April 1956

I've been working on scanning some pictures and wanted to take a minute to share one. It is my older brother Jay and I sitting on the couch in the living room. We are both wearing hats. Perhaps coonskin caps, Hard to tell from the picture. Jay is holding a dog and from the look on the dog's face he appears he would rather be anywhere else. In the picture I am just over 2 years old and my older brother is just short of 4 years old.

We appear to be a couple of happy little guys. It got me wondering. Why was this picture taken? No ones birthday. Surely it wasn't to get a picture of the dog. What the hell was going on? The picture below I think might reveal the reason.

I draw your attention to the crayon work on the wall above our heads. Apparently these two young fellas got a bit heavy handed with the crayons. Unsupervised boys and crayons are never a good idea. I'm sure mom was struggling a bit at the time. It would have been spring and planting was either under way or the field work to get ready for planting was going on. In addition a third boy would be added to the mix in August that year. So mom probably had to do something important like fix us lunch and we took full advantage of the opportunity to redecorate the place with our crayons. Mom still lives in that house and somewhere under those layers of paint lies that artwork from almost 60 years ago. I don't remember this incident but I'm sure it wasn't the only time we did something with crayons while mom was busy doing something else.

It Is an Island

I'm writing this on October 27, 2015 and it is the full moon in October. It is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox. The full moon tonight is the Hunter's Moon and is the final supermoon of 2015. The next supermoon will not occur until October 2016. So, what does that have to do with an island? Full moon and supermoon have created high tides. In fact record high tides. U.S. 80 is the only road from Savannah to Tybee Island. The tide today measured 10.427 feet. The distance is recorded from the amount of water above the mean low water level. The only times the tide has been higher at Fort Pulaski was during the hurricanes on October 15, 1947 and August 11, 1940. The high tides today were the result of the normal high tides caused by the full moon and an east to northeast wind blowing water in toward the coast. What follows are some pictures of the flooding which temporarily closed U.S. 80 for a couple of hours this morning. Since Fort Pulaski was mentioned the first picture is of the entrance to the fort grounds off U.S. 80.

 

 

The businesses on Lazaretto Creek were not doing any business this morning. Waterfront dining extended much further east than usual. So what do you do when the water is high? Wait for it to go down and then head off the island if that is your intent. We had no plans this morning so the high tide had zero effect on our lives.

It Was News to Me

Last week I post my thoughts about Mickey Mouse needing a cat in his life. It didn't take long for my daughter in law and expert in all things Disney, Mandie to let me know there was such a creature. I present for your review Pete the Cat.



 Pete is an anthropomorphic cat created by Walt Disney. He was originally a bear as his earliest appearance shown below clearly indicates.

 

 It seems interesting to me that Walt Disney would create a peg leg bear. The truth of the matter is that Pete predates Mickey or as he was originally known Mortimer Mouse. Pete was created in 1925 about three years prior to the appearance of Mickey Mouse. Pete has used a number of names including Peg-Leg Pete, Big Bad Pete and Black Pete. Pete states: "I was born to cheat and lie! I'm a mean rotten guy." In all of his appearances Pete is always up to no good.

 

Here is Pete appearing with Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie.

 

As you can clearly see Pete has changed from a bear to a more cat like appearance. He has a muzzle, nose, fur and tail like a cat. Over the years Pete would take on a more cat like appearance and become even more obese. He would also lose his tail. It is unfortunate in all those appearances he has never been able to make a meal of Mickey. I suppose that would be too much to ask Disney and too traumatic for the kids who watch and love Mickey and Minnie.

 

The attempt is always made to be correct on Bodine DILLIGAF so the record has now been corrected. Thank you Mandie.

Stuff I Think About

Dogs! I think about dogs. A lot! I wonder what they are thinking? How do they decide where to pee? How can they have such a powerful sense of smell and literally stick their nose in another dog's asshole to get acquainted? Do they have emotions? Like embarrassment? These dogs were at Pirate Fest. 

They seemed relaxed. If they weren't embarrassed they should have been. 

This dog was comfortable, in fact he owned his look. He was the cool dog.

I didn't talk to his people but overheard them tell someone he loves to wear his sunglasses. You will please note that I called them "his people" and not his owners. The true bond between dogs and people is when they claim us as one of their pack. When they are so relaxed around us they act like Lily. 

She is so mistreated. 

What else do I think about? Disney princesses? Why were they at Pirate Fest? 

Here's one of them. Which one? Damned if I know. Our daughter in law and granddaughters can name them all. 

Not a great picture but there are the rest of them. I can only name the old ones. You know Cinderella and Snow White. That got me wondering about that damn mouse. You know, that rodent bastard, Mickey. Money grubbing little shit. Disney always tries to be inclusive. Mickey has lots of friends like Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. Why no cat friends? I might pay to see Mickey and Minnie with a cat. 

Thanks for stopping by to things I think about. 

Walking

I don't normally spend much time on here talking about me. So, tonight, I'll make this one about Lily. She started walking for exercise and to stay healthy a year ago today. She has me wear a Fitbit and track how far she walks, how many steps and how many calories she has burned. She really looks forward to our walks. Tybee Island and rural Illinois are full of things to smell. She likes meeting new people, barking at cats and for some reason I have never been able to determine- golf carts. They drive her crazy. The only thing that bothers her more is kids on skateboards. It does make walking in Illinois easier since out in BFE there are no golf carts or skateboarders. So, you may be wondering, how did Lily do over the past year? 

4,080,760 steps

1,997.08 miles

1,051,585 calories

It has been a good year walking with Lily. Tomorrow she will start year two and we will see how far she goes. 

StepsOct '14Dec '14Feb '15Apr '15Jun '15Jul '15Oct '155,00010,00015,00020,000

Events

For those searching for something to celebrate today I offer the following. On this date in 1887 Tybee Island was incorporated so today is it's 128th birthday. Here's a view of the lighthouse back then. 

If you are looking for something to celebrate next year then mark your calendars for this event. April 20th to the 24th 2016 will be the Tybee Wine Festival with the proceeds benefiting the Tybee Post Theater. Plan ahead and get your tickets as last year every event sold out. The Grand Wine Tasting is held on the lighthouse grounds. Here is a picture of the lighthouse during a past festival.

Sights on a Walk

Lily and I took a long walk this morning. We tried a new area and found a few things of interest along the way. So I get to share some of the things I think make Tybee unique.

Tybee has lots of newer homes but to me they lack the charm of the older beach houses. These seaside gems are especially interesting when the owners take the time to paint them bright colors and decorate the yard.

No true beach house is complete without an outdoor shower. You want to rinse that sand off before you track it all the way through the house.

Bare walls can be boring. The fish is a nice addition to this house.

Pirate Fest was this past weekend and someone really got into the spirit of the event. Lily and I both found the display disturbing.

We were out taking pictures for the blog and Carol spotted this pineapple lamp. Today's history lesson follows. The pineapple has long been a symbol of hospitality since colonial days in America. Legend has it that sea captains returning from the Caribbean Islands with their cargo of fruits, rum and spices would spear a pineapple on a fence post outside his house to let his friends know he had returned safely from his journey. The pineapple was his invitation to come and visit, share a bit of food and drink and hear tales from the sea. The tradition grew and soon innkeepers added pineapples to their signs as a symbol of hospitality. A tradition which continues to this day.

I thought this was a neat way to paint a house.

 I added the close up shot because I thought the dog got lost in the first picture.

Lots of vacation rental homes have names. Makes them easier to rent than just giving a street address. I thought the name and painting were a real selling feature on this home. Well that and being three blocks from the beach.

The birds add plenty to those boring pillars.

This was another Carol find.

If you are going to have a weather vane why not one with a fish?

Really folks? Your grass is brown and a little golden kidney juice from Miss Lily might just bring things back to life. The bad news for these folks is that Lily can't read. I can and was tempted to "water" the yard. After all the picture on the sign is a dog not a man.

Hope you enjoyed the sights from Tybee.