A.G.E's Joint

 Click on the weather. "Hurricane Ian is now a Cat 1 and is expected to intensify." That's nice. "It is currently moving NNW and expected to turn due north in the next 24 hours." OK. "The current tract puts landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida." Really? "Bringing rains and tropical storm winds to Atlanta by Saturday night." Yeah, I've been here before. The question right now is will it stay together long enough to cause problems here. Way too early to tell. But it wouldn't be surprising to be sitting awake listening to the wind rattle the windows and wonder if I wasn't actually at the beach. A tropical storm sounds like being in the middle of heavy surf and all you think about is what you're going to see when you get up. Another tree across the deck? Maybe it hit the house full force. Who knows? I'll be watching Weather Channel more than my phone for the next week, for sure. Oh, and Jim Cantore just landed in Tampa.

  Just a photo for your enjoyment.

  A week at the beach Girls lined up along the pier To get thrown into the air It's all on video For everyone to see And make bets on whether Tops stay up This one is cute That one isn't. That one is too old This one is too young An artificial rush Maybe we should find a real one.

I put the top down driving down 98 A dark cloud bank rolls offshore Moon-like dune shimmering in the dying light Unthinkable happenings in the coda of our lives Venus lays low to the Southwest Ghost ship lit by the storm sails Southeast I come to the pull-off and I stop Another memory hidden and revealed Climbing the soft sand I almost drop you But, I don’t. The fata morgana sails towards us And with a short prayer I commit you to the journey. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Dave Coon Pic- Christine Wichman Pic guesses: Storm (in blog), Lit (in blog), Lightning, Sky show, Blue, Indigo, dark (in blog),

Rrrrrnng! I look down at my cellphone. A number I don’t recognize. DECLINE! Turtle, remind me to block the number. Aye! Aye! Captain! Rrrrrnng!! Again? Oh...Kathryn. “Yeah. I think I’m about done...Got the two trail loops done I wanted. I’m deciding now if I want to hit the beach for some more shots...what’s that? Can’t get the TV show to work? You’re going to blow our data limits doing that. Besides, it isn’t what we came to the beach for...I should be back in an hour or so...Yeah, I should be all right on water until I get back. See you in a bit.” Used to be one could take a walk like this with no interruptions. Now, of course, we have to be tethered to the shepherd 24/7 with our exact locations. It makes me want to breakaway . I can see it now. “Runaway retired sheep lost in the marsh! Couldn’t take the surveillance!” Gotta remember the new phone goes into the pocket screen out. I’ve already butt-dialed two people this morning. Maybe that belt clip would be...

“Honey! Do you know where the camping box is?” “Out in the storage shed where you left it last, Dummy.” Yeah, Yeah. I knew that would be the answer. It’s a week until we leave and I want to make sure I don’t have any surprises. There have been too many trips with a hammer missing or the propane bottles were empty. It’s best to treat each trip like a new beginning , a fresh start. Like I had not done this a thousand times between family and scout trips. The storage bins are more or less organized from last time. There’s the gazebo. Need to rig up some better hangers to go on the inside, but it worked great the last time. A few coat hangers are willing to make a sacrifice to the greater good. The new lanterns are tested and they work. The coffee maker needs cleaning. Same with the picnic basket, although everything was clean when it was put back. Still have to work out the new Wapiti car top carrier. Never seen one quite like it, black with white elk silhouettes on the sides. ...

The ink is black The page is white Together we learn To read and write… This is the song that stuck in my head after reading this weeks assignment.  But I really couldn't fit Three Dog Night into a coherent post, so... So you ask me what my ink is? It is my companion and my friend. The one thing I can count on in times of trouble and strife. It shares my secrets and I can choose if they get revealed... or not.  My characters can be part of me I wish to mock. To make fun of my bad habits and disjointed thought process.  And the evil traits of others, sometimes.  I can be other people.  I can do evil and good. This week is the anniversary of the Apollo moon landing.  If you have been reading me for a while, you know when I was 10, my family  lived in Orlando. This was during the height of the program. Everything in Central Florida was space themed.  Even "I Dream of Jeannie" was set there.   It was a heady time ...