songbird's crazy world

So I was looking at old blog posts, and came across this one . A funny story about R.  Yes, the lady whose funeral was earlier this week. Here's the story: Santa, is that you? Oh no! I don't usually tell other people's stories, but this one was too funny to pass up. Two weeks after hearing it, I am still laughing. The story involves a friend of a friend. Let's call her R. She is an older woman, never married, socially conservative. You might say straight-laced. Very old school. R lives alone. Her brother J and his family live in the house next door. J is retired from a position in law enforcement. Over the years R has come to depend on her brother J for many things. So when it came time to decorate for Christmas, of course J did R's front yard as well as his own. R notices that one of the inflatables, a Santa figure, is facing the house. She doesn't know why Santa is facing the wrong direction, but she figures J will fix it eventually, an...

So yesterday was R's funeral.  I wasn't a close friend, I didn't go to the funeral -- showing up at the wake and buying a Mass card will suffice.  But I can't help thinking that R was far too young to die.  She was just two weeks shy of her 66th birthday. She had a massive heart attack.  Everyone was sad, but no one was shocked.  They said she hadn't looked healthy for months.  She was a diabetic who didn't follow the regimen, didn't eat right, didn't take her medications as directed.  On the heels of R's wake comes the news that L is back in the hospital. L is the friend I've  mentioned before, she has  serious health issues and has spent the better part of the last 9 months in treatment for diabetes-related conditions.  L is also 66 years old. 66.  A mere 10 years older than I am.  And so I find myself feeling sorry for R's family on their loss, and feeling terrible about the situation L fi...

So...Thanksgiving with my family Thursday, and with Drew's family Friday.    Food, family, friendship.  Love, laughter, memories. And yet, looking around the table, and seeing who is no longer among us...a profound sense of sadness at the passing of time. And then, more sadness.  Saturday afternoon at the wake.  I didn't know R well, but I thought she was a warm and caring friend.  I've since learned how active she was in her church, how well loved she was in her parish.   Normally I'd make a donation to a secular charity, but for R, it has to be a Mass card.  Good thing  our friend K was able to show the Jewish contingent how to fill those out, we were all a bit lost...We sat very respectfully when they recited the Rosary -- at least that is said in English, I can't imagine what gentiles think when we recite Kaddish.  And then, out of the darkness, light. Drew and his sister Shelley have reconciled. R was S...

Yet another entry  into the Marvel universe. I never read the Dr. Strange comics, so I had no preconceived notions. Brilliant but arrogant surgeon crashes his expensive car, winds up with life-altering injuries.  When Western medicine cannot cure him, he goes to Nepal seeking ancient wisdom.  He goes through an accelerated metaphysical program and becomes a super hero, saves the world. Action, adventure, humor, and the usual cameo by Stan Lee.  And yes, there are two "Easter Eggs" during the credits.  A funny moment from another Marvel superhero.  And a moment that sets us up for the Dr. Strange sequel. Yeah, another fun movie. 

Weeki Wachi, home of the mermaids.  There's a theater on site, you can watch costumed performers swim in a tank.  When we visited, the theater was presenting  its version of the Little Mermaid fairytale. Peacocks! A reptile show: (Of course there was a gator). And this park also features a boat ride, with views of the wildlife.  This guy likes to fish, but then he has to sit in a tree and dry off. Yes, it was a fun afternoon.

Yes, we are Harry Potter fans.  How did you guess? So of course we had to see  Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. There are two sources for the material in the movie. Back in 2001, J.K. Rowling wrote a short book which purported to be a textbook used at Hogwarts, a book by magizoologist Newt Scamander about the magical creatures he observed throughout the world. Rowling also included a short bio of Scamander. In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows , Rowling explored considerable backstory involving Albus Dumbledore and a Dark Wizard, Gellert Grindelwald.  Grindelwald possessed the Elder Wand before Dumbledore won it from him.  Most of Grindelwald's story was left out of the Deathly Hallows movies. So Fantastic Beasts begins with newspaper articles about Grindelwald and his escape from Europe, then quickly shifts attention to Newt Scamander's arrival in Prohibition-era NYC. Grindelwald does not make another appearance until the very end of the mov...

So our friends who live outside Tampa took us to several local areas of interest.  As I mentioned earlier, we spent an afternoon in Tarpon Springs, a lovely town that was built up around the sponge industry.    It's a nice town to meander though, interesting collection of stores.  We had lunch at Hellas, one of the best Greek restaurants I've enjoyed in awhile, and we bought fudge, salt water taffy and ice cream... We also spent time in two of Florida's State parks, Homosassa Springs and Weeki Wachi.  Both parks started as privately-owned tourist attractions, but are now state-run wildlife sanctuaries. In Homosassa Springs, you park your car at the visitor's center, then take a tram or a boat ride to the main part of the park.  We opted for the boat ride, which led to a tragedy of sorts -- Drew's very expensive camera and very expensive lens wound up in the water.  Too expensive to repair, he's going to have to replace both.  He's hopin...

This showed up in my mailbox about a week ago. Totally unsolicited. Well, this being "dry skin season", of course I had to try it. There are two types of "in shower" body lotion being marketed this year.  Some, like Olay and Nivea, are meant to be used in the shower and rinsed off.  Others, like Jerkins and Curel, are meant to be used immediately after showering, before you dry off.  I liked the Curel version better than the Jerkins version, which I bought a few months ago.  The Curel product was creamy and absorbed fairly quickly.  It left my skin soft, not sticky. Would I use this product again? Yes, it left my skin feeling soft, smooth and hydrated.  Would I choose this product over another?  Probably not, I'm really liking the Nivea in-shower body lotion.

When I got to Drew's house last night, he mentioned that our friend B had called and left a message on Drew's answering machine,  and that he planned to call her back after our dinner date. The phone rang again just before we left the house.  It was our friend F. We could hear her speaking into the answering machine.  The message was serious, almost ominous. First B, and then F?  I told Drew "Something bad has happened." We called F from the car. And so we found out that R passed away, two weeks shy of her 66th birthday. Drew has known R forever, she went to high school with Drew's sister Shelley. R was single, retired, and living alone in the house that had been her parents',  Apparently she had a massive heart attack. I feel for the family.  It's difficult to arrange for the funeral of a loved one.  How much more so when that person has died just before a huge family holiday? They've decided to wait until after Thanksgiving for the wake...

So, as I said, we spent the second half of our vacation visiting friends who live outside Tampa.  Our friends have annual passes to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, and suggested we all spend a day there.  So Drew and I invested in the one-day two-park pass. The parks are not crowded midweek in early November.  Universal was still decorated for Halloween Horror Nights, but Islands of Adventure was already getting ready for Christmas. Our priority was the "Harry Potter" areas of the parks.  When Drew and I had been here a few years ago, we'd seen "Hogsmeade" at Islands of Adventure, but "Diagon Alley" had not yet been built at Universal.  So that's where we started. You walk through the park until you come to a London street scene. And then you notice: You go through an arch, and you're in Diagon Alley: Of course we rode  Escape From Gringotts -- great ride, an indoor roller coaster with incredible visual effe...