April 23, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 23, 2024, a generic day.
Five years ago today: April 23, 2020, building the lean-to.
Nine years ago today: April 23, 2016, house hunting woes.
Random years ago today: April 23, 2013, the road to Savanah.

           Not many days like this one recently. I left for Miami at 8:00AM and was back here by 8:00PM, all medical. In a good way, nothing has changed. All my signs are within spec, which this time next month means ten years without any deterioration, though I still have a murmur, the graphs are identical to 2012-2014. My habit of fasting for every appointment means I had some follow up tests but all my vitals are fine, if not unusually fine. They want me back in a bit to confirm. However, my back injury is another matter.

           It was a perfect day, I took the scenic way south via Bartow, Arcadia, La Belle, and South Bay. Not knowing if they could take me early. I had nothing to eat since 9:00PM last night. I missed the turnoff near La Belle. I checked in an hour early and went to the library, where I was lucky not to fall asleep in one of the cubicles. It is hot, lazy summer weather already. I bought a book on small wood projects.
           Here is a speeded up section of the highway trip today. This is not the morning trip, but the return leg. It gives an accurate record of how flat and featureless Florida is. The temperature and humidity out there are unbearable for most people. Most of this land is given to cattle ranches with a little town every 20 miles. Nothing to see, nothing to do.

           Most of the trip was listening almost to the end of the Brooklyn tree story. It’s not memory lane for me, but a reminder to myself to stay vigilant around people with poor-think. I can verify what these people get themselves into is true. The plot has its moments. My favorite passage is Aunt Sissy. Here’s the scenario. Our central figure is Francine, her mother is Katie, and her aunt is Sissy. Sissy is a floozy who has been married twice, but keeps having stillborn babies, so her husbands divorce her. She begins dating Stevie, who is not keen on marriage. So Sissy cooks up a plan.
           She hears of an Italian family across town whose 16-year-old daughter is pregnant. She makes a deal with the parents to claim the baby is hers. Sissy then tells Stevie she is pregnant and they must get married. Stevie is suspicious. The women convince Stevie a woman doesn’t always show, so he marries Sissy. Fast forward.
           Then one of Sissy’s ex-husbands dies. The papers were never updated so Sissy gets $500 life insurance. Stevie quickly learns of this and hits the roof, since she forgot to mention she was married and he has often said he would never get stuck raising another man’s child. Once more the women conspire to make Stevie a believer because the baby girl has his chin. Stevie shrugs and goes out for ice cream. The women congratulate themselves on their cleverness. Katie asks Sissy how on Earth she ever found out about the pregnant Italian girl from across town. Sissy answers, “Stevie.”

           To say I got something academic done this day, I ran these numbers. At 09:28:01, it is already tomorrow in Greenwich. The Sun is at N12°53.2’ by W322°28.1’ and we have hit land in Ethiopia. It looks like desert 40 miles north of Lake Tana, considered on of the source of the Blue Nile. It is the countries largest lake and has an island where many buildings are visible on Google maps.

Picture of the day.
Battleship armor, 1941.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Taking advantage of the longer days, I drove back home in the afternoon. To avoid Miami traffic, I did not stop to eat until I got to Clewiston. My favorite Columbian place was still open so I loaded up with $20 of empanada, cookies, chicharoni, and a guava pie. I must have scarfed down 3,000 calories, but I made it. That wrong turn this morning go me curious about a side road marked Highway 731. Unaware of any such route, I turned off in LaBelle to discover in five or so miles, it becomes a dirt road. Not gravel, but that light grey Florida coral sand. I tried to take this short movie showing the conditions.

           In thirty years at least, I’ve been on gravel roads, but dirt as fine powder, no way. That’s from motorcycle riding. This time I was over 20 miles through the flatlands near Babcock Ranch. There may be a picture of how coral dust clings to everything. In its dry from, it develops an electromagnetic charge, static electricity, that is. I was lucky to be the only vehicle on the road or you would not see much out this windshield. I tried to get a shot of the dust cloud behind but no, I’m not stopping to rig up the tripod for a better shot.

           I went with the flow this trip and did not pass anybody, resulting in 8-1/2 hours to cover the 440 miles although it is almost entirely divided highway with the average speed usually 70 mph. I drove the old Hyundai glad for the ice-cold A/C. If there is a picture of how the dust evenly coats everything, it means I got up tomorrow and took the picture just for you. Yes folks, ‘tis a sad day for blog-kind when top story is a dust cloud. Then again, this is the blog that dares.

           For the record, I finally have an appointment to see about my old back injury and they are not convinced that surgery is needed. This would be an immense relief for me. The theory is the discomfort I feel is a healing process and it may be effected by what they call “pain management”.

           In the twilight, I still have my old habit of driving with the windows down. It’s as close as I get to my beloved motorcycle rides any more. While most of the dust today was behind the SUV, it is still in the air and you get a cycle tan. It goes by many names, but what appears to be a film of dust is a discoloration of your skin. It will not wash off, it has to grow off. It is worst on areas of your skin that have been exposed before. Some people are immune but when I got home my lower arms and shins look like they are covered by removed tattoos. It cannot be scrubbed or soaked, it discolors the top layer of skin cells. I tried and the only result was I fell asleep for the next six hours.

Last Laugh