I forgot to mention in today’s post (scroll down past this post) that movie night was Summer Magic, a Walt Disney release on DVD in 2005. I remember seeing the movie when it originally came out in 1963. It stars Haley Mills, Burl Ives, Dorothy McGuire, Deborah Walley, Eddie Hodges, Jim Mathers, Peter Brown and Michael J. Pollard (of Bonnie and Clyde fame).
Eddie Hodges is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and I think I remember him at the film opening in Jackson. He had really red hair and could sing as well as play piano and guitar. He is a talented kid. According to Wikipedia, he returned to Hattiesburg and got a degree in psychology, a masters in counseling and became a mental health counselor. He recently retired.
Chris and I laughed and laughed. There are no real jokes in the movie but there were enough funny situations that kept us in constant giggles.
A Boston family on hard times ends up in Beulah, Maine at a yellow house owned by the character played by Peter Brown who supposedly is in the Far East. Burl Ives rents it to the family, eventually at no cost. There’s a relative that comes to live with an already full house (Deborah Walley) and there’s love in the air and competition between Mills and Walley for the affection of the new school teacher (Jim Mathers). Walley wins out but in the end, Brown comes home to claim the yellow house and falls for Mills.
No one attempts to explain Haley Mills distinct British accent in the family that not only doesn’t speak Bostonian but speak perfect midwestern English.
It’s almost a musical with songs by Mills and Hodges, Burl Ives (a favorite of mine) and front porch sing-a-longs. It’s a good movie.
I appreciate the concern for missing the last two days. Things have been extremely busy. I am well and actually feeling pretty good. The beautiful weather is a big help.
The day before, I was waiting to get permission to show a photo taken by Yelena at the Secret Garden of all our group. Florida has a new law that requires permission to photograph someone. I forgot to ask at the table that night so I sent out some texts and emails to get everyone’s’ permission – which I did. So here’s the photograph.
From left to right: Michael S., Greg, Keith, Michael L., Joel, and me.
This was Tuscany night and I think I mentioned previously, every but the entrées were good.
Yesterday, I raked leaves, and raked leaves and raked leaves. I hadn’t done so in about a month and I was getting buried in them. I had to remove two planter stands to get to the leaves which meant moving all the plants first. Then it was cleaning out where the stands were located by first sweeping and then hosing them down. My major leaf producer at this point are “corn” plants (Dracaena fragra. I had a major pile of leaves from two different stands of Dracaena.
Then I swept part of the pool deck, hosed it down, and then hosed down the patio. I hauled the trash and yard waste bins to the curb and then filled the trash with 90 books I no longer wanted. It broke my heart. However, if I had taken them somewhere, I would have to load the 90 into the Jeep, offload them at the site, and take back any they would reject. This way, I only had to load them one time into the garbage.
I had put a sign out that said “Free Books” but no one wanted them. Too sad.
Just as I finished up the yard work, a friend called and asked for transportation to a dealership to consider buying a used car. He called and 1:30 and he did indeed purchase a car and we left the dealership at 7:30. We headed to J Marks to get some dinner (he hadn’t eaten all day). I didn’t get home until 9:30.
The paperwork required to purchase the car was massive. Large forests disappeared to make the amount of paper he had to sign. I was with him most of the way offering moral support. When I got home, I pretty much collapsed.
I was so tired, I even cut short my walk this morning. Later, I had planned on dropping off the Sharps box at the post office, getting the Jeep lubed, and then getting it washed. Instead, I’m gonna crawl up in bed, read and nap the rest of the day.
Thanks for reading my blog. I know it’s a bit mundane – much like life – with bits and pieces of excitement.
Last night was a gathering at Secret Garden with Joel, Keith, Michael L., Greg, Michael S. and me. It was a prix fixe based on the cuisine of Tuscany – loosely. The first thing they told us was that the tiramisu had been replaced on the menu with a limoncello cake. I was disappointed in my entrée, a beef stew-like dish on a bed of polenta. However the appetizer (bruschetta) and desert were good. Two of our group had the seafood dish which was like a bouillabaisse and they said it was very good.
The night was perfect and we were not rushed at all. We were seated a little after 6 (after champagne) and we didn’t leave until 9 pm. We pretty much closed the place down. As always, the view of the intracoastal was wonderful. I warned everyone to wear something warm and the temperature turned out to be perfect.
I spent the morning running errands. First was the post office to send off a full container of Sharps. When I got to the post office, the postal clerk couldn’t find an address and eventually I noticed the package said I had to go to a web site to get the mailing address. I was chagrined to say the least. She was very understanding of the idiot standing in front of her.
From there I headed to pick up some needles for my insulin injections. The pharmacist remembered me from the Jardiance mess and she agreed with me that the price quoted for Jardiance was probably due to not meeting my deductible and the price would go down once I had met that. It’ll be February (after payday) that I get the Jardiance – which will automatically meet my deductible. Meanwhile, I have enough on hand so as not to miss a dosage.
Back home, I went to the web site for the Sharps container. They had me enroll, enter credit card info and promised me I would be able to print out the mail address soon. $28 later, no address. This afternoon, an email appeared that said I could now download the address. With all the rigamarole, I figured I would also have to pay postage. Fortunately not. It’s prepaid.
Yesterday, Viet Vets picked up everything I had outside except the books. What’s peculiar is they say on their web site they accept books. I may just put a sign outside the house that says “Free Books” and see if that gets rid of them.
After a couple of long phone calls, I managed to read a little and then take a nap. Life throws little snags your way. I’m learning to go with the flow and not take them too seriously. The Sharps package will be mailed, I’ll get a lower price, eventually, for Jardiance, and I’m prepared for the sun to come up tomorrow (much warmer). Life is good.
I will admit that the only reason I knew the name Edward Albee is that it is frequently an answer in crosswords. Last night, I saw a production of Island City Stage of Albee’s A Delicate Balance. It was very well done. Albee won his first of three Pulitzers for this play.
Kurt mentioned Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe and wondered if he wrote the play. I didn’t know. He did write the play. I think everyone knows Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made the movie famous but not sure many people know the playwright.
Once the play began, I could see similarities between it and WAVW. Although the play had some great laugh lines (thanks to Claire) it was mostly drama about families and friends.
If you are not familiar with the play, there’s an excellent breakdown on Wikipedia. In this production, I thought Claire, played by Betty Ann Hunt Strain, was exceptional. Also a standout was Tobias, played by Tom Wahl. Overall, the cast was excellent. That’s a lot of dialogue the cast has to master! The stage design was remarkable for a small playhouse. The director of the playhouse told the audience the set cost $20k.
There were several comments from the audience as to how they wished their house looked like this. I particularly liked the white chair. Like WAVW, there’s a lot of drinking going on.
Island City Stage is a very small venue with high quality productions. It has great support from the community, receives numerous grants, and has several major benefactors. The quality of the acting is as good as anything I’ve seen in New York.
Tom, Kurt and I arrived at the Island City Stage offices at 3:45 pm for Mimosa Sunday. It’s the last Sunday that the play is produced. Food and drink are supplied by a sponsor and the spread is quite large and varied so theirs food for everyone. What’s nice is you get into conversations with people you don’t know and even run into a few friends you do know. I bumped into Jose who used to work the desk at Stonewall Library and Archives. It was great to see him.
We were going to go across the street to Union Bar for after dinner drinks but the play let out around 8 pm and three old men decided to make it a night and go to bed. As we were heading to the Jeep, we met Betty Hunt Strain who played Claire. We complimented her performance and she was very appreciative.
I dropped Tom and Kurt off and headed home.
It was a great afternoon/evening with Tom and Kurt.
Island City Stage’s next production is Fat Ham, a takeoff of Hamlet.
John delivered the lemon bundtlet and we headed to Villa’s on 441 and Riverland. I haven’t eaten there in years. They serve Mexican/Cuban cuisine and it’s always good. Their prices have risen significantly since I last ate there, but it’s still a good value.
We came back to the house and caught up with each other and about 3:30 I crashed. After John left I headed to bed to nap and did for 3 hours. I don’t know what happened. I was groggy when I got out of bed and it took me a few minutes to get my sea legs back.
During our conversations, I think I know why my Jardiance was $580 and not $147 like I remember. It’s January and I haven’t met my $580 Medicare Part D deductible. After I meet the deductible, the Jardiance may be $147 again. I’ll check with Medicare.
Some web sites are saying that President Trump’s XO have done away with the ability of Medicare to negotiate drug prices and some say he has not. Only time will tell. There also seems to be some confusion as to whether aspects of President Biden’s signing is as an XO or a law passed by Congress and signed by President Biden. If it’s part of the law, then Congress would have to repeal the law.
Bette, a former colleague of mine at Itawamba College, sent me an email about her experience with panoptic lenses. Prior to her getting them, she filled out a survey and two questions stuck out to her. The first was when she was asked if she was a perfectionist. She said she is not. The second asked her opinion on wearing glasses. She hates wearing them. Based on those two answers and others, the doctor said panoptic was the way to go.
I am a perfectionist and I don’t mind wearing glasses. She said she did still on occasions saw halos but they were as bad and she doesn’t really pay them attention. I would pay them attention. She says her night vision is pretty good and she doesn’t need glasses to read. The only caveat is for really fine print she needs more light.
The price she paid in Naples is in line with what I was quoted for panotic lenses with laser surgery.
I think we talk (and write) about our health more than our parents and grandparents did. First, we recognize many more diseases and conditions that can be treated. Secondly, we are living longer (better living through chemistry) and as we age longer than many of past generations, we develop more diseases/conditions. For example, my parents didn’t know of the existence of RNA and I only learned about it in college. Even then, we didn’t have any idea it would become an important component of a vaccine.
What I’m getting at, it’s OK to complain about our health to our friends and family. We are experiencing more and more health problems that were either not diagnosed before or that are completely new (Covid-19). So, complain away! Judiciously!
It was 46°F this morning and close to that temperature when I started my walk. It wasn’t long before I felt overdressed. The sun was heating everything pretty quickly. I shed my watch cap and gloves and unzipped the jacket. Every so often you would get hit by a breeze and it would chill right back down. I managed 1.2 miles today but got tired before the end.
I spent a lot of time on the phone last night with Darla, a colleague from Broward College, two doors down from my office. We laughed and giggled and caught up on old friends – and I do mean old. Darla taught Anatomy and Physiology at the college. We both agreed we had a hard time remembering certain words that we taught for over 30 years. I had a hard time coming up with the word mesentery in our conversation. In summation, we agreed we are getting old but we are still here and kicking.
Today’s wash day. It’ll be two loads today, then comes the drying and the folding. Changing the linen is the most difficult of the routine. I can see a day when it becomes too much.
John is coming over with a lemon bundtlet. He had another coupon for a BOGO. We’ll do something for lunch and then sit and talk. He’s a good conversationalist. Hopefully, sometime in the afternoon I’ll get a chance to take a nap – I stayed up too late talking to Darla.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous day today. The sun is very bright and we hadn’t seen it in a while with all the overcast skies. Tomorrow it starts to warm up (lows in the 60’s). I keep flipping the AC back and forth between cooling and heating. I’m sure it is confused. As am I.
It’s a misty, overcast morning at Chez Searcy. When I checked the outside thermometer, it read 42°F. When I did my 1 mile walk this morning, I was bundled up in my quilted jacket and gloves and watch cap. By the time I finished my walk, I was getting a little warm but not enough to unzip the jacket.
Strangely, as cool as it is in South Florida, we have a lot happening plant wise. My sour orange tree is in bloom.
I calculate the tree is about a month late in blooming. December is more typical. The blooms really perfume the air. I was totally taken aback by the wonderful aroma of citrus blooms until I first smelled them.
The mango is also beginning to bloom – this is early for it. I was struck by the flowers that had fallen on the garbage can forming little stars.
Mangos produce a huge number of flowers, most of which don’t make it. Those that do undergo further culling because the tree cannot support the amount of fruit if it didn’t cull.
I managed to change the pool filter. January is my month to yearly change the filter. Everything else about the chemicals in the pool was pretty decent except the total hardness needed to come up. Fooling around with wet things isn’t fun today.
I opted not to pay for the Jardiance. It was $586 for 30 tablets so you might as well say $600. That’s $7200 a year. I’d rather spend it wildly on myself and go out with a bang. Even the pharmacist was embarrassed about the price.
I tried the Cook/Unity meals. I have two so far. There are a cut above the typical meals you get from the grocery store but aren’t anything special. I do like the vegetarian aspect of the meals. I’ll finish these up before I decide whether to order any more.
Sunday is a play at Island City Stage, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. The play starts at 6 pm but at 5 they have food and drink for those who signed up for the day. Monday is Secret Garden with friends Michael, Joel, Keith, Greg and Michael2.
It was a chilly 52°F when I finally crawled out of bed at 8 am this morning. The down comforter that I pulled up over me last night kept me nice and toasty. I didn’t want to get up. I did turn on the heat to take the chill out of the air and I suspect it’ll be coming on and shutting off most of the day today.
I had a dream last night I was back teaching at Broward College. I had been assigned two night classes on the same day: BSC1005 and BSC1010C. The problem is they only met once a week and if I started the 1005 at 6, that meant the 1010C started at 9 pm and ended at midnight.
When I went in to the first class, it was only 5:30 so I decided to get something to eat at the cafeteria. I only wanted a hamburger with ketchup, pickles, and onions with an order of fries and a coke. They couldn’t get my order right and it was eating into the time for me to eat and get back to class. Fortunately, I waked before any more disasters could occur.
I was in a wild man mood early in the afternoon. I made a huge pot of vegetable barley soup (the cold weather). I would put more barley in it if I make it again but you could taste the barley.
I put every fresh, frozen and canned vegetable I had in it. There’s enough there for the next winter weather in 2026.
I also made chocolate cake. I’ve made the recipe before and I like it. The icing is dribbled over the cake. I didn’t have heavy cream for the icing but used whole milk. It turned out OK. The cake is pretty darn good.
Chris and I had a sample after the movie was over.
I also made homemade hot chocolate. That’s become a habit at movie night. We start off with a steaming cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and finish up with a glass of wine. It makes for great movie watching.
Speaking of movies, last night was Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman. That’s a pretty powerful cast but all were outacted by the child actor (at the time) Freddie Highmore. The movie is supposedly based on a true event in JM Barrie’s life where he befriends a widow woman with four young kids. Barrie’s interactions with the family leads to a breakdown of his marriage and to his writing the play Peter Pan. It’s a real tear jerker.
Speaking of Peter Pan, I have a long, loving relationship with the play. As a young boy, my grandmother made cardboard cutouts of Peter, Wendy, and the others, painted the characters, and hung on my bedroom wall. Peter was OK but I really loved Wendy.
As an older child, I remember seeing Mary Martin play Peter on TV. As far as I am concerned, she defined the roll for all time. I’ve seen other productions over the years but none approach Mary Martin’s ability.
Yesterday, Cook Unity delivered my 8 single serving meals. They are good for a week when immediately refrigerated. I haven’t tried one as of yet but I intend to today.
This is one of the 8 I chose. Everyone is different. I wanted to get an overview of all 8 dishes. Each is prepared by a different chef, as their specialty. How they coordinate the chefs to met the demands and get sent to individuals is a logistical nightmare. The first time order for 8 meals was $60. I have no idea what the regular price will be. I’ll keep you posted.
I checked GoodRx to see if there any better options for my Jardiance. There were one or two places that had lower prices than Walgreens but the dollar difference was insignificant so I’ll pay Walgreen’s price of over $500.
Jardiance must be a wonder drug. It helps lower glucose levels and thus A1c, it helps prevent heart attacks in older people and people with type II diabetes and also helps people who have heart trouble. It also helps prevent kidney damage in those with type II diabetes. I can afford it. I won’t like the price, but I’ll keep taking it with all these benefits.
The Great Southern Blizzard of 2025 seems to be over. It’s quit snowing even if there’s still snow on the ground. Instead of hot chocolate, thirst goes back to mint juleps. I got somewhat of a feeling of winter by turning my AC down low. Brrr!
It’s a gray, gloomy, windy day with 85% chance of rain. This morning’s temp was 56°F with a Saturday low predicted at 49°F. I might have to break out the long johns.
There’s a lot to do today. I have some debris in the pool to be removed, I need to clean off the kitchen table that seems to catch everything, and then clean the house. Tonight is movie night and I want the house clean for Tucker. He inspects every inch when he comes in. It’s Chris’ turn to select the movie but Tucker will go with anything as long as he gets treats.
I still haven’t called Viet Nam Vets for a pickup. I keep thinking there are some other things that I can add to the pile. I’m in a clearing out mode this year. Too much junk!
I also haven’t done anything with my books to donate. I found out the Wilton Manors Library will take some of them but I haven’t tried anywhere else. As of now, they are stacked against the wall in the vestibule. If I leave them there long enough, maybe they’ll begin to resemble part of the decor. They’ll be much easier to dust that way.
I’ve read recently where the magnetic North Pole is shifting. None of the articles mention that it has happened numerous times over the existence of the earth. They also erroneously stated that scientists have no idea why. I was taught it had to do with the magma flow in the mantle of the earth. I can understand why editors go with the sensational headlines to get readers but it’s getting out of hand.
I saw an Instagram post of a giant tsunami wave washing away a town. It was posted as “just happening” but you could tell the video had been generated by AI. One of the websites I frequent had a contest to pick out real photos and AI generated photos. For some, it was quite impossible. For the others, you had to study the photo carefully to determine it was AI generated. Maybe AI can make me handsome?
It’s currently snowing in New Orleans and snow is scheduled for northern Florida. The only time I saw snow here in South Florida was in 1985 and it was only a few flakes. I have seen ice form on puddles down here and we have had some frost in the past. We continue with rain today with highs in the mid-70’s. Then we drop down in temperature as the front passes.
One of the more oxymoronic things (I thought) down here are snow ski shops. There are several in Fort Lauderdale. Finally it dawned on me that the shops are for people who go to Vail, Sun Valley, Heaven, etc. Apparently there’s big business in catering to the Jetset crowd down here.
I shouldn’t be surprised. Fort Lauderdale has a Rolls Royce dealership and the number of luxury yachts can overwhelm you. There’s big money down here – I just don’t have any of it.
I am getting lazier and lazier with this rain. I use it as an excuse not to get outside and either walk or do yard work. There are a few odd jobs in the house that always need attention but otherwise I read and nap. Wait, isn’t that what you are supposed to do when retired?
Yesterday, I gave permission for my doctor’s office and some national office to monitor my glucose levels via my continuous glucose monitor. Big brother really is watching me. I think the main thing is when my high glucose alarm goes off, they’ll call me and ask if I’m OK. In reality, it means I’ll watch more carefully what I eat – of sweets. My doctor said it will revolutionize diabetes. It probably will because we diabetics will become more careful.
Yesterday was my cousin Charles’ 88th birthday. Congratulations! He seems to be recovering from his radiation treatments. He now passes Albert Eldridge Searcy as the longest lived member of the Searcy family (I think). Granddaddy (1880-1967) lived to be 87 and my Dad lived to be 86 (1913-1999). Here’s to many more years for Charles and his wife Minnie Jean!
In February, I’ll make the last payment on my HELOC loan from Bright Star Credit Union. That means I have no mortgage and no outstanding loans. I hope that continues until I’m 6 feet under. I remember the satisfaction when I paid off the last student loan. The process of paying off the final amount of the HELOC is a little convoluted but it basically means an extra $600 in my checking account. These days, that means I might be able to fill up the Jeep with diesel one time.
Otherwise, a typical, slow day in South Florida. The weather is gonna change. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten rid of those snowshoes.
