END of Hurricane Season - BEGINNING of Holiday Season

Transition time today... as we seque into the holidays and get away from Hurricanes.

Had a great time at work today getting off the reference desk for good behavior and Illiana and I trimmed the tree today. We do it every year. It is her official job. She picks out a theme.. gets things... I help her. I'm sort of like Illiana's elf :) Seriously, I love decorating and doing arts and crafts and playing with color and texture so ... it has become my job of sorts every year. Play with the Pine Tree... get glitter on me from the ornaments and everyone gets to watch me crawl around the floor and or stand on chairs... the regulars get a kick out of it.

Everyone wanted us to wait til tomorrow..so the tree could "breathe"

We wanted to do it today.. give me a break.. the tree was breathing..

Very green, almost too green... silky, soft.. feathery almost.

Fit my mode of moving on with the new and out with the old...

Hurricane Season OVER

HOLIDAY Season starting...

Change... evolution... transition.

Next the tree in the kids room... it is breathing today.. in, out, in, out... etc..

Then we decorate the library... Chanukah stuff, Christmas... and Kwaanza...

So... that was my big news of the day..

That and Sharon's son had a son :) and that's cool so she will hopefully be coming to Miami sooner rather than later.

As for this blog... not sure what I will do during the off season.

Very tempted not to keep it going. Lots of reasons.

Not sure what purpose this serves during the off season. People I am close with email me/and or call or show up and are here. Don't see why I should keep this going just so someone .. certain people can read my thoughts and listen to what I am saying so they have their daily dose of Bobbi ... what am I the happy pharmacy of fluff and amusing thoughts? Not my goal or purpose in life ..

Okay.. maybe it has been and maybe I have played that role well .. whether I wanted to or intended to but ... did I ask for it? Did I wish for it? Did I ask Santa for it? I don't think so.

For now... we will keep it going because there is a tropical storm out there.. the E storm.

E Storm = Fish Storm

That is Pescadado Fritos or something like that by the way..

Will see.. but season is over and all bets are off on what will be.

Maybe take the Big E advice and go off til next season... (no words, absolutely none)

My advice to certain people who are not joined together at the hip and can read all by their lonesome.. and Mr. B.Y. too... all people are interesting and everywhere you look in this crazy world there are stories to be told... people to hold... things to see and laugh at... take a look at the original E Storm and go track his progress on charts and boards and maps... email me he info if you want... preferably don't because I go Catatonic when I think on it...

Leave me alone.. let me go home... let me go home and start over...

It's been one hell of a hurricane season and I want to stop right here and thank one person who is the most amazingly true, honest to God Hurricane Fanatic there is out there.. and when I say that I don't mean in wanting death and destruction.. nah.. he is the sweetest man alive.. well him and the Ojibwa... he collects and gathers so much information on hurricanes and tries very hard to share that information in such a way that people can learn and understand what is going on... historically so and as current as being on the air live while a storm is hitting... unless it is hitting him. He is a wonderful man, a good friend and the best hurricane tracker I know..

Jim Williams
www.hurricanecity.com

You could spend your entire off season reading through his site... checking the books out of libraries that are mentioned. Surfing the sites he links to.. learning what makes a hurricane breathe... move.... live and die..

My undying respect and admiration for all he has done to help people understand hurricanes better and provide a forum and a way to share the information.

Take care ... til whenever... Bobbi

Morning Sunrise

The sunrise this morning is the color of the inside of a conch shell and at the top of the sky... above one dark grey low hanging cloud is the smallest sliver of a cresent moon. Beautiful. Impossible to describe and I wish I could paint it. No film in the camera...unreal.
Beauiful start to the day. More beautiful than yesterday. Then again, yesterday ended badly. Felt sick, went home a bit early and went to bed almost as soon as I found my way into bed.
Hoping today will be better.

I wish I could explain to people up north, if there are any here... that we only get sunrises like this a few months out of the year. Not sure why. I should ask someone. Who cares why? Isn't it enough to know it is and to view it... Almost dayglo brightness... lavendar, coral, peach, pink, orchid, pale blue above it... dark shades of gray hang low, layers upon layers framing the color beneat the clouds and peaking through the splintered pines and trees that the hurricane left standing.

Spectacular sunrise. Again. I wish I could freeze time and just sit here and paint it. Draw it. Photograph it. Keep it...forever in my memory.

Musing on sunrise... muse and memory...forever linked together in rhyme.

Delta continues on and we look for the E storm

Where oh where can our E storm be?

Maybe we should check out the Sun or National Enquirer.. some wise seer from some strange place probably has revealed that information to a housewife living in Kansas who raises peacocks for a living. Check out the cover.. you never know.

In the land of beautiful people... my 13 year old got home from the Mall finally. Her friend's mother lost her car keys, something about taking a cab to grandpa's house and a low cell phone battery. She did however get a great picture of herself and her friend with the Abercrombie model who is on display all week at Aventura Mall. Says something like Seasons Greetings 2005 on the picture/card. Should not something like that be not legal... two underage cuties standing next to and being hugged by some half dressed man who has a six pack on his chest and low cut jeans? At least he wasn't wearing a fake beard and she wasn't sitting on his lap. Asked my older daughter and her best friend if they got picture too? Yes... they went over on Friday afternoon to "shop" and "to see the Abercrombie models" who were "hot hot hot" and friend said "Who would pay $1 for a picture?" I guess you got to be 13. Either way they are all hot, hot, hot and I mean my daughters not the models.

Beautiful sunrise this morning. Sort of scorpionic yet the moon is still in Libra... a dusky lavendar with dark maroon touches around the edges at the first light which gave way to other shades of purple, scarlett and finally bright gold... a winter sunrise in Miami

Temperatures in Portland Maine today..high 54... low 33. I have it on my AOL screen just so I'll know.

Going to work... will watch the vapor loops there as they loop faster and look better and I don't get thrown offline.

And... no... I am not running over to the Abercrombie Store at Aventura Mall to check out the models. But, if I had the money I would check out Victoria Secrets for small holiday specials and I am more of a GAP girl.

bobbi...
let me know if the E storm lands somewhere

FINS WIN :)

That's it folks.

All I got to say today.

Well that and what is worse than kids not having cell phones is when they have them and don't answer... life in 2005.

Witchy Weekend

Watched Bewitched last night with my youngest son on DVD. Cute.. well done, good ensemble of old actors in bit parts... fun.

Hearing Witchy Women or whatever that song is from the Eagles in my mind... Santana...
Got to change your evil ways... BABY

Beautiful sunlight pouring into the bedroom this morning..highlighting the color in my hair and you can peer through the Reddish Brown hair all aglow in the sunlight... to the Black Olive Tree with a fresh coat of green on it ...alive again after the storm. A few dead orange brown branches that will eventually fall down because the neighbors lazy gardener couldn't reach up there and pull them down himself... lazy, lazy. I know ..he used to be mine.

Watched the sky turn the most amazing shades of blue this morning as light tugged at the edge of night and washed it's morning palette onto the sky as the stars disapeered and the upside down quarter moon hung there low in the eastern sky.

New moon this week. I know so because we said a blessing for the new moon in temple yesterday... Jews always counting the passage of time... marking it. Morning, Afternoon and Evening... New Moon.. Full Moon. Rosh Chodesh coming.

Cool enough but still I have the fan blowing on me... love the feel of air moving.

House quiet, tropics quiet... going to go make some breakfast for my youngest son who is happy beyond words that Beckett is a Red Sox player.

He said... it was like he finally got out of jail after a five year sentence for playing with the Marlins...

He is free... to play with a real team.

:)

Nice thought to be able to fly free into the real world with someone and enjoy life and a Red Sox game at Fenway Park the way we used to go to Dolphin Games at the Orange Bowl.

Enjoy Sunday.... later Bobbi
article in Miami Herald on the Hurricane Season... google "Miami Herald" and "hurricane season" and then sign up and register...

Catchacane if you can.. if you can't ... enjoy the chase

Just quickly checking in ...

Shabbos was nice... well...quiet. No hurricanes... no major world tragedies... no major brawls.

Leftovers and sweet and sour meat balls. Kids didn't mind that we didn't have the normal fare but other things..

Nice meal.. nice night, nice sleep... went to Chabad to daven and see a few friends and the exercise back and forth... went back home... walked home with friends... nice meal, slept.. read.

Reading Radical Evolution and read some strange novel ..

Checked out the boards and ... going off to watch movie Bewitched on DVD. Got it from the kids who pilfered it from my brothers house ... we are Thankful for many things this thanksgiving.

my reply on hurrcity.. best weather site and weather board around anywhere :)

season almost over... a season no one is upset to see go

then what?

nite.. Bobbi
************************************
my nickel
Posted by bobbistorm on 11/26/2005, 8:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Nearly 7,000 Still Missing After Katrina"User logged in as: Bobbistorm
Truth is in my opinon...

We are not trained or prepared in this country that believes in happy endings and all things are possible as long as you can stand in line long enough for the After Thanksgiving Sale... and that we are rich enough in the West to not to have to deal with things like "body recovery" and we have a very false sense of security in our government to handle "anything that might happen" ...
we just are not trained and not prepared to deal with tragedy.. we think they happen to "other people" across the ocean somewhere and..........the federal government does not know how and refuses to work with commoners in any given situation. Either they are in charge or they aren't and after an emergency they are in charge... Marshall Law.. etc.

it would be naive to say that the government at times does not involve themselves in cover up procedures. May I remind everyone here we were told both crews of space shuttles died immediately and were vaporized (don't quote me.. give or take those words) and it turned out both times they were alive part of the way down, down, down.. cover ups... truth was too much for the american public bodies are not supposed to be shown being brought back from iraq... love the war, hate the war... no photos allowed and preferrably no funerals shown if possible
emergencies cannot be planned...they arise suddenly

we can however find a way for the govt to let people who give of their time some sort of clearance to do something

not siding here with either view of the situation because depends on my mood how i feel.. and can see both sides of the situation

just saying we were overwhelmed by Katrina and...we should not have been overwhelmed as there were studies for years.. decades that it would happen. Fema was put into an agency that was supposed to handle emergencies.. directed by a man who raised Arabian Horses.. no words.. bottom line in my book is forever that where ever the buck stopped on the government food chain the gov was responsible for many people dying because no one got there in time.. even if it was their fault they stayed in the city against advice...

no one came
no one ever showed up
or they showed up way too late
for many anyway

and lastly... just sheer confusion

watching tv on thanksgiving they showed many stories of people who were given a new lease on life somewhere..some community.. Dallas, Boston, Philly...story was ALWAYS the same. When the sweet, simple family of survivors got on the plane.. being evacuated NO ONE on the plane from the survivors knew where they were going until the Captain announced to them that they would be landing in _______.

Either you suck on lemons or you make lemonade or you let others help you and in this case... many that they did stories on let people help them find jobs, apts... put their kids in school... start over but in cities that had not a clue they were even going to when the plane left the tarmack

put yourself in their shoes
and you wonder why so many are unaccounted for...
some are happy living somewhere they never planned on living... others are bodies washed away in the muck and goo
we aren't germans.. the nazis kept better records as they exterminated people than we Americans kept as we saved lives...
it is still a wonderful place we live filled with wonderful people... we just weren't prepared for whatever reasons to deal with the tragedy
hopefully we have learned something.. hopefully..
and don't expect the next national emergency tragedy to be another katrina...it will take us all by surprise
tragedies like that always do...
but I hope somehow... someone will have learned a lesson and we will do it better next time

Thanksgiving Leftovers

So my son Levi has a new phone. Cute little gadget. It's enough to start making me wish to win the lotto so I can buy one. I never was one to wish for money or material things enough.. this year may be the year to change that. Silly me.... always wishing others have enough and more than enough and just praying for health and happiness for my kids... I may start praying for money. Cute toy. Metro PCS.. you buy the phone and have one charge. So.. he took movies, clips and pictures of everything yesterday and sent it to me on my computer. Boy... do I feel silly trying to take pics with a Fuji Flash thing. Mind you... usually I don't like cell phones with cameras but this one is nice, small, easy to use and works well. Picks up every sound in the room. Video of the little kitten chasing the plastic mouse on the string came out best probably. Turkey looked great too. So.. I may have changed my mind on fancy cell phones.

Turkey Menu ended up being as follows:
Turkey with Maple Honey Sauce and Dried Red Cherries in the pan (with red pepper slices on bottom...just a few slivers) made the gravy rich, red and sweeter than usual. Could not get the kids away from the pan to the table to eat the turkey. Have a pic of Levi picking but of course will have to wait for me to develop the Fuji Flash at Walmart before anyone sees it. Levi is a picker.. family joke.. In this case he had competition from Miriam. Meanwhile Turkey was so tender (poured wine over it too.. Merlot) that when I went to transfer it from the pan to one of my platters from Sharon's grandma's dishes... the turkey came up and the legs stayed in the pan. 4 hours... a 12 pound turkey.. my gosh they make Empire Turkeys tender these days... or the merlot, maple, honey did.. Had to reconstruct the Turkey on the platter to look normal, sort of..... Was good. Have left over for Shabbos.

Harvest Vegetables: You see what I did was... I went through the fridge to find all the last vestiges of this weeks vegetables that I never got around to making for my diet. Found 10 brussle sprouts, a package of green beans, baby carrots I bought. Was beautiful. Roasted them after being marinated in olive oil and jerk seasoning. Poured some maple sauce over the pieces of winter squash I had...came out good. So.. was like this little potpourri of vegetables that were served on the smaller platter of Sharon's grandma's dishest. (They are MINE now!) Also, serviced the baby carrots from the Turkey and the delicous roasted red potatoes as well.. unreal.

Stuffing... Challah and White Bread... onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms... fresh thyme from the Jamaican Market near the library and poultry seasoning.. some garlic...was very good.

Frozen vegetables that I put in the turkey soup the kids noshed on while it was cooking... will probably use that tonight and add some turkey bones and make up a bigger pot.

Sweet Potato Pudding with cinnamon and sugar and pecan pieces on top. Nice.. have a little I put away for tonight.

Bread.. drinks...

Pumpkin Maple Pie. Unreal...best I ever made in my life. Ever. From the beautiful Maple Leaf container that I saved for Thanksgiving.. maybe I'll fill it up with dyed colored water or use it as a strange vase. Used it for the turkey, the pie... and for this morning's French Toast. Maple. Sigh. Anyway... was good maple, yum, yum.

A guest asked where the corn was..they thought you were supposed to have corn. Told them we weren't pilgrims. I put the dried corn bundle from the corn stalker who sent the maple leaf. Worked.

So...that was our thanksgiving. Inhaled more than eaten. Never seen kids eat so fast in my life... the sun didn't finish setting... was scary.

Add in some unreal little cup cakes that Eli dropped off from his bakery called Phatso's Bakery which tells you how phattening the cupcakes were..

My thoughts?

I have a lot to be thankful for...

I want MORE lol.

We are all so greedy aren't we? Seriously.

Wish List:

That cellphone my son has...
My ex's palm pilot with the camera and sound..

A new fast computer with a nice table for it to go on..desk.

Tickets to the Red Sox games haha.. okay.. well you know what I mean.

More time up north with my kids who have grown and moved away and time with Sharon.

Love. True Love. Like the name of the sailboat in the movie... Real Love.
(life is short and it's about happy endings...time live, love and try to be happy... )

Recovery to go a little faster in New Orleans and Gulfport and forgotten places like Waveland.
(Is Stephen King listening... if that was a name for a novel of storms and suspense ..no place is but it is not my genre.. use it, WAVELAND.... what a name... blown off the map by a big Storm wave...

I want us OUT of Iraq...NOW. Infact, I vote we go back to the Monroe Doctrine and live on this side of the Atlantic.

I make enough money to live in Monroe County.

Going to do somethings I need to do for my class today. I think I have finally learned all there is to know about Miami History. Think it is time to move on. Think I have learned that I don't like it here anymore. Yes, it is beautiful... but it is too congested, too paved over and too different. Not the land that I loved or grew up in. Maybe down south.. if you can live in South Miami or Pinecrest...down near Matheson Hammock... but otherwise... the city has changed too, too much. A condo in the Grove and go to Chabad there.. I always did love Yanky.. great thinker, speaker. Otherwise... just changed too much.

I want old. I want history and historic looking houses that resonate deep with you as you walk by ...where you can feel the ghosts of centuries past... of people who loved that home and ... I want the water... water's edge. Softer, slower life. I'll have to find it... somewhere, not here...

I am moving on. Maybe this year. Maybe next year... soon.

As soon as I figure out how and where to go.. Need Money.

Need a brocha..

I am bracha..

I'm confused.

Not as confused as I am when listening to my son Zalmy talk on the Red Sox. These Marlin Red Sox trades make for confusing pronouns. We means Red Sox... they means Miami.

Sounds wierd when he says things like "they are so bad" width=400 alt="" />
100_1268, originally uploaded by beths96.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

So my son Levi has a new phone. Cute little gadget. It's enough to start making me wish to win the lotto so I can buy one. I never was one to wish for money or material things enough.. this year may be the year to change that. Silly me.... always wishing others have enough and more than enough and just praying for health and happiness for my kids... I may start praying for money. Cute toy. Metro PCS.. you buy the phone and have one charge. So.. he took movies, clips and pictures of everything yesterday and sent it to me on my computer. Boy... do I feel silly trying to take pics with a Fuji Flash thing. Mind you... usually I don't like cell phones with cameras but this one is nice, small, easy to use and works well. Picks up every sound in the room. Video of the little kitten chasing the plastic mouse on the string came out best probably. Turkey looked great too. So.. I may have changed my mind on fancy cell phones.

Turkey Menu ended up being as follows:
Turkey with Maple Honey Sauce and Dried Red Cherries in the pan (with red pepper slices on bottom...just a few slivers) made the gravy rich, red and sweeter than usual. Could not get the kids away from the pan to the table to eat the turkey. Have a pic of Levi picking but of course will have to wait for me to develop the Fuji Flash at Walmart before anyone sees it. Levi is a picker.. family joke.. In this case he had competition from Miriam. Meanwhile Turkey was so tender (poured wine over it too.. Merlot) that when I went to transfer it from the pan to one of my platters from Sharon's grandma's dishes... the turkey came up and the legs stayed in the pan. 4 hours... a 12 pound turkey.. my gosh they make Empire Turkeys tender these days... or the merlot, maple, honey did.. Had to reconstruct the Turkey on the platter to look normal, sort of..... Was good. Have left over for Shabbos.

Harvest Vegetables: You see what I did was... I went through the fridge to find all the last vestiges of this weeks vegetables that I never got around to making for my diet. Found 10 brussle sprouts, a package of green beans, baby carrots I bought. Was beautiful. Roasted them after being marinated in olive oil and jerk seasoning. Poured some maple sauce over the pieces of winter squash I had...came out good. So.. was like this little potpourri of vegetables that were served on the smaller platter of Sharon's grandma's dishest. (They are MINE now!) Also, serviced the baby carrots from the Turkey and the delicous roasted red potatoes as well.. unreal.

Stuffing... Challah and White Bread... onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms... fresh thyme from the Jamaican Market near the library and poultry seasoning.. some garlic...was very good.

Frozen vegetables that I put in the turkey soup the kids noshed on while it was cooking... will probably use that tonight and add some turkey bones and make up a bigger pot.

Sweet Potato Pudding with cinnamon and sugar and pecan pieces on top. Nice.. have a little I put away for tonight.

Bread.. drinks...

Pumpkin Maple Pie. Unreal...best I ever made in my life. Ever. From the beautiful Maple Leaf container that I saved for Thanksgiving.. maybe I'll fill it up with dyed colored water or use it as a strange vase. Used it for the turkey, the pie... and for this morning's French Toast. Maple. Sigh. Anyway... was good maple, yum, yum.

A guest asked where the corn was..they thought you were supposed to have corn. Told them we weren't pilgrims. I put the dried corn bundle from the corn stalker who sent the maple leaf. Worked.

So...that was our thanksgiving. Inhaled more than eaten. Never seen kids eat so fast in my life... the sun didn't finish setting... was scary.

Add in some unreal little cup cakes that Eli dropped off from his bakery called Phatso's Bakery which tells you how phattening the cupcakes were..

My thoughts?

I have a lot to be thankful for...

I want MORE lol.

We are all so greedy aren't we? Seriously.

Wish List:

That cellphone my son has...
My ex's palm pilot with the camera and sound..

A new fast computer with a nice table for it to go on..desk.

Tickets to the Red Sox games haha.. okay.. well you know what I mean.

More time up north with my kids who have grown and moved away and time with Sharon.

Love. True Love. Like the name of the sailboat in the movie... Real Love.
(life is short and it's about happy endings...time live, love and try to be happy... )

Recovery to go a little faster in New Orleans and Gulfport and forgotten places like Waveland.
(Is Stephen King listening... if that was a name for a novel of storms and suspense ..no place is but it is not my genre.. use it, WAVELAND.... what a name... blown off the map by a big Storm wave...

I want us OUT of Iraq...NOW. Infact, I vote we go back to the Monroe Doctrine and live on this side of the Atlantic.

I make enough money to live in Monroe County.

Going to do somethings I need to do for my class today. I think I have finally learned all there is to know about Miami History. Think it is time to move on. Think I have learned that I don't like it here anymore. Yes, it is beautiful... but it is too congested, too paved over and too different. Not the land that I loved or grew up in. Maybe down south.. if you can live in South Miami or Pinecrest...down near Matheson Hammock... but otherwise... the city has changed too, too much. A condo in the Grove and go to Chabad there.. I always did love Yanky.. great thinker, speaker. Otherwise... just changed too much.

I want old. I want history and historic looking houses that resonate deep with you as you walk by ...where you can feel the ghosts of centuries past... of people who loved that home and ... I want the water... water's edge. Softer, slower life. I'll have to find it... somewhere, not here...

I am moving on. Maybe this year. Maybe next year... soon.

As soon as I figure out how and where to go.. Need Money.

Need a brocha..

I am bracha..

I'm confused.

Not as confused as I am when listening to my son Zalmy talk on the Red Sox. These Marlin Red Sox trades make for confusing pronouns. We means Red Sox... they means Miami.

Sounds wierd when he says things like "they are so bad with their coaching and management" and means Miami. Wierd... but that is how he thinks... he is a Red Sox boy living in Miami.

Have a wonderful Friday ... make Leftover Soup... enjoy the day and play awhile.. you are on vacation after all... or watch Delta spin far away near the Azores and worry where the E storm shows up. One place I know he will never show up is here..

Thanksgiving Leftovers

So my son Levi has a new phone. Cute little gadget. It's enough to start making me wish to win the lotto so I can buy one. I never was one to wish for money or material things enough.. this year may be the year to change that. Silly me.... always wishing others have enough and more than enough and just praying for health and happiness for my kids... I may start praying for money. Cute toy. Metro PCS.. you buy the phone and have one charge. So.. he took movies, clips and pictures of everything yesterday and sent it to me on my computer. Boy... do I feel silly trying to take pics with a Fuji Flash thing. Mind you... usually I don't like cell phones with cameras but this one is nice, small, easy to use and works well. Picks up every sound in the room. Video of the little kitten chasing the plastic mouse on the string came out best probably. Turkey looked great too. So.. I may have changed my mind on fancy cell phones.

Turkey Menu ended up being as follows:
Turkey with Maple Honey Sauce and Dried Red Cherries in the pan (with red pepper slices on bottom...just a few slivers) made the gravy rich, red and sweeter than usual. Could not get the kids away from the pan to the table to eat the turkey. Have a pic of Levi picking but of course will have to wait for me to develop the Fuji Flash at Walmart before anyone sees it. Levi is a picker.. family joke.. In this case he had competition from Miriam. Meanwhile Turkey was so tender (poured wine over it too.. Merlot) that when I went to transfer it from the pan to one of my platters from Sharon's grandma's dishes... the turkey came up and the legs stayed in the pan. 4 hours... a 12 pound turkey.. my gosh they make Empire Turkeys tender these days... or the merlot, maple, honey did.. Had to reconstruct the Turkey on the platter to look normal, sort of..... Was good. Have left over for Shabbos.

Harvest Vegetables: You see what I did was... I went through the fridge to find all the last vestiges of this weeks vegetables that I never got around to making for my diet. Found 10 brussle sprouts, a package of green beans, baby carrots I bought. Was beautiful. Roasted them after being marinated in olive oil and jerk seasoning. Poured some maple sauce over the pieces of winter squash I had...came out good. So.. was like this little potpourri of vegetables that were served on the smaller platter of Sharon's grandma's dishest. (They are MINE now!) Also, serviced the baby carrots from the Turkey and the delicous roasted red potatoes as well.. unreal.

Stuffing... Challah and White Bread... onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms... fresh thyme from the Jamaican Market near the library and poultry seasoning.. some garlic...was very good.

Frozen vegetables that I put in the turkey soup the kids noshed on while it was cooking... will probably use that tonight and add some turkey bones and make up a bigger pot.

Sweet Potato Pudding with cinnamon and sugar and pecan pieces on top. Nice.. have a little I put away for tonight.

Bread.. drinks...

Pumpkin Maple Pie. Unreal...best I ever made in my life. Ever. From the beautiful Maple Leaf container that I saved for Thanksgiving.. maybe I'll fill it up with dyed colored water or use it as a strange vase. Used it for the turkey, the pie... and for this morning's French Toast. Maple. Sigh. Anyway... was good maple, yum, yum.

A guest asked where the corn was..they thought you were supposed to have corn. Told them we weren't pilgrims. I put the dried corn bundle from the corn stalker who sent the maple leaf. Worked.

So...that was our thanksgiving. Inhaled more than eaten. Never seen kids eat so fast in my life... the sun didn't finish setting... was scary.

Add in some unreal little cup cakes that Eli dropped off from his bakery called Phatso's Bakery which tells you how phattening the cupcakes were..

My thoughts?

I have a lot to be thankful for...

I want MORE lol.

We are all so greedy aren't we? Seriously.

Wish List:

That cellphone my son has...
My ex's palm pilot with the camera and sound..

A new fast computer with a nice table for it to go on..desk.

Tickets to the Red Sox games haha.. okay.. well you know what I mean.

More time up north with my kids who have grown and moved away and time with Sharon.

Love. True Love. Like the name of the sailboat in the movie... Real Love.
(life is short and it's about happy endings...time live, love and try to be happy... )

Recovery to go a little faster in New Orleans and Gulfport and forgotten places like Waveland.
(Is Stephen King listening... if that was a name for a novel of storms and suspense ..no place is but it is not my genre.. use it, WAVELAND.... what a name... blown off the map by a big Storm wave...

I want us OUT of Iraq...NOW. Infact, I vote we go back to the Monroe Doctrine and live on this side of the Atlantic.

I make enough money to live in Monroe County.

Going to do somethings I need to do for my class today. I think I have finally learned all there is to know about Miami History. Think it is time to move on. Think I have learned that I don't like it here anymore. Yes, it is beautiful... but it is too congested, too paved over and too different. Not the land that I loved or grew up in. Maybe down south.. if you can live in South Miami or Pinecrest...down near Matheson Hammock... but otherwise... the city has changed too, too much. A condo in the Grove and go to Chabad there.. I always did love Yanky.. great thinker, speaker. Otherwise... just changed too much.

I want old. I want history and historic looking houses that resonate deep with you as you walk by ...where you can feel the ghosts of centuries past... of people who loved that home and ... I want the water... water's edge. Softer, slower life. I'll have to find it... somewhere, not here...

I am moving on. Maybe this year. Maybe next year... soon.

As soon as I figure out how and where to go.. Need Money.

Need a brocha..

I am bracha..

I'm confused.

Not as confused as I am when listening to my son Zalmy talk on the Red Sox. These Marlin Red Sox trades make for confusing pronouns. We means Red Sox... they means Miami.

Sounds wierd when he says things like "they are so bad with their coaching and management" and means Miami. Wierd... but that is how he thinks... he is a Red Sox boy living in Miami.

Have a wonderful Friday ... make Leftover Soup... enjoy the day and play awhile.. you are on vacation after all... or watch Delta spin far away near the Azores and worry where the E storm shows up. One place I know he will never show up is here..

Happy Thanksgiving Morning - Macy Parade & Broadway

Thanksgiving Morning :)

The air is cool.... the Macy Day Pardade is on... talked to my best friend earlier... my son is on the edge of the bed... near the TV...watching the parade. Sweet Charity scene...love that musical. One of my all time favorites.

Going to go clean a bit, cook according to a game plan I wrote up last night and enjoy the holiday.

An All American Holiday... A Rabbi in Yeshiva once told my ex-husband that there was no reason not to celebrate it. It is a day giving thanks for America.. for all we have... America that gave us religous freedom, tolderance and now even faith based initaives :) If anything it corresponds with the Jewish Holiday of Sukkos... harvest festival.. giving thanks..

So... going to give thanks... and watch the parade a bit..before I start cooking Thanksgiving the Bobbi way...

Turkey & Stuffing... white bread and challah mix...
Sweet Potato Pie or Kugel... depending on if I want a crust or just the pudding part
Mixed Vegetables (sorry I like them...)
Roasted Baby Red Potatoes and Baby Carrots and... any other fresh vegetables I have in the fridge left that someone didn't nosh on..
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie
Maybe that pumpkin dump cake I saw the recipe for but its soooo fattening...

Cold Water
Iced Tea
2 Soda's hidden in Miriam's closet
Wine..

Anything that comes along... if anyone shows up with anything.

Happy happy... for now..

it's Breakfast Blend Coffee from Starbucks and the Macy Day Parade in bed in my favorite tank top/pj bottoms from Victoria Secrets and a favorite old... purple flannel plaid shirt over it all.

Country, Southern, Jewish... watching scenes from Broadway and later.. much later... can watch football.

Thank you America... for religous freedom... tolerance and now if we could break through the boundaries of color and accept that we are indeed a colored nation... of many colors... from creamy beige to the darkest black ... we are one people.. one nation... all the same under the skin and we should have no prejudice based on labels or colors... and have total appreciation for all of the people who have made this country what it is.. one that can stop and take four days off and give thanks... or shop til you drop lol.

Chow for Now.. Bobbi

Turkey Recipe.. ala Barbara & Eddie

Hi all.

This is a freebie.. for fun and to use any time you need for any purpose... cooking, writing... inspiration.

So...this is my favorite Turkey Recipe.

I found it online ... can't remember the exact screen name or I would thank her (Barbara) personally... Must be all those dead brain cells you get after a certain age or several years online :)

Soooooooooooooooooo many screen names you know???

If I remember right.. it's a nice little recipe I found on AOL years back.. Jewish Cooking Message Board..

A sweet, old, retired couple.. Barbara and Ed who live part of the year in a log cabin in an alternative universe in Vermont near the home of that person who started the the money thing.. Federal Reserve Bank.. Masons and stuff like that.. Vermont. BRRRRR cold... luckily they have a fire in the cabin going on a regular basis. Sometimes they fly south so that Eddie can play golf down in Florida on his condo off some little golf course in the Palm Beach Area. Sometimes they visit relatives in Atlanta.. a daughter I think. Something about Denmark that I don't remember... who can remember ALL the details?? So... when they aren't golfing, rolfing, snorkeling or scuba diving ...or riding around the country in their beat up but beloved Winnebago (Santa Fe is a favorite) they are home.. cooking... sipping the maple syrup and watching the weather boards.. and knitting yarmulkes and next year... they are renewing their vows... in a beautiful ceremony down in the Keys... or Redondo Beach.. doesn't matter where because they are old, sweet, in love and lucky to be together. Mazel Tov!

So nice the people you meet online and bump into late at night while looking for Turkey Recipes for Rosh Hashonah, Thanksgiving and Chanukah. That Sweet Kugel was unreal too.. it's here somewhere I'm sure but who bakes a kugel for Thanksgiving?

Recipe below.. feel free to use it anytime.. it's wonderful... adapt it if you want... go for it...

Note I .. Bobbi.. not Barbara don't truss Turkey.. when its done the leg moves easy. Duh.

And... I don't buy thermometers for anything but weather so... unless you want to stick one of those colored press on your forehead strip thermometers onto the turkey.... trust me it's done when the leg moves easily. And... as I often use bourbon, Jack Daniels or brandy.. wine.. use anything except beer unless you are a Gator then..well go for it...

Enjoy.. embrace it.. make it yours :)

Kosher Turkey Recipe

12 pound turkey
salt, pepper
3 Tablespoon pareve margarine
1/4 C honey
1/4 C maple (or flavored syrup)
2 Tablespoon Brandy (brandy.... go figure...)

1. Rinse turkey under running water. Pat dry inside and out. Season cavities with salt and pepper. Truss turkey to hold shape. Brush skin with margarine. Arrange breast side up in a roasting pan****

2. Roast at 425 for 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 375. Baste frequently with combined honey, maple syrup and brandy. Continued roasting until thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh registers 170 about 1 1/4 hours longer (until leg moves freely and juices run clear). Cover wing tips and breasts lightly with foil when browned.

***** from BOBBI
Ignore the thermometer thing and if you want a really juicy turkey arrange it breast side down and that way the dry white meat is softer, more flavorful and it's unreal wonderful. A great radio host in LA where we used to live years ago used to tell everyone to make the turkey that way. It's up to you.. appearances or tenderness. Or.. let it cool.. carefully, haha..very carefully turn it over.. put it back in over and warm it up and serve later.. Whichever.. its a great recipe.

One of the Sweetest Men I Have Ever Known.. Thank You

Had a smile that could light up the world... especially when he was looking at me.

Once.. he watched me cutting a pack of herbal pills apart so I could take home a few and keep a few at work. He looked concerned at me and said smiled and said , "Watch out!"

I asked, "what?" Confused. I mean I know how to use a scizzor. Really...

He said to clarify, "be careful"

I said "of what?"

He showed me that the way I was cutting the packs... well cutting around them was leaving sharp edges at the ends.. made points sort of.. He came over, took the pack and showed me what he meant. He was concerned I would throw it in my purse and jab myself with them.

I laughed, smiled... told him not to worry. Okay, thought he worried a bit too much there. Maybe he was just trying to make conversation. But, he meant it.

Can't tell you how many times I have picked up one of those packs.. looked down at it and realized he was right. The edges are sharp... almost razor sharp sometimes.

Such a sweet man. Strong, sexy, sensual, serious.. had long serious conversations but... "sweet" and I know he wouldn't think anyone would think that but me.. but it's true and saying it here.

Small things like that show character that is hard to explain otherwise. Other examples too but this isn't the time or place.

Not sure why I am posting this but I am. Feel it needs to be done here on Thanksgiving Weekend.

I was looking at a picture of his child today at work and realized how much the smile is his father's smile.. radiates. Beautiful.

Haven't talked to him in many moons... but if there was a list to be for Thanksgiving of the things that I am thankful for..

Up there with the way the sun rises and sets.. and the colors that it splashes across the sky... Up there with Sharon's friendship and my children... my children's friends and some of the really nice people I work with... up there with being happy I watched the sunrise over the Mississippi River in St. Paul one morning.. and up there with walking along Flatbush Avenue in the early morning and watching the stores open up one by one... by one.. Up there with seeing the view from the top of St. Thomas and a long cruise through the Caribbean where Leslie and I sat watching the water and talked for hours.. up there with memories of my ex-husband as a young father sitting with his son happily watching that annoying show Fraggle Rock together on the sofa and watching the same child walk his first steps... along with sitting under the palm trees in the library with Linda... knowing Jason even briefly is way high up there on the list.

A sweet man. One of the sweetest I have ever known and one of the most memorable.

What do you give thanks for today?

If I could paint a water color of the sky setting right now... a dark mauve.. turning to even darker lavendar..

I wouldn't give any thanks for being BobbiStorm because it is just a made up name... a pen name, a handle...

I wouldn't give any thanks for having riches cause... I don't.. I don't even have money for the stupid electric bill but... one way or the other it will work it's way out. As I should have pointed out to the lady at FPL .. I suddenly know how to suvive without electric .. haha.. a joke.

I would give thanks for my sense of humor that has gotten me through many dark moments where I could only laugh at the silliness of a situation ...

I hope.. one day... when God and all the stars in the heaven have fallen into the right place I hope to meet some man one day who makes me smile.. and laugh.. and excites me in ways the way Jason did... a nice hope to believe that it can and will happen again.

I hope next year I can give thanks for many things... that get added to the list...

May you all have things in your life for you to give thanks for.. whether you understand them or you don't. Whether you asked for them or you didn't. Whether you got what you were wishing for or... got something totally different. Whether you realize the gems you hold in your hand and the love around you ...or you don't... stop and think for a moment... and make a small list of all the good things that you have been blessed with this Thanksgiving.

May you all have things in your life to give thanks for..

Happy Turkey Day.. Bobbi
Smiling :)

Real happy that those pilgrams finally decided to sit down with those Indians and share this land's wonderful bounty ..

Quiet Day in the Library... Interesting Day in the Tropics

A friend at the hurricane center sent me out an amusing "not an April Fools Joke" email. Okay, I looked.

I'll look again.

Suppose things are developing somewhere but not here today.

Cool.. wearing black, velvet jeans and an Autumn Green long, sleeve V neck from the Gap.. sort of goes well with my dark auburn/red hair..

And, remembering to smile... have patience and thinking on what to make exactly for Thanksgiving.

As for a Thanksgiving post.. will work on that tomorrow.

Not real communicative here today but wanted to mark the time passage.

Mendy's finger seems fine though he wants an Xray if we can find a slot in his busy, social life. Oh, to be 16 again huh? Spoke to the Doctor and he said it is most likely NOT broken... just sprained. He said torn vessels.. not tendrons. Nice man... good doctor.

The beautiful kitty smells... and someone told me he has fleas. I don't know.. not in that part of the house ... watching the drama unfold.

Take care everyone.. watch tropics.. even the far Eastern Atlantic.. where things are popping.

Bobbi
I suppose that the eagle has landed and that was the reason for my morning email from an .. old...friend.

The Song...that got me thru the Aftermath of Wilma

On the radio.. Kiss Country... no electric or phone or internet access...

:) you just never know how a song will do it for you... or hit you.. or make you smile & giggle
and... on that note.. St. Nick arrived today in the form of St. Lincoln... he came bearing a new washer... was a nice present of sorts.. never know what can get you through your life. If you ever have a manager/handyman.. pray he is a good a man as Lincoln.

Song below.. great fun song.. makes you want to go out, dance and kick up your heels!

Billys Got His Beer Goggles On!!

Awww Yah!
Billy s at the bar, he s been there all night
First ten beers he s had, since her goodbye
HEY! HEY!
She left him broke, in his new truck
He don t smoke, but he lights one up
Temporary fix, for his heartache
He s hurting bad, but he s feeling great
He s on the dance floor yelling Freebird
Singing off pitch but he knows every word
Grabs him a girl and he holds on tight
He s chasing everything in sight
He ll fall apart when he gets home
But right now his worries are gone
Life looks good, good, good
Billy s got his beer goggles on
Hey!
Lot of drunks, get real mean
They ll pick a fight, over anything
Billy wants to laugh, that s why he s here
You won t see him cry, unless you spill his beer
He s on the dance floor yelling Freebird
Singing off pitch but he knows every word
Grabs him another girl and he holds on tight
Now he s chasing everything in sight
He ll fall apart when he gets home
Right now his worries are gone
Life looks good, good, good
Billy s got his beer goggles . on
He s on the dance floor yelling Freebird
Singing off pitch but he knows every word
Grabs him another girl he hold on tight
He don t see ugly
Through blood shot eyes
He ll fall apart when he gets home
But right now his worries are gone
Cause life looks good, good, good
So good, good, good,
Life looks good, good, good
Billy s got his beer goggles .on

Cold Front Arrives in Miami... Is the Hurricane Season Over?

Maybe... though a lot of people think a disturbance out in the Atlantic may become a storm. Upper Level low that works its way down into the lower levels of the atmosphere (ie surface) and that does happen a lot late in the season.

Hard to look at this Loop and not think "winter in the tropics" but well... not sure that has happened yet or hasn't. Despite the cold front. But, easy money is on no more big major, killer storms. Would have to look up statistics to see the latest major hurricane... but for now in Miami it's 62 degrees.

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_wv_east_loop-12.html

Meanwhile... was a beautiful sunrise. Sort of golden... sun behind the Austrailian Pine Trees and what's left of the other pines. Some tired looking oaks... imagine quite a few branches came tumbling down into people's yards here with the passage of the front. Palm tree last night made that little sound palm trees make when the fronds hi eachother and flapped in the breeze. Miami cold fronts. Hard to explain.. sort of have to be here. Or not.

Kids are okay... Miriam has a cat it seems. The most beautiful kitten I have seen in ages. She says it's Fraydee's cat but... I think they are going to fight this one out. Fraydee doesn't live here... she's not my biological daughter. One of the troop of kids who are close with my kids. The cat may end up with a split personality... am I Miriam? Am I Fraydees? Who is Tricky? Long story but for now that cat looked real content lying on Miriam last night. Small, beautiful.. kitten still... but it has big paws.... Mendy broke or sprained his finger again (same finger) at football which is not his game.. baseball is but oh well... Anyway... Need to do a bunch of things today and don't have time to take a child to the doctor who is going to look at it.. scratch his head and tell me he needs an xray and sends me over to xray lab at hospital or some place. A lost day. Part of having kids. Dr. Harvey predictably isn't in until late in the day... so not going there. Zalmy woke up and asked how cold it was.. Checked the thermometer on the window sill and told me a few minutes later that it officially works. Funny...first time all year we have checked the temperature and not the barometer.

As for me... I'm not telling. Smile. Nothing to tell and in a mood ..listening to the quivering, fluttering sound of the palm fronds.

The Hurricane heightened certain things... senses almost. Got used to the TV being off. To listening to radio. To noticing sounds. Light. Was and is amazing. My best old friend Magda lost her ceiling in parts of the house. I mean the roof leaked to the degree that would have been on roof if someone had called screaming their roof had given way. Broke in Sholom's room and the water came pouring in (yes.. I am sure my older kids will have the same reaction my younger ones did.. you are soooo mean) and then a window blew out in Shoshana's room... cabinets in the kitchen sag from water pouring through the wall. She thinks maybe a small tornado hit the street there. Four or five houses had major damage and was from the East.. not the South or SW like most people. Though they are on the edge of the field and the roof probably was not in good shape. Sharon's old block though her end seems okay. Either way... you know what her comment on the storm was? "Wasn't it fun?" She was so hyped on Shabbos when we spoke (went to Chabad for some quiet prayer time away from Young Israel) and ... she said how it was nuts. All that racing back and forth as there were problems and the sound of the wind and things hitting the house. She has to move out for a litle while.. has to have it repaired. Is dealing with it... but she can seperate in her mind the wonder and amazement and crazy part of the enjoying the storm (something happening) from the clean up. That is a rare and very honest person. Why I love her even though we don't hang around much anymore. Just... no whining or bitching she is going crazy and moving to Alaska and can't take hurricanes but able to see the wild beauty of that night.. So few people are honest on that level. Afraid to say it was "fun" or not afraid to tell me. Who knows.

So.. hope her house gets fixed soon.

Hope we all find ways of making our lives "fun" and we enjoy the small things like the golden sunrises on a cool, windy morning or something bigger and more exciting. Either way.. I found great beauty in simple things from this storm.

One memory sits with me... repeated often. Outside on the chair on the porch... watching a butterfly play peek a boo with my toes. Maybe they were attracted to the toe nail polish.. who knows? Watching the morning light through what was left of my bushes.

My rose bush by the way has come alive... has buds on every branch. It was the first plant to get leaves back. I guess the hurricane knocked some sense in it.

Son came in.. youngest. He asked me if I got the paper. Told him no. He didn't want to.. it was cold. Asked him how he was going to live in New England some day if he can't take the cold front? He said.. with a smile.. well if we lived in New England he would have clothes to wear..sweaters... Duh... He came in and did some crazy, screaming dance about Josh Beckett (his favorite Marline player) and someone else named Lowell (who he likes) are going to the Red Sox it seems... He keeps saying "we" "they" took me forever to figure out who was going where... but "WE" got Josh Beckett was the point. I'm more confused than that cat :)

Happy Almost Thanksgiving ;)

Send me some money in the lotto.. I'll actually play for a change... come on God...you know what I am going to do with it.

Love Bobbi

NASCAR really Rules!

Was fun. Watched the end wth my son. Good finish. Exciting. Nice to hear a post game wrap up where the players thanked everyone and well... a great finish.

Fins.. never saw such a bad game. Talking bad... talking not just bad but like the Land of the Walking Wounded and some Last Man Standing. A period there where they just got taken off the field one by one. Felt like musical chairs. Maybe they are overwhelmed from Wilma??

Have a good day... Bobbi

NASCAR really Rules!

Was fun. Watched the end wth my son. Good finish. Exciting. Nice to hear a post game wrap up where the players thanked everyone and well... a great finish.

Fins.. never saw such a bad game. Talking bad... talking not just bad but like the Land of the Walking Wounded and some Last Man Standing. A period there where they just got taken off the field one by one. Felt like musical chairs. Maybe they are overwhelmed from Wilma??

Have a good day... Bobbi

Fins Lost BAD and I mean BAD

Really bad.

So bad that whoever has to cut those boys a paycheck would probably get off on mental cruelty charges and temporary insanity ...

It's a game. I imagine Coach Saban figures he will wait for the draft, next year... start over.
I know how he feels.

One good thing... at least we can no longer beg him to put Drew in and to take Guy out... I think no one will be bugging him for that one again.

Personally, I wanted him to keep Craig who got more points on the board in the pre-season but he left him go.

Good to have options and well.. can always watch Green Bay Play... what a mess.

As for the tropics... there is a beautiful image on the visible sats of the structure, skeleton of Gamma holding on for dear life down in the tropics. Her moisture took off to the NE like the models showed and she ...he... it hung back. Insteresting strategy. Can it sit there though like that.

Meanwhile...where oh where is the cold front?

Hollishing down here wishing it would get just a drop cooler. Nice off and on breeze from the east though.

So, the season is almost over. Hurricane season that is.. not football season.

I look back amazed at how this summer played out. Shocked in ways. Amused in others. Horrified in some ways. And, the crazy way that my silly Wilma name went out with a bang. Strongest hurricane on record. There's one only SNONUT would have, could have predicted.

How do you top that?

Gamma... Delta and Episolon.. don't think so.. Epis... how do you spell the Greek E storm?

Not happening.

As for me... I don't know.

Not sure I will keep this blog going. Maybe put it on hiatus like Herman used to do with his relationships. A friend. Hiatus. Maybe.

I think right now I will do what an old friend of mine told me to do a long, long time ago and I didn't listen to him. I should have listened to him. I should have listened way, way back but I didn't. Not then and not later. He was right the first time. He was right in 97. I didn't listen. I didn't listen to him and I didn't listen to Sharon..two people with planets at same degree Capricorn. I should have known. So, think for once we will take ole Eddie's advice. About the only thing I can do at this point. One final, last connection. Take direction from Eddie. Ed.

Will see what next hurricane season brings. It's a long time away. Got a Red Sox season between the two. End of Football Season. Holidays. Birthdays. February... the year goes by in bits and pieces.

Maybe I'll start a new blog... my blog, lost in time and space where no one can find me. I can just write away under some fake name... have a few fake names I have saved but never used.

Oddly... I guess we are too much the same in that way too.. always using our names.

I learned so much this year. Tropically and topically. About life... people...

I learned a lot.

And...as for the Fins.. I love them.

Hey.. I still love my ex-husband. Shrugging shoulders. I'm that time of girl. Woman.

I love something once deeply... and I love it ... them..forever.

I'm an alumni of the Perfect Season... and that is something no one can ever take away from me.

Now and forever Bobbi
Class of '72

Back Burner Sunday

Just a quick hello so my son or brother at least..doesn't worry where I am.

I'm here.

Blog is just back burner right now as the season winds down and debating what to do with my life.

Dolphin game on today..hoping they win...

Went out to a nice Israeli restaurant last night and relaxed... hung out. Was quiet for a change.

Cleaning up, doing things round the house.

Watching the tropics but they are a back burner thing today as not much is going on and am waiting and waiting for the predicted cold front to come down the state all the way to my neck of the woods.

Waiting.. dying to put on some jeans, winter clothes... nice to go barefoot but have this great cover from Tijuana from years back when I lived in L.A. and never get to use it unless it is winter.

So.. that is that.. feeling no strong desire to type endlessly long posts or write or convey my thoughts and depending on what goes on with the season I will probably cut back on the blogging here.. depending on my mood... thoughts.. topic as there really isn't any reason to post on the tropics unless there is something tropical going on..

Later... Bobbi
go Fins!

Tropical Storm Gamma Forms..in time for Thanksgiving!

Just in time for a Cold Turkey Thanksgiving..
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200527_5day.html

May I suggest the following ideas.

Cook and freeze the bird NOW or ASAP.. freeze it hard.

If the storm comes this way..defrost it at room temperature and heat up over warmers..or on the grill. If the storm doesn't come... make a nice baste, sauce and reheat it.. Either way you got your bases covered. Of course, unless the freezer flies away............

Turkey Lunchables.. add cans of cranberry sauce, canned corn.. every kid will be happy.. they will eat those 365 days a year.

Lock up the house and fly to Santa Fe for a Southwestern Turkey Day feast..

What a world.. give thanks we have warning and pass the amunition :)

Tropical Storm Gamma Forms..in time for Thanksgiving!

Just in time for a Cold Turkey Thanksgiving..
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200527_5day.html

May I suggest the following ideas.

Cook and freeze the bird NOW or ASAP.. freeze it hard.

If the storm comes this way..defrost it at room temperature and heat up over warmers..or on the grill. If the storm doesn't come... make a nice baste, sauce and reheat it.. Either way you got your bases covered. Of course, unless the freezer flies away............

Turkey Lunchables.. add cans of cranberry sauce, canned corn.. every kid will be happy.. they will eat those 365 days a year.

Lock up the house and fly to Santa Fe for a Southwestern Turkey Day feast..

What a world.. give thanks we have warning and pass the amunition :)

GAMMA GAMMA Wherefore art thou Gamma?

The system formally known as TD 27 down in the Caribbean is pulling itself together.. faster than you can say Me and You and a Dog named Boo... or by the minute JUST BOO.

Amazing to watch after all this time of wandering and meandering and trying to find itself.. "it" has and *it* will be Gamma sometime later today.

Models take it up across Cuba and then the question is whether it affects, hits or slams into Florida of slips away silently to the South of us..

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/HURRLOOPS/huirloop.html

nice view of a developing storm
must be the sats are stuck on this loop.. all year they all look the same at this point..
Key West pay attention though it may have a different orientation and move 50 miles off shore to your south this time.

GFDL model slams it into Florida and then keeps it going as some big Cane..
http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/gfdltc2.cgi?time=2005111806-twenty-se27l&field=Sea+Level+Pressure&hour=Animation (breathe deep if you live in florida and don't look scared.. might change next fun)

Maybe someone needs to hit reset on the GFDL? Nah..sure someone thought on that.

Know any good computer programmers to try and figure out why ever model this year looks the same.. is this life imitating art or models.. maybe if we change the model it will follow a different path.

And people think I don't have a dream world.. trust me.. I fantasize plenty. Got lost somewhere today and am still trying to find my cookie crumbs back to the real world.. got that lost look in my eye and breathing funny and trying to pretend to be awake while I try not to look like that commercial where you have fallen and can't get up. Must be an astrological aspect..

Help me, giggling.. If Sharon were here she would slap me silly.

I'm okay. Really. It's 2005... not 1984 and not anyother year on the hit parade of electronic computerized music.

All is well with my kids.. my ex-husband sounded fine and dandy last night for someone who had a long procedure done and hopefully he will rest, eat right... make major changes in his eating/lifestyle and protect his heart (grin.. never know he might read this and well... we want him to LIVE) and it's a gray, gray day in Miami... front stalled out. Oops..did I say that.

Hush my mouth..

Take care... now and forever
Bobbi

Ps
Isn't this pretty? putting it on the wish list for trips with Sharon
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/isleauhaut5.jpg

We Need a Hero to fight FPL in Miami... good article links and thoughts

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-chistorictree16nov16,0,6964475.story?page=1&track=mostemailedlink

Note that Orthodox Jews maintain that there is a connection between trees and the souls of Tzaddikim (righteous people) and a child is compared to a tree which is why we don't cut a boy's hair until he is 3 years old.. in the same way we don't take fruit from the first 3 years of a tree. Many cultures link trees to holy spirits. Trees not only protect us from the sun, provide many childhood memories but they inspire us and keep us connected to our own roots.

Another link.. to an article below..

Then there is an excellent article by Fred Grimms who has maintained and built a new fan base in the Miami Herald since Hurricane Wilma. He seems to speak for all of us who went through the storm known by the National Hurricane Center as a "minimal hurricane" and yet suffered damage that we never thought we would see short of a Cat Three. Who knew? Well.. to be honest, FPL knew but they didn't care. In their race to attain record profits they sacrificed their fiduciary responsibility to their users and the people who pay their bills.

On a year round basis they hire out of state crews from "non-union" states that give contracts to out of state workers and not have to pay local crew and employees benefits. As nice as those guys from Arkansas and Louisianna are..it's not their backyard and they can go home to their families. Sort of like outsourcing if you ask me.... They no longer maintain their poles. They no longer disturb our peace by hacking apart mango and other trees that some long ago transplated northerner thought would be nice to plant out there in the area once known for the Utilities Company's "Right of Way". They own that land.. it says so on my house deed and yet they no longer maintain the trees under their wires. Yes, I would pay a gardener to go up there but gee, golly gosh.. I can't find any who want to do it and they all give me the number to FPL to put my name on a waiting list... haha.. ho ho.

Someone, somewhere should do SOMETHING. Do we have no leaders in this State or anywhere who can regulate what the Public Utility Commission can do when it is raping it's customer base and giving FPL a bonus for a poor, poor job of maintaining the area's service grid?

If ever we needed a hero..now is the time for one to emerge to protect the people...
Article below:
Posted on Thu, Nov. 17, 2005
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13186951.htm
IN MY OPINION
FPL, customers are poles apart since Wilma hit
BY FRED GRIMM
fgrimm@herald.com
The object of my neighborhood's distress was a power pole, knocked askew by Hurricane Wilma and a prime suspect in the 16-day blackout along our wretched little stretch of the power grid.
The old pole leaned at a perilous angle and I knew that no juice would be flowing until an FPL crew trucked into the neighborhood with a new pole in tow.
Didn't happen.

''Oh, that old pole was rotten,'' said the lineman on loan to FPL from Detroit, chatting over my wooden fence like a longtime neighbor. ``We should have replaced it.''

Instead, the boys from Michigan attached a line, pulled it upright, drove two four-by-four wooden posts into the earth and bolted them to the pole. ''That'll hold for a while,'' he said.

So far, so good. The repair job has stayed up a week and two days now. It remained unbowed through a drizzling blow Tuesday evening. I'd say there's a fine chance the pole may even survive the spring. My new friend from Michigan was not so optimistic about next hurricane season.

And I'm disgusted. Me and 3.2 million other Wilma-whacked FPL subscribers.

Rotten poles and angry customers have made for volatile conditions since the great blackout.

FPL's subscribers have ripped the company in any public forum they can find. The Broward League of Cities asked the governor to investigate. State legislators want hearings. Newspaper editorials rail about 10,000 poles downed by a piddling Category 1 hurricane. Outrage at FPL may be the most unifying factor in South Florida since the Dolphins' undefeated season.

But this is the storm that FPL has been built to weather. Not Wilma. But public opinion.

Instead of spending all those millions anticipating an actual hurricane -- replacing suspect poles and trimming tree limbs that threaten power lines -- the company has opted to save its money and ride out the subsequent public outrage in the safe, friendly, permissive environs of the Florida Public Service Commission.

The math is pretty simple. FPL either can worry about shoring up 10,000 power poles or spend its time and money fawning over five members of the PSC.

The Herald's Debbie Cenziper, John Dorschner and Oscar Corral unearthed documents this week indicating that FPL -- with the PSC watching -- cut operating and maintenance costs per customer by 32 percent from 1991 to 2001. In the next three years, they reported, FPL cut costs again by 4.5 percent.

The reporters interviewed 20 out-of-state utility workers who said South Florida's 98 percent power loss was the obvious consequence of lousy maintenance. I heard much the same thing last summer, after Frances knocked my neighborhood off line for four days. A lineman from Kentucky told me the line negligence was stunning. ``I've never seen anything like it.''
What wasn't so obvious to a utility worker from Kentucky was the time, money and effort FPL has devoted toward maintaining a balmy relationship with the Florida PSC, the un-elected misnomer that looks after the monopoly and all its financial wants like a doting mother with a spoiled child.

The Herald's findings certainly match the circumstantial evidence accumulated along my end of the grid. Hurricane Andrew sent ferocious winds through the neighborhood, yet the power was never interrupted. Back in those days, FPL spent money on tree trimming.

Its contractor swept through regularly, like army ants, to hack trespassing tree limbs. I remember because their coming would coincide with bicycles disappearing off the back porch.
Haven't seen a tree crew in ages. And we've suffered blackouts after Frances, Katrina, Wilma and some piddling tropical blows.

On the other hand, I've had the same bicycle now for years.
***
Fred Grimm is The Herald's Broward columnist.


*****************************
On a personal note... I'm watching the area that is either 27 or 28 or 28a .. well maybe it's 27 and a half.. not sure but I am watching it as are many other trackers in the South Florida area.
http://orca.rsmas.miami.edu/wximages/jet/1_05/anis.html

It's looking a little bit threatening if you ask me.. but what do I know?? Okay, I know a lot but I don't have a crystal ball and I am not Miss Cleo though I would like to have the money she got by those nice little supporters of hers who picked up the bill for their idea and her brillant execution of it. I would never have done as well.. no matter what Alan thought.. I don't look good in a turban. She was good.. probably still is. Maybe I should call her and ask her for inside rates.

Where is Jean Paul I am wondering... Sharon could use a good solar return. Or the sleazy palm reader who followed me around the convention center trying to convince me of the depth of feeling I had for a lost love.. out there somewhere...

Inquiring minds want to know but as for me.. I will stay the hell out of Palm Beach.

And..may I end here with a quote from Anais Nin..
It says much .. and it should be remembered by many.

"Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live"

That's all for now.. Bobbi

Marking the Date

Hello out there. I am just blogging to blog... to mark the date and to say I did.

Have to get dressed and out of here.. there is a lot to do today. Work and the class I am taking at the college and a lot of commuting. I hate commuting. I can't understand how anyone sits for hours on cars or buses going back and forth losing time if they don't have to do so. Sometimes, you need to.. I understand that trust me but to shlep downtown after a long day of work to take a class.. even a class I enjoy.. is not my idea of fun. So, you see.. I learned something from taking this class that I never expected to learn.

A friend of mine is having a medical procedure (not surgery hopefully) today and I hope and pray it goes well. Makes me a bit nervous but I can take comfort that it's a good hospital and well... it's not in my hands its in the doctor's hands and God's hands and they seem to both be specialists.

Everything else is fine.. A-OK. Not hunky dory ... hunky dory would be driving around Cape Elizabeth with Sharon to the light house or... in Barnes and Noble for a good cup of coffee or getting ready for breakfast at The Deli or...meeting the love of my life .. that would be good.
Where is he and why is he taking so long? That is the question.

Anything else would be just a day in the woods with lions and tigers and bears... oh my ...

Bobbi
Going to work.. marking the date... gonna peak a lot at TD 27 or 28 or which ever one holds the real energy to get this show on the road.

Wow.. Sameach Music Podcasts Rock

This is so cool. Listening to my son Sruly and his friend do a podcast online.

What a world.. he can read what Mommy does far away in Miami and I can hear him joke around and play Jewish Music on the radio.

http://sameachmusicpodcast.libsyn.com/

Wow.. so cool.

Oh..and both the depression and the one that's not the depression near land are both spinning nicely.

Nice... very nice... sigh

Mommy :)
Very happy.. plus I think the other kid landed in Israel .. no news ..good news, right?

Another Day in the Neighborhood... TD 27 Lurks Below

On a tropical note... TD 27 is still cooking down there on the Caribbean Back Burner. If someone turns up the heat Gamma will bubble and turn into a possible trouble maker. If not.. it could slide slowly west. But, the money is on Gamma getting itself together in the usually more favorable Western Caribbean. And then... it's anyone's game. Though most in charge in big public, government positions would like to see Gamma go into Central America and not North America. But, as Jimmy Buffett always says, "Time Will Tell..."

For now party hardy and don't throw out the water or tequilla bottles just in case you need to fill them with water in a week or so.

On a personal note...
I've adjusted to the fact that one of my kids is back in Israel. Not a happy camper on it but you can't stop a 20 year old boy .. man who is on his own from doing what he wants to do so.... I'll pray a lot.

Waiting to see if anyone else in the house comes down with the 24 hour flu.. which already flew away and Miriam looked quite herself going off to college this morning.

Working late tonight so I had the morning free to sit around and shoot the breeze with my best friend Sharon on the phone and I just put a boniato up in the mircrowave to eat for lunch with a leftover burger from last night. Miami version of meat and potatoes.

I can hear the tree cutters from New Hampshire down the block.. buzz sawing the ficus and the live oak trees apart. Imagine... Tree Cutters from New Hampshire and as Sharon said laughing.. of all the oak trees in all the world they found their way to yours. Go figure... bet it will be cold cold cold when they get back home. Lots of oak trees to cut down here. Not a lot of shade but bright sun and beautiful temps.

Going to enjoy Miami today, while I can... and enjoy the low energy before FPL gets there 20% rate increase that starts in January which will nicely offset their slow time when Miamians used to be able to at least look foward to one or two months of low energy bills while they pay off other bills for a change.

Take care.. keep watching TD 27 and don't be surprised by anything because this is 2005.. a strange, crazy year.
Bobbi

Is Gamma going to follow the game plan or not?

The Canadian model shows a hurricane that gets very close to Florida out around T counting 144 hours from now.

There seems to be some divergence in thinking as to whether Gamma goes quietly west...or not.

Meanwhile..all including the NHC own models seem to make Gamma a Hurricane.

Hurricane Gamma... has a ring to it, doesn't it?

As for me personally...going to take lunch.

Want to say though I have thought much on what a friend told me recently. A friend, oh...let's call him MEL for arguement's sake told me I am "tough" and having all those kids I had made me "tough." Is he right? Could be. But, what it made me honestly is street smart and savy when it comes to lies, bullshit and to quote Big Daddy.. Mendacity. After raising a whole brood of teens you can smell bullshit in a field of roses; you can sense it.. feel it..hear it even when the excuses sound wonderful. No one is better at giving excuses and explanations than teens as to what really happened with ___________fill in the blank___________ ...

So... yes I supposed it taught me to be a bit tougher, take the long view..and read through the bullshit and smile and pretend I believe liars who believe their own lies. Like kids... that teacher really told them they had NO homework. Can you imagine?

The jury is out on how tough I am because I think I just put on a good act. I did study acting way back when... But, it did make me know lies and excuses when I hear them...

So thank you my wonderful, crazy teenagers ... you will never know how much you have helped me ...

Honestly... Bobbi
ps..and thanks someone for making me think on my life a little differently than I ever would have

Is Gamma going to follow the game plan or not?

The Canadian model shows a hurricane that gets very close to Florida out around T counting 144 hours from now.

There seems to be some divergence in thinking as to whether Gamma goes quietly west...or not.

Meanwhile..all including the NHC own models seem to make Gamma a Hurricane.

Hurricane Gamma... has a ring to it, doesn't it?

As for me personally...going to take lunch.

Want to say though I have thought much on what a friend told me recently. A friend, oh...let's call him MEL for arguement's sake told me I am "tough" and having all those kids I had made me "tough." Is he right? Could be. But, what it made me honestly is street smart and savy when it comes to lies, bullshit and to quote Big Daddy.. Mendacity. After raising a whole brood of teens you can smell bullshit in a field of roses; you can sense it.. feel it..hear it even when the excuses sound wonderful. No one is better at giving excuses and explanations than teens as to what really happened with ___________fill in the blank___________ ...

So... yes I supposed it taught me to be a bit tougher, take the long view..and read through the bullshit and smile and pretend I believe liars who believe their own lies. Like kids... that teacher really told them they had NO homework. Can you imagine?

The jury is out on how tough I am because I think I just put on a good act. I did study acting way back when... But, it did make me know lies and excuses when I hear them...

So thank you my wonderful, crazy teenagers ... you will never know how much you have helped me ...

Honestly... Bobbi
ps..and thanks someone for making me think on my life a little differently than I ever would have

Miamians Keep a Watchful Eye on TD27...Gamma Coming Soon?

People in Miami woke up this morning and heard the hard to believe news that another Tropical Depression had formed in the Caribbean.

And again.... they searched for cones and advisories and the weather person they trust to tell them where this new Tropical Depression will go...

The kids asked me first thing... "Is it coming here?" "Have you seen the cone?"

I told them its going to go west for a while (which makes me feel really stupid telling them its going to be where Wilma was a few weeks back before she came north...they aren't dumb) and they asked me AGAIN, "But, have you seen the cone?"

Sigh... work will be more of the same.

I'm more sick of hearing about global warming then people bitch about hurricanes while living in Miami. I think often on moving to New England and my biggest concern is can I really take the winter... do I have it in me? I don't get there and go "oh my God...it's COLD up here" its part and parcel of the choice of where we live unless we just play the cards we have and never think to try a new game. Miami = Hurricanes. That is why the football team is the Miami Hurricanes. Notice we are not the Miami Penquins. We keep hurricane memorabilia around our town; we don't keep penquins on our porches and lawns to pretend we live at the South Pole. Do we?

So.... that being said.... Gamma is brewing south of us... and as long as she ..he...it ...is south of us we much watch it carefully.

Gamma.. I like it. Sort of like a Rock Star. Funny but true... hope it's not Wilma birth child given away years back come back to haunt Bedrock.

As for Miami..

Great article in the Miami Herald today about a couple who met online years ago... traveled across the country to meet, marry, start a family and a stay home father who watched the twins while his wife worked a good job at Home Depot. They had routine. They had dreams. They planned to sell the trailor and with their savings (now gone) they were going to move to some small Texas town where you didn't have to worry on unlocking the door for Santa on Christmas Eve and where their kids could grow up with room to run. Now they are living out of a motel on their last few dollars and the father is in some stupid game of sit and wait at his torn apart trailor for FEMA to come and visit. Are people supposed to sit around and miss work waiting for FEMA? I guess so... So, he sleeps in a van waiting for FEMA..afraid they will miss hime as they missed him once.. If anyone needs help they do and all of the people that had broken dreams from this storm.

One of those dreams most broken was the false hope that a town in hurricane country could withstand a pathetic little Category One storm and that a company ... no a monopoly that makes record profits such as FPL could be rewarded for their poor maintenance of their own equiptment with higher fees.. From where I sit they deserve fines...not higher fees. And, people in Miami and in other Florida cities look west and north debating if they should move.. unable to afford the high cost of living in Florida. It seems these days... like L.A. in the 80s the only people who can afford to live here are the rich and famous and the foreign investors.

Bobbi... going to work outside on a beautiful fall day in Miami.. fall leaves thanks to Wilma.

TD 27 Forms in the Eastern Caribbean...

Good evening America and ships at sea in the Caribbean. A new tropical system has formed.

Tropical Depression 27... with designs on being Gamma..

Sounds other worldly doesn't it? Come on... like some hurricane wandering through a segment of Battlestar Galactica... three eyes... some pukey green and purple color... glows in the dark...

Told a friend that I would come on and post if the depression formed and so it did... and so here I am. He is an honest and true friend and I owe him so here I am... the season isn't over until the fat lady sings and yet...we don't even know what sex Gamma is.... maybe she is one those New Age storms... the Metro Storm of the year 2005... she/he..whatever... right now it is just a number... number 27.

So...there I was tonight.. watching President Carter being interviewed tonight on CNN.. a man of integrity, honesty and his own convictions. Few leaders today like that man..for good or bad with regard to his politics... he is an honest man with conviction and not afraid to voice his opinons. More worthy of the title than many who voted for him way back when even realized. More than just a peanut farmer from Georgia wearing Jeans on TV.

Flipped back and forth to the weather saga and saw bits and pieces of the TWC special on this season which I may watch later this evening if I am up that late..

Sharon called from the bus terminal in Boston on her way back to Maine.. we talked tropics and life... She asked me if I have had enough of hurricanes yet...

What a year...my kids have. My youngest daughter wants to go to high school in NY and college in Boston. My youngest son wants to go to Maine or Boston where he can watch the Redsox on TV any day of the baseball season. Odds are I may end up ... up north some day. I'll buy lotto tickets..I'll pray...hope I can go back and forth and find a way to do both... freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. Freedom is the money to travel...

So.... what do they say on local Miami TV about Tropical Depression 27?

They showed the graphics that everyone on all the boards spoke about that will influence TD27.... the high pushing it west and then ?? who knows where the depression goes. They did mention there is a small river of a weakness to its n and that is what is creating a nw sort of movement but they said that would be temporary and then the high takes over... and then... we wait and see. ??? again and again...

As a student of tropical weather it is exciting, amazing and mesmerizing to watch this season unfold. I'm not going to lie and say otherwise. Trackers and Chasers like me wait years for a year like this. And yet....on a humane level I feel for people who are simply overwhelmed with the number of storms this year that have affected cities... populated areas... the mainland. Often we have a lot of storms but they all go out to see like good little fishies. Not this year..

Yes the water is very warm and shear has been light but more so a problem has been that the steering currents are pushing them towards land and not out to sea.

Possibly that is also because we have had so many Caribbean storms vs Cape Verde/Atlantic storms... Atlantic Cape Verde storms always have the favored option of curving out to sea... Caribbean ones like Gulf of Mexico ones become landlocked and you know someone...somewhere is going to get it.

You can't have major population centers along coastal hurricane prone areas and then complain that hurricanes go where they have gone for centuries before ocean front condos and big fancy bank buildings were built there. Then again if the New Madrid Fault Blows...don't complain people live there... we live on a fluid earth that is always moving both beneath the ground.. shaking it or hit by storms that are caught up in the atmopheric flow... This is our world... and it's the only world we've got so let's learn to find a better way of responding when people are in trouble and storms and earthquakes happen.

So.................now someone tell me.....................is Gamma a he or a she or do we just call the rest of them IT or THEY? Curious.

Bobbi...going to listen to what Mr. Drudge is rambling about and see if he found any interesting new lyrics to play.... how else am I going to keep up with the Governor race in California??

And...if the San Andreas goes suddenly... Matt will be there...with pictures and a breaking news... developing....

Everything I know.. I learned From Football

There is nothing like football. And, that is said by a Red Sox Freak but... still football is football and one of the greatest metaphors for life there is out there. Baseball is wonderful but in real life you don't get another chance tomorrow night and winning 2 out of 3 isn't really enough to win the game.

Football is intense, in your face and immediate. You only have so many chances to win and if you lose... you end up at the bottom of the pile with all you can hope for is a good draft pick.

Got my heart broken today and it hurt like hell. I feel sort of catatonic ... I stare a lot and keep thinking..."how did this happen?" "why?" "WHY????" "Why didn't I KNOW this was going to happen????" I mean I knew deep down.. oh don't get me wrong. I knew. I wasn't born yesterday and have always remembered the lesson of DALLAS when wishing wouldn't make it so and Dallas stunk worse than something wrotten in Denmark. Just the name of that city makes me want to sit up and go "huh" and not talking about JFK or the anniversary of his death but the anniversary of the Dolphins losing to Dallas in the superbowl. There I was this young girl and I do mean YOUNG and I believed with all my heart that the Fins could win the big one. There we were...in the Superbowl.... How could we lose with such a team?

We lost.
http://www.superbowl.com/history/recaps/game/sbvi
Read it and weep unless you are one of those type of people like Burns and Yaffah who do Dallas on occaision for business and even then... I can't see you betting against Miami but well who knows what you were doing in 1972. Sure as heck not frustrating my life. That job was for other people. Like Roger Staubach. Boy did I dislike him... about as much as that coach whose name I won't even type. Years later... JJ got me past disliking Dallas. But, still to this day when I hear the name of that city... I sit up and think "huh?" and I am not stupid.

I learned back then that wishing doesn't make it so.

Of course a year later... we were sitting pretty with a very perfect season.

Football teaches us the following...all lessons to be learned and remembered in life which is it seems a game of win and lose. Today I lost.

A good defense is the best offense. My father taught me that..he was a big believer in defense wins games. A smart man... smart sports fan.

It's a TEAM effort and the whole team has to work together to win. It can't spend it's time fighting itself and being unsure of itself .. it's ability to get it into the endzone. You can't just show up... you have to play your hardest to win... and a team is only as good as it's weakest player.

Any given Sunday.... any team can win.. and any team can lose. As my father would say about Jai Alai... someone has a fight with his wife, ate some bad shellfish or got into a fender bender and his game is off. Even a good team can lose to a bad team on any given Sunday..

It's about making 1st Downs... Not winning in the final two minutes ala Dan Marino magic but the game is usually won on the line... by inches and feet.... by picking up first down yardage and letting you stay in the game a little longer... each first down is a lease on life.

The Game is Won on the Line... See above comment on defense but it is true..for all of the razzle and dazzle of Dan Fouts... the team lost often... its not about a Hail Mary pass.. though sometimes that wins a game... but usually you have to win the nitty gritty line game... Stop the Other team from getting 1st Downs.

You cannot keep giving away the ball and win the game. Take Aways will kill you as much as anything. I can see Don Shula giving post game interviews on that one. If you give the ball away to your opponent.. you can't blame them for scoring.

Control the Ball... Whoever controls the ball.. has the ability to win and grinds down the energy of the defense who has to stay on the field during long drives... Wear down your enemy and keep control of the ball... make first downs... long drives win the game and keep the other opponent from winning. If you are not on the field..controlling the ball.. you may as well be in Oskotch because the other team will score... It's all about controlling the ball...

You GOT to HAVE a Good QB... Nothing less will do. As good as a defense is you cannot rely on it to win... at some point you have to put points on the board. You can't give away the ball with interceptions ... As important as it is to have a good game plan, a good coach and a good team all show up at the same time on Sunday ... you have to have a quarterback who can execute those balls.. believe in himself and his team mates and work as one with his receivers... A heavy job to have on one players shoulders but..... that is why people remember the quarterbacks and why no one except football freaks remember who plays Center or Defensive Line... or Guard... people remember the QB... because in the end they can blow a game all by their lonesome. Week after week this year.. the Fins QB keeps giving away the ball and has this look of "get me out of here, please..........." on his face.

When given a sure thing... 3 points... you got to get the ball between the middle of the uprights! Nuff said there................

The game is won in 3s... My father taught me a good running back always needs to be able to pick up 3 yards... In four chances at a first down if you have one good running back (Czonka) who can get you 3 yards.. you almost always can get a first down..And, I will add to that... you have to be able to get an easy field goal... 3 points ...

I love football. I love the Dolphins. I even like Saban... though I don't understand why he is kept with Guy... I imagine he feels he doesn't have any one else better to play so... who knows. I love watching coaches... maybe I'll understand him better... maybe he knows something about Guy I don't..

And...lastly ... I learned from Joe Namath that a quarterback can throw a game in the simplest of ways when he is on the take..a fake... He doesn't have to throw 5 interceptions.. all he has to do mess up a handoff... a blown signal... One game, a long time ago... Namath threw 5 interceptions. The man as handsome as he was looked like shit ... sweaty, frustrated, on the edge of crying and in a press conference he was accused of throwing the game. All those mob rumors I suppose... Namath stopped...stared and laughed a bit and shook his head at the stupidity of the reporter and explained how in intricate detail a QB can throw a game for a pay off... without looking so stupid as purposely throwing FIVE interceptions. Was a lesson for me.. and one I always remember.

People don't throw a game in big ways... and usually they don't screw up in big ways. They give themselves away quietly, in bits and pieces..in innuendo and in energy and in intensity or lack of intensity.

You can't really watch a football game online and appreciate it the way I can watch a Redsox game on Yahoo Live... there is an intensity on the field that you can see.. perceive... you can turn on a game and let it roll a few minutes and you will KNOW who is winning and who is losing because you can see it in their body language... in their eyes.... on the face of their coach.

All good players have a coach...they don't make this stuff up you know..

Today... I lost. The fans lost. Honesty and hope lost... the other team won.

There is always next Sunday... but it's not something I am looking forward to..

In hurricane preparation a good defense is a good offense. If you live in Hurricane Country... and can afford to.. buy hurricane shutters. They will protect your house... and stop the hurricane from gaining control of your playing field... hold onto the house, the roof...the stucture and you will win the game. Remember that... if you let the air into your house... the hurricane will run with the ball straight to the endzone.

Football... a lesson for life in so many ways...

Yup... Dallas ... no words. No, it does not help that the following year we won and we won the following year... Don't get me wrong..I was one happy camper... one happy teen.. But, just because I danced at the Prom and had a good time and was part of the Perfect Year does not diminish my sadness over the team of 1971 losing the Superbowl in Dallas in January of 1972.

Yes..we kicked ass in 72..and yes we may kick ass again but it does not make me any more of a happy camper today because today... was a loss. Not a win. And, all I can keep hearing is the word Dallas again and again in my mind.

John was right... PJ lol .....oh gosh..that is scarey lol... but John is right. Important to protect your heart when it comes to sports... and life.

Bobbi, sadder but wiser ... and hoping things change for the better real soon.
and one tin soldier rides away