A Sizable Matter

Size does matter.

It matters especially when you want to be known for being the World's or The United States' Smallest/Littlest (insert noun here).

I have visited the World's Smallest Police Station located in Carrabelle, FL. The Colonel and I took Yam and Spud to see it when we lived in Florida's Panhandle (2001-2006).

The police station is a phone booth.

Originally the police phone was in a call box that was bolted onto a building. The police would get drenched while answering the phone when it was raining, so in early 1963 the phone was moved to a phone booth. The police had hoped this move would also stop people from making unauthorized long-distance phone calls from the police phone. It didn't. Eventually the dial was removed so people could no longer make the calls.

One morning, after Yam and Spud got on the school bus, The Colonel surprised me with a day trip to Ochopee, FL. Ochopee sits on the edge of the Everglades and reportedly has a population of 11.

Ochopee is home to the Smallest Post Office in the United States. It is a 7 x 8-foot building that was once an irrigation pipe shed for a tomato farm. In 1953, a fire destroyed Ochopee's general store which housed the post office, so the post office was moved to its current location.

There is no bathroom in the air-conditioned post office, so when nature calls the clerk has to drive 3 miles west to a Subway restaurant or one mile east to the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters (the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters was the real destination of the surprise day trip and seeing the post office was an added bonus).

While The Colonel and I were recently traveling Coastal Highway 17 in Georgia, we passed The Littlest Church in The United States, "Where folks rub elbows with God".

It was so cute tucked into the woods a little ways from the highway, so inviting.

A woman named Agnes Harper had the 10 x 15 church built in 1949. She wrote the deed in the name of Jesus Christ. Mrs. Harper installed stained-glass windows from England and there is a glass star in the roof that allows sunlight to flood the little church, lighting the interior at midday.

The church is open to all for worship and is open 24 hours a day. There is room for 13 people inside (was that intentional...Jesus plus the 12 Apostles?).

Size matters too when you want to be known as the Largest/Biggest (again, insert noun here) in the World or The United States.

So far, The Colonel, Yam, Spud and I have visited the World's Largest Hand-dug Well located in Greensburg, Kansas. It was hand-dug in 1887 at a cost of $45,000. The well is 109-feet long and 32-feet in diameter.

We (along with a Mennonite family) descended to the well's bottom via an illuminated stairway and then climbed our way back to the surface by retracing our steps on the stairway. As I recall (we visited the well sometime between 1996-1998), it was a bit cool down in the well, kind of cave like. It was (and still is) amazing to think the huge well was dug completely by hand.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

It's A Little Scary...Even Now

The Colonel and I are currently watching episodes of Dark Shadows on Netflix Instant Watch. We are hooked.

Dark Shadows ran on ABC from June 1966 to April 1971. There were 1,225 episodes made for the Gothic soap opera.

The soap opera was on every week day at 3:00 PM.

I remember my sisters and I coming home from school (I was almost five years old when the show first aired) and watching Dark Shadows. The next day at school, all the kids would talk about what was happening at Collinwood in Collinsport.

"Don't come crying to me when you can't sleep because Dark Shadows has given you nightmares", our mom would say to us.

The soap opera was scary, especially for elementary school-aged children. I jumped in bed with one of my siblings on more than one occasion because I was frightened.

Watching the soap opera now, I see that my young mind did not grasp all of the intricacies and nuances of the show. It is somewhat campy and I can see why it has an intense cult following now.

The actors on the soap had rigorous schedules. The scenes of the daily, half-hour shows were usually taped in just one take. Imagine trying to memorize your new lines on a daily basis and having to do them in one take. Many mistakes were made.

The Colonel and I like watch to see when the errors take place. Many of the actors often look to the side at cue cards as they are delivering their lines. It is also fun to see the microphone boom enter the shot. I have seen the stagehands wandering onto the back of the sets and a fly land on Barnabas Collins' face.

Despite the mistakes, the soap opera is fun to watch and it sucks (no pun intended) you in. The Colonel and I watch a few episodes each night to see what will happen next (we have forgotten some of it, but it is amazing how much we do remember, in spite of how young we were when we first watched the soap opera).

I haven't had any nightmares from watching Dark Shadows...but it sure is comforting, knowing The Colonel is only an arm's length away from me when I am asleep at night.

The Long and Winding Road(s)

I know, I have been missing in action for a little while. I have been very busy lately.

The Colonel and I have been on the road...many different roads.

We've been away from home most of this month.

Our travelling schedule looked like this:

Four days into August we drove three hours to Darling-Sister-In-Law's (DSIL) house in order to spend the night before heading another three hours the next morning to pick Spud up from summer school at the University of North Florida (UNF).

We picked Spud and his things up and drove three hours again to DSIL's house to drop Spud's school things off before continuing another three hours to our house.

The next day we had to pack Yam's college items in the truck and hit the road again, this time only a one hour drive. Yam had to move in early to start her Resident Assistant (R.A.) training. After helping Yam move in and saying our goodbyes we got on the road to home.

Three days after dropping Yam off we were on the road again.

We drove once again to DSIL's house to drop off the rest of Spud's college things before continuing to the Jacksonville area to spend the night at a hotel because we had to drop Spud off for Naval ROTC camp at Jacksonville University (J.U.) early the next morning and did not want to make the three hour drive at the crack of dawn. Spud would be at camp for one week.

While Spud was at camp, The Colonel and I would be in Savannah, Georgia and the surrounding area on a little vacation; an early, 25th anniversary gift to one another (blogs to follow...got to get my thoughts and pictures in order).

Our time in Savannah went by too fast and it was time to pick Spud up from camp at J.U.

We picked Spud up and drove to DSIL's house again for a quick stop to collect all of Spud's college things before hitting the road again. He had to be back at J.U. at 6:30 AM the next day for an ROTC function and then be at UNF to move into his dorm later that same day. The vehicle was so packed that The Colonel and I had to leave our suitcases and items we picked up in Savannah at DSIL's house.

We made the three hour drive again to Jacksonville and got a room for the night.

Spud did his ROTC thing (blog about that later) and we moved him into his room (another blog later). We said our goodbyes.

Once again we made the three hour drive to DSIL's house for a quick stop. We picked up our suitcases and Savannah booty and hit the road once more for the three hour drive back home.

The final miles and hours of our travelling brought us to the exit for the road to becoming Empty-Nesters. We got off on that exit ramp.

Empty-Nesters!

I don't know whether to cheer or cry (I'm sure I will do a little of both).

I guess we've been heading towards that exit ever since the day Yam and Spud were born, it just seems to have come along so quickly.

The Colonel and I are already experiencing some of the little changes that being Empty-Nesters brings. We did not set our alarm clocks and were able to sleep in today. There was no getting up early to say, "Have a good day at school" as Spud left for the school bus. That was nice.

Cooking for two is another thing I will have to get used to (again). It will not be difficult, I will just have to have the discipline and desire to make myself cook dinner and not turn to quick and easy meals just because there are the two of us now. I will have to adjust all of my recipes.

Another part of being Empty-Nesters that The Colonel and I are looking forward to is being able to take little day-trips and not feeling the need to cut them short in order to be home before the kids get off the school bus.

I will miss having my kids around and I am sure I will worry about them, but I won't let that consume me.

The Colonel and I are now "on the road" to a new chapter of our lives.

The Newest "Fugitive" On The Feline Underground Railroad

I call my back porch "The Feline Underground Railroad".

The first "Fugitive" or cat to show up was Riley. He appeared in September of 2007, four months after we moved into our newly built house. He was a buff-colored, teddy bear-like sweetheart. He lived with us until he passed away in May of 2010.

Shadow arrived a month after Riley. Shadow is a big, black, tomcat. He was very skittish at first. Now he loves to be petted and when you talk to him, he chatters back. He comes and goes at will, as tomcats are wont to do (we would like to have him neutered one day, but are afraid if we put him in a carrier and take him to the vet, it will traumatize him and we may never see him again. Why can't the vet be like James Herriot and make a house call?).

The railroad had a little dry spell until Sweetpea, a gray tabby, showed up in January of 2008. She appeared to be "heavy with kitten" so we took her to a feline, no-kill shelter so that she could be cared for and adopted. I was not ready nor willing to take on a mama cat and her kittens.

Then Grady showed up in March. He was a little shy at first. We were finally able to get him into a cat carrier in June and take him to the vet. Sadly he tested positive for Feline FIV, a fatal disease and highly communicable, and had to be put down.

In April, a dog showed up on The Feline Underground Railroad. She was a Miniature Pinscher. She had a wounded foot and was wearing a collar so we called the number, only to find it was disconnected. The little mite showed up on a weekend (of course) and we had to take her to an emergency vet. We left her there at the vet's, they would see that she was placed with a new family.

Another little dry spell for the railroad until January 2009 when Charlotte showed up. She is a sweet and gentle cat. She is a light gray tabby and her beautiful green eyes look like they have eye liner around them.

Now, two and a half years later another cat shows up.

Yam has named her Luna, after one of the characters in Harry Potter.

We believe Luna is one of the cats who belonged to our elderly neighbor. She had four cats and a dog at one time. We would see the cats sitting in her windows. Our neighbor was removed from her home very recently as she was unable to live by herself and was suffering from dementia.

We are not sure how Luna found herself outside. Did she escape when the old lady had a door open or was she thrown out to fend for herself. We had seen one of the other cats around the neighbor's house too. Shortly before the old lady was removed from her house, Animal Control visited her house. We believe that her dog and other cats were taken at that time.

The Colonel spotted Luna on one of his nightly bike rides. She was near the very busy road that is at the end of our boulevard. He called to her and she came to him straight away. He then called Yam and I to bring some food for her. She was starving. We coaxed her back to our house and into the garage and fed her more. Shadow and Charlotte sniffed and checked her out. No major hissing or fighting.

At first Luna is an unusual looking cat. She is definitely part Siamese. She has the blue eyes, an angular face, large ears and long legs. She is also a Manx, meaning she has no tail, only the stub of one. She is also a calico. She has three colors, white, beige and light brown. Yam and I thought Luna's body looked goat-like. Her fur is very soft, almost rabbit-like.

The more we saw of her and got to know her personality, the more we liked her. She loves to be around people. Loves to be held and petted and she "talks" up a storm (that is the Siamese in her). Luna is very curious and likes to know what's going on around her. She is a bit nosey.

Yam and I took Luna to the vet yesterday. We did not know how she would react to the pet carrier. The Colonel put her in the carrier for us. No problem. Luna laid down as soon as she was put in. On the way to the vet she never meowed, she just laid in the carrier.

When we were in the exam room, Luna was very curious but relaxed. There was no hissing or growling as she was poked with needles and thermometers. She was easy going when the vet shaved her belly looking for a spay scar (none there) and when he was performing an ultrasound to look for any possible kittens (none there, thank you Jesus).

The vet said he thought Luna was about 3 years old and probably once had kittens at one time. Her blood tests were negative for FIV and she was generally in very good health.

Luna was left over night at the vet's for a spaying. I do not wish to have any kittens around the place (remember, Shadow is a tomcat with all of his parts intact). All of the vet techs fell in love with Luna. They couldn't get over how relaxed she was and how pretty she was.

The vet's office called this morning to say Luna went through her surgeries with flying colors.

SURGERIES!?!?

As Luna was sedated for the spaying, the vet felt something in her right back leg. It was hard and round. What he removed was a BB. Apparently Luna had be shot during her time outside. Poor baby. She really needed The Feline Underground Railroad's help.

Yam and I picked Luna up from the vet this afternoon. As expected she was a little loopy and her pupils were dilated. Per the doctor's orders we have to keep her indoors and quiet for 10 days. We have her in the cottage. The Colonel, Yam and I are taking shifts to look after her. We are to give her pain meds every 12 hours for three days.

Luna is not being completely quiet. She is poking around and jumping up on things. Thank God for her pain meds, they can make her a bit sleepy.

The jury is still out on whether we will keep Luna (If no home can be found for her then we will. We have left a picture of her at the vet's and it says she is free to a good home). I am sure that The Feline Underground Railway will see more cats (and possibly a dog or two) in the future and as much as we would like to keep each and every cat, we can't. The most we can do is feed and shelter the "Fugitives" for a while until they find a new home.

Her Teen Years Are Behind Her

Happy 20th Birthday Yam!