Icewind's Ramblings

Tropical Storm Irma started in the Atlantic Ocean on August 30, 2017 in the mid-Atlantic Ocean close to the Cape Verde islands?  By September 5, 2017 it had grown into a Category 5 hurricane. Over the next several days it began touching land along several islands (Barbuda, St. Maarten, & Tortola) before making landfall in Cuba.  It then turned slightly north/northwest and hit the United States in the Florida Keys, crossing these islands at Cudjoe Key while continuing north to make landfall at Marco island as a Category 4 storm driving inland northward to Naples up to the east of Tampa roughly following interstate highway 75 through southern Georgia decreasing   strength to a Tropical Storm with sustained winds just below hurricane strength. Part of my family lives in Jacksonville Beach Florida and having evacuated last year when another hurricane hit their area and St. Augustine decided to once again heed the State’s warnings and comply with the mandator...

In my generation, which was several generations ago, the question was repeatedly asked, "Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?" For my generation in that time, there are too many questions with fewer answers. The United States changed directions and suddenly we were in a war called Viet Nam and the loss of this country’s young men’s innocence. Tragedies and calamities abounded in our collective memories. But as with the saying “time heals all wounds” and we proceeded for many years along a course with unclear direction.  Then new violence cropped up with names like Taliban and Al-Qaeda.  Multiple bombings and acts of violence were happening all over the world giving us a false sense of security while their zealots were infiltrating our country waiting for a time to strike. The final innocence of America was taken on September 11, 2001, but seems to have somewhat faded now as the one question that will be asked again ...

When was the last time you wrote a letter? Please note typing and sending an email is not the same as writing with a ballpoint pen, filled with blue ink, on a plain sheet of paper. In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives. ~Anatole Broyard Tonight it was raining and I was eating dinner or was it supper (Supper is the last meal of the day, right??  But what about those snacks I might eat at midnight?) I was watching reruns of The Newsroom on television.  There were four deer outside my window eating the field corn I put out so my time was divided between looking out the window, watching the show and trying to write when I decided I would complete a few e-mails I had waiting for me.  It occurred to me that I never write letters to anyone anymore.  I am lucky if I get the chance to answer a few emails every now and then.  Come to think if it, over the years I have ...

Life Observation # 189       Common Sense  Don’t let your ego exceed your common sense! Ice

I haven’t had very much time to write anything lately with several trips to my late aunt’s house with family coming from all over to get items out of the house before it is put up for sale.  It has been a long process of clean up and now we are getting closer to a final outcome for that house.  There is still another lake house full of stuff that we will need to deal with shortly.   I had a few minutes early this morning where I was trying to sit and write for awhile but nothing came into my mind.  Usually on Sunday mornings when I lived in Alaska I would head out early for breakfast with friends but those are just memories of the fun times at Village Inn over the years.  I figured I could sit and work on several writing projects that I am working on (my lifelong friend Johnny has Alzheimer’s and wants me to write about our many scuba and skydiving adventures in our youth to help him remember) or post a few things in one of the forums I frequent. ...

Life Observation # 188        Sometimes your joy comes from your smile! Ice

I am asked almost every Memorial Day to re-post “A Soldier’s Prayer”. Another Memorial Day weekend is once again here and the country stops for a time to honor our men and women whose sacrifices to keep our way of living balanced with the threats of a hostile world around us.  The media is so screwed up in reporting things so this photo really shows their priorities. Memorial Day is not about the BBQ's or gatherings of friends; it is about the "Fallen" who gave the ultimate sacrifice, signed the check in blood for our freedoms we have today. Those still serving should also be remembered but this weekend and day is for remembrance of those who are no longer with us. Memorial Day has its origins from Americas Civil War starting in 1868. I was given this prayer by my friend Max Cleland so many years ago as I flew him around Georgia while he was campaigning for Secretary of State.   I have it on the wall of my office and read it each day.   I have a constant ...

Life Observation # 187      Background music  The trouble with Life is there is no background music except in our head. Ice

This past weekend I had the semi-unpleasant experience to drive from the mountains down toward the collapsed bridge on Interstate 85 at Piedmont Road. I was headed to the IKEA store off I-85 at Fourteenth Street. I started seeing the warning signs for the Interstate closure about ten miles north of the shut-down exit so I decided to get off in my old stomping grounds of North Druid Hills Road, go by my old high school and see what changes to the area over the last twenty years I was away in Alaska.  Traffic was horrible as everyone was trying to find a way to get around the closed area.  Stopped bumper to bumper vehicles with an exit time of twenty minutes to get off the ramp made me remember why I left Atlanta so many years ago.  I cannot stand the traffic or the totally bent drivers trying to get in front of everyone. Driving by the school I saw many changes.  The sign our class erected was gone and like many schools across America was run down and looked ...

Wishing all the mom’s everywhere the Mother’s Day that you deserve! Ice and Placido Flamingo

It's that time of year when the birds are out in full force hitting the bird feeders in the yard and on the deck.  It is so interesting to watch them early in the morning as dawn breaks and the darkness fades to a warm glow on the horizon.  The birds will start chirping at first light but do not start actively moving around until actual sunrise. How they know it is sunrise baffles me since it changes daily but the birds stay tranquil until then each morning.  Once daybreak hits it becomes a busy time on the deck as the fifty or sixty birds start coming to the deck feeder and to the sunflower seeds I have placed on the handrails and deck surface.  The yard feeder also comes alive with birds hitting it as the squirrels gather the seed or peanuts I’ve thrown out each day.  It is so enjoyable to watch them even on rainy days as they gather and perch under the handrail staying out of the rain coming down. There are probably about thirty or more different species...

Yesterday I was going to a local cabinet shop and on the way there saw a vehicle stopped on the side of the road and the guy was standing beside the vehicle looking around.  When he saw me he started waving at me to stop and talk with him.  He was lost and looking for an area close-by but was having a hard time finding it.  I used my trusty phone application; Wave and put in the location he wanted and shortly it brought up on my phone the directions how to get there.  It is an amazing app that works well and I have used it since leaving Alaska over a year ago.  It works off the phones GPS and even if you lose the signal it will continue to guide you along the way.  Talking with the man, his name was Leroy and he had relocated his family from a busy city in Florida to live in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains.  He was looking for the place he was going to be working and told me about his family who was excited to make the move north....