Old Barns

I love old barns! My grandparents as I stated in a previous
post had a 40 acre farm.One of my favorite things on the farm was the barn.

Barns come in all shapes and sizes. As we were driving through the mountains of Tennessee at Thanksgiving I took a few pictures of some barns. The first one I snapped I was going about 25mph because of cars behind me.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Cozumel

Wow, how time flys. It's been twenty days since my last post. I have been really busy.Here are more pictures of my cruise. For those of you in the north you will appreciate these pictures right now!

Carol Jean

I took these pictures as we were leaving Key West on friday afternoon around 2:30PM. When I saw this fishing boat my mind begin to wonder. They were headed to port so perhaps they had been out most of the day or even days. I wondered where did the boat get its name? Was it the Captains wife or a lady of long ago? You can tell by the pictures that this vessel has made many voyages. What kind of fish had they caught? I was amazed at the big nets on the sides. If I could I would have interviewed this crew. What incredible stories they could have told about life in the Keys aboard the Carol Jean!

The Island of Key West

These pictures are of Key West and I took them on the top deck of the ship. It gives you a great view of the Island!

The red building is a museum and it just pops out of the picture.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.

The Gazing Ball

I took this shot on the pool deck of the ship. If you have looked at my previous posts you would have seen this complete piece of art. The reflection of this ball tells a story.

Ernest Hemingway House

One cool piece of history that I visited in Key West was the house of famed author Ernest Hemingway. There was a guided tour and you could just feel yourself stepping back into the 1930's. I love history so for me it was a highlight!

It was in Key West that Ernest would produce up to 700 finished words a day for nine years. That's amazing! No computer, no spell check, no book writing software just him and his type writer. You will see a picture of his second story studio.

Pauline his wife when he lived in Key West spent $20000.00 dollars on an inground pool. It had to be dug by hand and took over three years to build. It had to be filled with salt water because in the thirties there was no running water on the island. This process would take three days and it would last for five days and then have to be drained and refilled again. He was not happy so he took a urinal from the old Sloppy Joes and laid it down for a drinking pool for the cats to get even with her. She said THAT urinal has to go. He said get rid of your pool and I will get rid of mine. The vase that flows into it is from Cuba. The guide said the cats would not drink out of the pool. There is such a thing as a smart cat! There are 46 cats on the property that are the descendants of Ernest's polydactyl cats. Thses are cats that have extra toes.

There is a lot more to see and learn just go to http://www.hemingwayhome.com/HTML/house.htm

The Key West Lighthouse

The Enchantment of the Seas

Day 1 Leaving Port

Cruising

My wife and I along with another couple went on a cruise together to celebrate our anniversaries . It was our 17th. Our ports of call were Ft Lauderdale, Fl , Key West , Cozumel Mexico and Ft Lauderdale. It was a blast! If you have never been on a cruise you owe it to yourself to go. I ate more food in four days than a man should. The weather was perfect except for some short showers. I will be posting a few pictures over the next few days I hope you enjoy them Please feel free to give me feedback!


Day 1 Waiting on the top
deck to leave the port!

Day 1 This is one of my favorites. I turned
around and here is this pirate holding
his head in his hand!

Day 1 We are headed out to Sea!

Golf Balls that go Splash

Have you ever thought of how ingenious a golf course is with all of the shots over water? It makes me wonder if the golf ball makers sponsor some of the holes. A dozen Titleist balls cost around $45.00 and one lousy or should I say challenging shot can cause you to lose a dozen balls if you so desire.

I remember a few years back I was on a course and there was the intimidating tee off over water shot. It was maybe a 250ft long by 150ft wide pond. The drive was not over the entire pond but the green was just off to the left enough for THE DREADED WATER SHOT. I squared my shoulders back to do battle with this little menace pond. You guessed it, plunk splash and it was gone. I said to the pond you want some of me and I pulled another ball out of my bag. Plunk splash just like the first one. I said to myself ok you have had it now pond and I pulled another ball out and plunk splash. After plunk splash number five I gave up and I am sure the little pond was laughing hysterically. By my calculations if I hadn't stopped I would not have enough balls to finish the course.

I watched and heard people at the Golf Tournament that I just photographed say I am out of balls do you have any extra. That last water shot did me in. It felt good to know I am not the only one who loses balls in the water.

If you think about it a Golf Course pond is like a wishing well at the mall only it cost a lot more money. Your not throwing in nickels and pennies but round dollars.

Now you may ask what happens to all of those round dollars when they land in a Golf Course wishing pond. I can assure you there is no lost and found to pick them up.

This is where golf ball diving comes into play. Jeff Lehman from Salt Lake City makes a living retreiving golf balls and selling them back to the golf courses.

The 55 year old Florida native collects 3000 golf balls a day and gets paid 6 cents each. Yes that golf ball that cost you $3 or $4 dollars now fetches a mere 6 cents and then will be marketed back to you again for $1 to $2 dollars. I wonder how many times some of those golf balls have been down to the bottom of the pond and sold over and over.

According to Lehman there are some in this line of work who have become millionaires.

While I was driving around photographing the Golf tournament I found one of those divers in the water and later on the shore. I wish I would have interviewed him because like Lehmen I am sure he would have some very interesting stories to tell.

Anybody for a game of golf?

Lehman's Story http://www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i050701.html

A Day out of the Office

I had the privilege of working out of the office this past Friday. We had a supplier meeting with our Ford Rotunda equipment division at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, Fl. There were around 150 in attendance. There were around 80 suppliers and 20 or so Ford team members.

I arrived Thursday night and checked in and the room was really nice. A big king size bed and a beautiful balcony view. We had meetings on Friday morning and in the afternoon there was a golf tournament. I had been asked to take photos of the days events by our marketing person. I drove around on Friday afternoon in a golf cart taking photos. Here are some of the days pictures. It was a great time! My favorite is the rainbow reflecting off of the fountain in the pond. I did actually take some pictures of the golfers but I took advantage of a lot of the beauty along the path of the course!

Sunset

Sunset is my favorite time of the day. It's the time when another day comes to a close and the earth and most of it's inhabitants rest unless you work the night shift.

Festival Bay Mall Orlando, Fl

Lake Ariana Auburndale, Fl

Don't weep for me!

As I approached the door of my office this past Wed. Morning I was greeted outside by one of our sales managers in tears with the grim news. She told me one of our very own had passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack while on vacation with his family. He was a man in his 50's that I have known for the last 10 years.

As I sat in my office I could not help but think of receiving the very same news about my father while I was at work 3 years ago.

Then this thought came to me about Russ (Don't Weep for me!). I am not a poet but I felt something inside began to stir and I penned the words below. If you knew Russ you would agree this is what he would have said.

Don't weep for me!

Don't weep for me now that I am gone.
I have left this earth for my Heavenly home!

I left behind things undone
but this past week I had so much fun!

To my family at ISN
Thank you for being such wonderful friends!

When you walk in the office and down the aisle
Just remember that Russ Cunningham smile!

Take care of my customers and tell them not to be sad.
There was never a day in my life that was really bad!

I have finished my course and I have kept the faith.
Thank God for his Amazing Grace!

Tim P.

News of 1874

Butler County, Alabama

1-29-1874 Greenville Advocate

Robbery.--Mr. Hugh BLACK, living near Fort Dale, in this county, says his residence was entered on Tuesday night week by a thief, and money to the amount of $246 was taken from his pants, while lying on the bed in which he was sleeping. One hundred and ten dollars was in gold, the balance in United States currency. The thief took Mr. Black's horse and rode him some distance, and then turned him loose. The horse came back. Robberies are becoming frequent in this and surrounding neighborhoods. Keep your double barrel well-loaded with buck shot, and when you can, give the scoundrels a taste of lead.

Airborn

I took these pictures at Sea World in Orlando, Florida on April 14th, 2006.