Double rainbow

Wow, walked out my front door this evening and there was this beautiful gift. The double was faint & it's even harder to see in the photos, but it was very evident. The sun was setting and the rainbow lasted for less than 10 minutes, but what a show! Thank you Mother Nature, you made my day.

August Red Hat Get Together

Today, we Red Hat "girls" had a fun lunch at the Fish House in Mexico Beach. We're a small group in summer, since a lot of members are snowbirds & will show up come winter. In the photo on the left closest to the camera is my BFF, Joyce, alias "The Ho," right behind her is Shirley, our Queen Mum and in the back, the lady in pink is Francis, our August birthday girl. In your birthday month you get to wear pink. Mine is next month, and since it's going to be a beach picnic, I have a surprise in store.

We all hate the long banquet style tables for group gatherings. It's impossible to interact with everyone. If I had a restaurant, I would put in those nice big round tables one finds at weddings. This is a wonderfully diverse group of women & I so enjoy hearing what they have to say. Each month I learn more about each one.

Date Night

We started by having cocktails while sitting here on the porch around 9:30 PM. All the reservations were in, so we weren't expecting any customers.

I was surprised when Dan invited me out to a cozy spot to listen to big band music.

He walked me about 50 feet from the porch where the chariot awaited. We spent the following hour sitting in his Dodge Ram listening to big band music on his satellite radio. What a treat. For a guy his age, he's very much into 30's & 40's music. As for me, I've always been a fan. My mom & dad loved to dance, so in the years when the Steel Pier in AC had live big bands out in the ballroom, they would take 3, 4, 5 year old Michele, sit her on the sidelines and dance the night away. I absorbed the music and love it to this day. I can even remember lyrics.

My goodness, I felt like a bad teen age girl sneaking out with her boyfriend, but, I swear, nothing happened!

Dan, Dan the preacher man

Today, ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, Dan, performed a morning wedding ceremony on St Joe Beach.



Ridiculous as it sounds, we had him ordained on the internet. It all started when I became a Florida notary. Notaries in FL can perform weddings. I put that on our web site & started to get people asking me to do their wedding ceremonies. At first it was a novelty and then all too soon I realized that most folks wanted sunset weddings on the beach. Well damn, sunset interferes with my happy hour, not to mention the hot beach with the setting sun in my eyes.



When I had to attend a funeral up north and had a wedding scheduled, I went on line & got Dan ordained, so he could fill in for me. He's a natural and a people person who plays the role beautifully. He does a great job and has a presence that people respect. Dan is actually the chaplain of our local VFW.



There's another factor here. Most of our wedding couples are guests here at the motel & when your ceremony is performed by the lady making your beds and cleaning your toilets it sort of takes the magic out of it. Dan puts the magic back in.

Pesky Tropical Storm

Well darn. Last night a totally unexpected tropical depression formed southeast of us & screwed up a lot of peoples' plans. Apparently it's headed pretty much directly at us. I've had 2 cancellations, but picked up 2 drive ins because the state park closed their campground.

We're really not expecting any violent weather but plenty of rain. Everyone is just hoping that this thing hits early tonight & gets through here by morning so we have a good fishing and scalloping day tomorrow.

Luscious Creamsicle Walls

This is unit #10 after Karen & I painted it this fabulous orange crush color yesterday.

The creamsicle color picks up on the sunrise mural on the other side of the room

Today, the Ho & I went to the Sunset Coastal Grill for our monthly "therapy session." After we've had a couple of cocktails and a decadent lunch, we both feel so much better. I wore the top I bought from Cloris Leachman's new line for "women of a certain age." Usually I'm more understated, but I thought, "what the hell, if it's ok with Cloris, it's ok with me." I still felt a tad conspicuous. In the photo, I'm mimicking Cloris' pose from her catalog.

Cloris Leachman, after finishing "Dancing With The Stars," wrote a memoir and I enjoyed reading every self involved egotistical word. This girl does not have a self esteem problem. Then, at age 84 with nothing to keep her occupied decided to design a clothing line for mature women. Fun patterns and accessories, but one of her designs is enough for my wardrobe.

New Music Fest In PSJ

Before I start my rant, yes rant about the name of the new music fest here's a quick pic of me in my kitchen plastered with oversized postcards of Atlantic City. No I'm not plastered, the walls are. On the table in front of me is my grandpop's ruby glass cup and saucer etched with "George Hoffman, Atlantic City 1894."

Now, a little history of Port Saint Joe. In the 1840's the original town of St Joseph was devastated by yellow fever which was brought in on a ship. Today there is an historic graveyard where many are buried, some in mass graves.

In an email I received yesterday the Gulf County Chamber of Commerce announced a music fest on September 11 and 12. There will be performers from all over the region featuring music from many genres & it sounds like a great idea with a chance for great success. I'm all for it and even signed up to be a sponsor.

Here's where I have a huge problem. Some genius had a brain fart or something and came up with the name "Yellow Fever Music Fest......catch it!" Apparently a majority of the organizers approved. I'm appalled. Would London have a "Black Plague Music Fest?" Would Hawaii want a "Molokai Leprosy Music Fest?" This train of thought brought back memories of a song parody from my childhood. "Leprosy....is crawling all over me. There goes my eyeball, into my highball..." Great theme song.

Now I'm wondering if our Chamber is going to offer a free shuttle to the graveyard. Or maybe yellow tshirts with a picture of the body carts making their grisly pickups. How about sailor hats to commemorate the sailors who jumped ship & swam the disease to our shores? A signature drink called the "Black Vomit?" Perhaps the festival could be expanded to 3 days because that's how long it took folks to die. Oh well, I think I've made my point.