Friday Morning

Well Thursday was another busy day working around the house with some honey-do projects. I stayed away from pickle ball as I'm still fighting this head and chest congestion. I'm beginning  to think maybe it's an allergy but have no idea what it could be as I really don't feel all that bad. We were anticipating a visit with an old air force buddy who I last saw and visited with over 40 years ago. He and his wife are on vacation to the Sarasota area and came by and had supper with us. We have kept in touch about every few years or so via the phone but we knew his mother and sister who attended our wedding in 1979. Both of them are now deceased.

I rolled out around 7'ish to start the day and after a few quiet moments and the posting of this ramble Nancy made a semi-mountain breakfast with fried left over taters and Italian sausages, eggs and toast, yikes was that ever delicious washed down with a V-8. I headed out to hand water the gardens then got the smoker ready for a 10 o'clock start with two whole chickens and a can of beer stuffed up their rears. We spiced them up with garlic powder, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary after coating the skin with olive oil for a dark brown finish. I used a little hickory wood but mainly apple and peach wood to give the birds that smokey flavoring for 6 hours. I pulled the carcasses apart or they fell apart as I attempted to carve them. WOW what a flavor and the meat was so moist and juicy.

We cleaned the house and got ready for their 4 PM arrival. The last time I saw Sharon she was pregnant with their first child when she and Wally visited me during my first year with the patrol; so that was back in '74. She has added some grey to her once long black air and Wally has lost most of his top and he to has added mostly grey to what is left. We had a super visit as we shared about our children and grand children. They have 5 grand youngun's and so do we and as I remember the same mix with 3 girls and 2 boys; however they had 3 girls and 1 son of their own with only 2 of them married. We shared stories from the time they arrived around 4 until they left around 9 and had a wonderful time. They live in Wilmington, N.C and he has been quite successful as a house builder in New York before moving to N.C. about 14 years ago.

We were best buds while in the military but never really kept up afterwards except for his mother who lived just a few miles from us here in Seminole. We would see her from time to time and take her out to eat before her health began to deteriorate and she moved back to their home town of Peekskill, N.Y. His sister Marlene also visited here occasionally with her mom and specifically for our wedding in 1979. Wally and I flew on the same airplane and in the same military airlift squadron for 4 years together an then I stayed for another 3 years while I got my bachelor's degree from California State in Sacramento. We shared some rather interesting stories that had our wives laughing and at time wondering how we ever survived those years flying in a war zone with the enemy trying to blow up a big airplane. We at the ripe ages of our early 20's never gave our invincibility a thought while every crew member was an integral part to complete the mission safely. We had thousands of hours in the air as we traveled the world.

Well after they headed out with promises we both would visit again at least next summer when we were in the mountains and us to the beach in N.C. We settled into our cleaning up and then I watched the Lightning destroy the Sabers in hockey and a Carolina team came from a 20 point deficit to beat a central Florida team in college football. I read a few chapters of Sandra Brown before calling it a night, LATER