our lives.

We lived together in (NY state) for quite some time before we actually got married. There were several trips to the doctors, several trips to the pharmacy's, and several ER trips. He had a Dr. in "his pocket" that would pretty much give him whatever he wanted at one point. Once a month he would get Demerol for his so called headaches and a continuous prescription of vicaden.

In New York state, doctors have to turn over certain prescriptions like Demerol to a certain authority this way the certain authority knows that the doctor is not over prescribing the drug to people like my ex. The prescription is actually written in triplicate. I guess you could say they have a prescription drug watch dog. I'm sure they have the same requirements for Oxycontin. This is why he could only get Demerol once a month. He would liquefy the Demerol and inject it with a hypodermic needle and proceed get high.

The injection sight would often become infected as he didn't put a lid over the liquefied Demerol, and contaminants would get into it. On four occasions the infections became immune to antibiotics and had he to be operated on...

Oh goody! More Drugs!

I believe at some points the friendly drug doctor had cut him off looking back now. Things could be quiet for months at a time. You see we lived about 2.5 hours north of New Your City, however he went there pretty much every week for work. I didn't know what was up when he was there.

Of course, when he would get desperate, something would happen so he could get his drugs.
I remember one occasion, waking up in the middle of the night hearing a man saying "SIR?" repeatedly. Shadow, our cocker was barking wildly and blue lights shining on and off in my bedroom. We kept a 357 and Colt 45 in the house then and both loaded, I didn't even think to grab one when I put on my robe and went to the top of the stairs.

I yelled down, "What's going on?!?!"

A familiar face poked his head around the corner, and he replied, "Police Ma'am, are you alone up there?" Good thing I didn't grab one of the guns huh?

Long story short, I was alone upstairs, my ex was laying face down on the floor downstairs with the phone in his hand and the glass was broken out of our coffee table. The police thought there was an intruder.

I knew the police and EMT's because of my job and the fact that we lived in a very small village.
The EMT's offered to let me go to the hospital with him in the ambulance, I declined. I said I would meet him there. The doctor in the ER said he had a severe migraine and some sort of issue with a vessel in his eye. He prescribed loratab and imatrex. The imatrex was not covered by insurance and loratab is generic & therefor cheap so I picked up the 2nd. The imtrex was $100.00 for 3 tablets and was a relatively new drug for migraines at this time.

This was one of the problems though, every time we went to the ER the doctors would back him up with his pain complaint.

To Be Continued...

Living With Addiction ~ Part II

Living With Addiction ~ Part III

Living With Addiction ~ Part IV

Living With Addiction ~ Part V

Living With Addiction ~ Part VI

Living With Addiction ~ Part VII

Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part IX

Living With Addiction ~ Part X

Living With Addiction ~ Part XI

Living With Addition ~ Part XII

Living With Addition ~ Part XIII

Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV

Living With Addiction ~ Part XV

Living With Addiction ~ Part XVI ~ Freedom?

Life After Living With Addiction ~ Part 1

Life After Living With Addiction ~ The End!

Photo courtsey of Deviantart

Florida's Other Snow Bird ~ The Northern Right Whale

2007-11-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

Late December to early March is known as Snow-Bird Season in Florida. People that live up north most of the year spend 3 or 4 months here in Florida away from the bitter cold and snow.

Some of these Snow-Birds aren't human, they are the Northern Atlantic Right Whales. They spend their summers in the Bay Of Fundy then in October pregnant females and some juvenile female & males begin their long migration to Florida. We sometimes begin hearing of sightings in Georgia around the beginning of December and start to see one or two whales here in Flagler County, FL in January. In March they begin to go back home just like the Snow-Birds, except the whales who came to give birth have their newborn calves in tow, unlike the Snow-Birds.

A little Northern Atlantic Right Whale background:

The Northern Right Whale got its name around the 1800s by being the "right whale" to hunt because they "move slow (about 15 mph), stay close to the shoreline and float when they die" Therefore they were over hunted...

Their recovery rate is slow, they are still in danger of ship strikes and fishing nets.

They are slow in reproducing, some years only 5 calves were reported to have been born.

There is now what is called an "EARLY WARNING SYSTEM" in place that involves several agencies, independent and government run. This system is in place in Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts. Ships at 300 tons or more have to report in when they enter the whale's habitat.

In Florida, the US Navy sends out an automated message to all ships in the area with locations of the whales if they are the area and how to avoid them.

Becoming entangled in fishing nets is a huge hazard. One Northern Atlantic Right Whale, "Kingfisher" was horribly tangled 3 years ago when he was here. Rescue attempts were made to untangle him, but failed. He came back 2 years ago, not as tangled but still in danger, once again they tried to get the ropes off him. You can read the story here.

This article is the most recent I could find. I keep hoping he gets spotted again, he is a local celebrity. We all want to know how he is doing.

I had never heard of this species of whale until February of 2004 when one was spotted in the ocean out of our window at our Century 21 Sundance "Beachside"office in Ormond By The Sea.

She wasn't breaching or showing off. She would surface every 15 minutes or so, take a breath and go below the surface again.If you were looking in the right place in the ocean you could tell she was coming up for air before you actually saw her.

A phone call was made to the wife of one our agents, 30 minutes later a gentleman comes in and introduced himself as Frank Gromling with the Marineland Right Whale Project. He tells us we are watching a Northern Atlantic Right Whale and he thinks she is birthing a calf judging from her behavior.

He then tells us this whale is endangered (this species has been protected since 1935); there are only about 350 in the world!

I felt very special this day. I got to see 1 out of 350 existing animals in the Atlantic Ocean. Think about the odds folks.

She was within our sight of our office 4 hours that day. We don't know for sure if she gave birth. Before Frank left he gave me the 800# for the Marineland Right Whale Project along with his cell #, "Call me if you see any more whales." I did see two other whales, not Right Whales, I did call him though.

The following season I got a call from my Broker/Manager who was driving south on A1A towards the office. She told me to get in my car and head north, there are at least 8 whales about 3 miles away from our office, bring my camera! I did bring the camera, but I had a Kodak Easy Share with very little zoom power, my photos didn't show a lot, just what looks like logs in the water with a occasional tail slap from far away. The next day the Daytona News-Journal had a photo of a whale from the same SAG (Surface Air Group) and it was incredible. I decided I needed a better camera for next year.

Valentines Day of 2006 was a treat! (and my new camera was ready) We had a mother and calf stop by the office for a couple hours. I called Frank who was out of town, he in turn called Jim Hain, a scientist from Woods Hole, MA (Jim comes down to Florida to spot and record Right Whale information). Jim called me back and told me a plane was on the way and he would be at my office shortly, could he have the address? (A plane? Frank knew by now I knew my whales, they sent a plane up on my word alone!) He also told me there was another mother/calf duo in the area, how exciting! Two babies! We watched this pair for 2 hours, the baby played near its mom, occasionally waving to us.

A week later a big splash from the ocean caught my eye about 8:30AM. I looked out and saw this:

I called Jim, told him to hurry, we have a whale that is putting on an incredible show! I was told this was probably a juvenile male. He also stuck around about 2 hours then headed to Daytona Beach. The Daytona News Journal caught up to him at 3PM and he was still showing off!

I began getting email updates from Marineland after the 2006 season was over, I believe 5 calves were spotted during the 2006 season.
My 2007 season was quiet, but for the spotters it was quite eventful. I now work away from the ocean, with a promise if there is a whale sighting I would get a call so I could come see it. The Beachside Office also promised me they would call the sighting in to Marineland.

I was out at the Beachside office one day so I decided to go north on A1A and see if I could find my Spotting Friends. Sure enough I found them, and Jim was also there. They were watching a female about a mile out with some very strong binoculars. I got to see my whale for the year, I was a happy girl!

Joy Hampp, Project Coordinator for The Marineland Right Whale Project, sends out updated emails throughout the season and a recap at the end. I received the recap the other day and asked her permission to quote from the email for my blog:

"FINAL COUNTS IN THE SOUTHEAST

The current count on number of mother/calf pairs this season is 20. The South Carolina aerial survey team spotted the 19th Mother/Calf pair at the end of the season and the North Carolina team photographed calf no. 20 on 21 April with a female that had not been seen in Southeast US waters before this and has not been matched to the right whale catalog. She could be a new addition.

Of the 20 mothers, 8 or 9 gave birth to their first calf. The average calving interval for this season is 3.6 years.

The total number of whales seen in the SE US is believed to be 112, including the calves, and some 72 other individuals, although this number may change once matches to the catalog are complete."

"RESULTS OF THE MARINELAND RIGHT WHALE PROJECT

In the nine weeks of survey, volunteers logged 1,683 hours of survey. This year, we calculated the number of volunteer hours, since most surveys have more than one volunteer participating. That total is 4,480.

We had 34 confirmed right whale sightings, 18 mother/calf, 7 singles, 6 pairs, and 3 SAGS. In 81% of the sightings, we successfully photographed the whales for identification. Once again, mid-February was our peak in number of sightings for the week. We saw 5 different mothers, including the first sighting of BK23 with a calf.

Our new AirCam logged 50 hours in 16 flights, flying about 3,000 total miles. The airplane responded to 8 sightings reported by volunteers and captured 2 unique sightings, one right whale and one humpback, all later in the afternoon and beyond the effective sighting range of shore spotters.

Special Spotters See Cetaceans Successfully!

In a cross-calibration analysis between the airplane and the shore spotters, we have learned that it appears that the shore spotters see 100% of the whales that are present within the effective sighting range -- when the airplane flew, it did not detect any whales that had not been already reported. And on days when the shore spotters had no sightings -- neither did the airplane. What this means is that the volunteer sighting network (and all of you) are very effective! This is good news, and congratulations!

In addition, shore spotters accomplished these sightings in a less-than-ideal-weather season. We seemed to have had more windy days and more days where winds came from the east, tending to generate more whitecaps. We also recorded our longest follows in all 7 seasons this year, with 2 follows lasting longer than 9 hours each."

A "follow" is when Jim & Joy follow the whale until the whale goes out to sea, or the sun goes down. They will either drive along the beach or use their plane to follow the whales.A big thanks to Joy Hampp, Jim Hain and Frank Gromling along with all the volunteers involved with this wonderful project. It has been a wonderful educational experience for me and I hope for all who reads this!

More Recent Posts:

Have Arpeggio And Her Baby Returned?

Proud Mom Arpreggio, And Her Calf Still Cruising Florida's Coast Line!

North Atlantic Right Whale's Are On The Move In Florida 12/27/2007

Links:
Franks Whales by Frank Gromling

Northern Right Whales in Florida With quotes from both Jim and Frank

The Marineland Right Whale Project

Whalenet

Don't Let Them Get To You

2007-11-17T16:03:00.000-05:00

In September of this year, a couple I used to work with at our Century 21 Sundance Beachside office lost their son-in-law in the Iraqi war.

They had just given up their quite successful Real Estate careers here in FL and moved to GA to be with their daughter and granddaughter while their son-in-law served his third tour of duty in Iraq at the beginning of this year.

I remember how proud they were to call this young man son-in-law. I know how much their daughter loved her husband and how much his little girl loved her daddy. When all of us at Century 21 Sundance learned of this loss, we too felt like their son-in-law was our son-in-law. We grieved with them, we spoke on the phone with them, we did everything we could to comfort them long distance.

I learned that the Patriot Guard Riders were invited to be at both this soldiers memorial service in GA and funeral at Arlington National Cemetery and my heart cried harder. What do Real Estate Agents who are retired Navy have to do with bikers they have never met and why would they invite them to their son-in-laws services?

An associate of mine from Active Rain, Monika McGillicuddy found out why when she actually had the misfortune of seeing "hate" for herself when a small foul group of people came to her town to picket the funeral of a young man who died in the war. Monika had no idea what was going on, she just knew it was pure hate and you can read her version of the meeting here... HATE. The minute I saw the photo, I knew who she had come across. Monika ran into same people my friends from work thought may come to their son-in-laws services to picket his funeral...

In 2005 I heard about this man that calls himself a Reverend began to picket funerals of soldiers who died in the war. He would carry signs of hate and scream at the mourners foul words of evil. The man reminded me of the evil man "Reverend Kane" in Poltergeist 2 the one that tried to get the little blond girl to go with him, remember that him? They don't look like twins, but they both have that coldness in their eyes. I got chills up my spine when I saw him.

A small band of bikers heard about this person and began to also show up at the funerals of soldiers to shield the families of the fallen hero's from this man and his followers. They would park their bikes near where the protesters were spewing their hate, reving their engines so that no one could hear this man and his followers.

The small band of bikers is now known as the Patriot Guard Riders and is over 100,000 strong.

This so called Reverend is from Kansas, his "church" is "Westboro Baptist Church" out of Topeka. However, no Baptist organization will recognize his church as a fellowship believing in the bible. The church members are mostly family of this hateful man who is a disbarred attorney. He has 13 kids, 11 are lawyers working for his family law firm. Two sons work for the the Kansas Dept. of Corrections and one for the Shawnee County Dept. of Corrections. (According to NNDB.com)

The members of this so called church are not allowed to marry what they call "outsiders" and since many of the members of the church of all members of this mans family, well I'll leave you with that thought..

Unless you have been living under a rock the past week, you know this group was ordered to pay 11 million dollars to the father of a soldier whose funeral they disrupted. The daughter and one of their spokespeople were elated, yes, elated... You see this brought them more press. This is what they want. I guess I'm giving it to them too huh? Well I have a reason for that...

If ever you have the misfortune to come across this people, don't give in to their hate, do what the man in Monika's story did, turn your back on them and ignore them.

Do Not Let Them Get To You.

This is what they want.

If you turn your back on them, and don't show them your anger, you win, they lose. They want confrontation and fights. This is what they live for, don't give it to them. They want to become martyrs. Don't give it to them. The Patriot Guard Riders don't let it show if the words of hate get to them. They don't try to fight back with words or fists. The PGR will ignore these ugly people as if they weren't even there.

If you want to become a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, just sign up, you don't need to ride to be a member. There are no dues to pay, no sign up fees. Just go to their website Patriotguard.org and click on the "Click Here To Join" button, or just click the link I put in.

If you ever need the assistance of the Patriot Guard Riders, all you have to do is ask. They will be there for you whenever you need them.

Wildlife Rehabilitation of Daytona

2007-11-17T15:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, I met a "rehabber", a person that takes in orphaned or injured animals and or mammals and cares for them until they can be released back into the wild or an appropriate home is found.

Steve calls me from work 8:15 one Tuesday morning, "You have to come see this, a baby raccoon is here at the shop following us around."

Me, "I'm about to leave the house, I'll call you when I'm at the corner so you can be at the shop when I get there" I'm thinking, ohhh there's going to be some great photo ops there!

Steve works at Bishops Glen, a "retirement comunity", taking care of the maintenance in the many different buildings there with a few other men.

The little raccoon took a liking to all the guys on the crew. As I pulled up he was following one of the guys around like a little puppy. Just a tiny little guy about the size of a 8lb cat.

They were trying to catch the critter in a box, apparently he is scaring the residents.

Steve starts to walk toward him with the box and the little guy runs towards a fence. Steve turns to walk away, next thing I know the little guy is literally following right at Steve's heels. As I turn to get my camera I hear a noise, I turn and the box is over the coon.

"Sigh" A missed shot!

The guys know this small creature will get out of this box fast, they slipped a piece of cardboard under the box and placed that box in a larger box, tape it, then went hunting for a cage.

Cage being found and the little guy placed inside the question now is what to do with him?

Isn't he cute? Honestly I want to bring him home and snuggle with him, he seems scared and lonely.

I remember seeing a mammal rescue website when I rescued that small bird earlier this summer so I volunteered to take him with me to work.

My major concern, cute as he was, is that this is a wild animal and this cage is very old, will it hold him? What if he were to get loose while I'm driving? Oh that could get ugly!

Well, he talked to me the whole way to Daytona, he was kind of upset and when I talked back to him it seemed to sooth him a bit. He didn't like that orange shag carpet on the floor of his cage, but hey who would blame him?

We arrive at the office and I bring him inside, tell my little traveler to make himself comfortable, my agent thinks I'm nuts. (He was also working floor the day I found the small bird) I get on the computer and start searching for this rescue organization.

Once again, it was a challenge to find the site. I tried different search words and phrases, no luck. "Try what you tried when you were searching for the bird lady" I thought to myself. BINGO! There's the site! (Ya think I would have saved it back in May, Right? You don't know me that well do you?)

Wildlife Rehabilitation of Daytona!

These guys will take in any lost or injured mammal, give it the care it needs and then release it if that is possible back into the wild.

What They Do: They will nurture orphans, tend to the sick, provide them with vet assistance, and give them a permanent home if so required.

I called right away and got a sweet lady's voice on the other end, I told her I had a baby racoon, she thought I was going to say I had a baby squirrel as it is "squirrel season" here in the Daytona Area.

She asked if he was in a cage and could she keep him in the cage until later that afternoon, can I bring him over?

By the way she is located at ..933 Beville Rd. Suite 102J, South Daytona, in Beville Rd Business ParkRight down the road from me! (this I remembered from May also, another reason to volunteer to take the small creature)

I dropped him off with her, at her place of business. We (the raccoon and I) had bonded, Jackie the rehabber told me this. Jackie told me that young raccoons bond quickly with people after losing their moms and she thinks thats why she was following Steve and the other guys around like he was. She also noticed he bonded with me very quickly too. Had I not had 4 cats at home, he would be a new family member!

There was a lot of eye contact with him and I, and something very sweet about that look in his little eyes. I do miss him but Jackie told me he is doing fine with his new raccoon family. She'll keep him about 2 months then let him out into the wild with a group of other raccoons.

Wildlife Rehabilitation of Daytona is constantly on the lookout for donations of:
Dry dog food
Dry cat food
Canned cat food
Paper Towels
Nuts, unsalted
T-shirts,
baby blankets, towels
Bleach,
laundry detergent
Hav-a-hart or humane animal traps
Insulin syringes & Surplus Medical supplies
Tax-deductible contributions
Other ways to Donate
You can drop off the donations at the address I provided above.
If you need to contact Jackie you can call her at either 386-235-3751 or 767-2500, the 2nd number worked for me on that particular Tuesday.

Big Mike Griffin Brings His Biker Blues To Biketoberfest

2007-11-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

Big Mike was awesome when he played at the Chophouse this past Biketoberfest!

Wish you all were there! We enjoyed some real good biker blues, Man can that man play a mean guitar!

When we met in April of this year, I was so busy running around the Bikes and Blues with Mickey Jones event for St. Judes Children's Hospital taking photos, I didn't get a chance to really listen to Mike play.

I also forgot how tall he is! I look like I am the size of a 10 yr old child next to him!

His lady Emilie was here with him too, it was so good to see both of them, I got huge hugs the minute I got there.

We were also treated to Emilie's beautiful voice as well. She did a little rock, a little blues (The lady can sing the blues!) a little Hound Dog too!

Everyone there really enjoyed the music. I saw two couples dancing, I bet everyone was tapping their feet. You can't help but not move something when you're listening to Big Mike!

Here, let me show you what I mean, I could only get two minutes on my camera, but it's enough that you get my point!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Do You Remember When...

2007-11-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

...TV Was Entertaining?

Recently a video has been floating around the internet from one of my favorite shows from the early 70's and it made me remember just how entertaining T.V. used to be.

Don't you remember? Come on, think hard, you're not that old!

Some of the Variety Shows that were on then were great. I remember Saturday night, oh around 70-71, this was the only night I was allowed to watch T.V. while eating dinner because The Sonny And Cher Comedy Hour was on. Dad gave Mom the night off from cooking and made home made pizza and we'd watch Cher in her Bob Mackie costumes make Sonny look the fool. Of course there were great 1/2 hour sitcoms then like All In The Family and The Jefferson's that started to "break the rules".

I probably didn't get half of what was being said then, but I still enjoyed the shows. However, I don't think any show ever could, can or will outdo The Carol Burnett Show. Ms. Burnett had the perfect cast of characters, there were none better. Ms. Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, and occasionally Jim Neighbors.

This group of comedians together were a riot. Not only did the audience never know what to expect from the cast, the other cast members didn't know what to expect either as shown here in this clip called, "The Dentist".

I don't care how many times I've seen this I still laugh out loud when I watch it.