Category: Driving

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church Driving Food God Ministry Scripture Travel

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 29TH 2025, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

It’s the 5TH Sunday of the month, so my church family here in Sebring will be celebrating post-service with a potluck luncheon – which we do pretty good. We have a lot of great cooks in my church family. I am not one of them, but I have a great appetite for great food.

Unfortunately I won’t be there this morning. I’ll be down in Homestead again with my former church family there for the 2ND time in 3 Sundays. It will likely be my final trip to Homestead for at least the next 100 days. I’ll write all about this visit to and from Homestead in a future #TravelThursday blog post. #StayTuned

It’s been a while since I refreshed and posted one of my past sermons on here, so starting next Sunday and continuing through July, August, and into September I’ll be doing just that. I haven’t decided which sermon to refresh and post, but it will be posted in 3-to-4-minute reads each week. That means that – just like all of my blog posts – you can read it in 3 to 4 minutes. My sermons are generally about 35 to 45 minutes in length (when preached), so whichever sermon I decide to post will be done so in probably 8 to 10 parts.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

If you wish to learn more about the God I know – then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel Weather

Sebring Florida’s Cold Winter Of 2024-2025

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week it’s a change-of-pace blog post. Here in Sebring Florida our wintertime population increases exponentially from the summertime – perhaps even doubling or even more. In my 55+ neighborhood we are about 35% year-round residents and 65% “snowbirds” – our endearing term for our friends and neighbors who fly (or drive) south for the winter. They come from the north (many from the Great Lakes States) to all over Florida – especially Central and South Florida – along both coasts and down the spine. They come for our weather in-between hurricane seasons.

Some of our snowbirds arrive as early as September and depart as late as May. The majority are here from December to March with January and February being peak season. It gets busy around here from about Thanksgiving to about Easter, and especially after the New Year !

Our coldest months up here in the Highlands of South-Central Florida are December, January, and February. Our average afternoon high temperatures are in the low-70s, and our average morning low temperatures are in the mid-50s. A cold day is when we don’t reach 70°F / 21°C. A cold night is a night in the 40s / below 10°C. We are generally warmer during the day and colder during the night than our neighbors at both coasts some 80 miles away.

This past winter season we had 19 cold days when we did not reach 70°F. 14 of them occurred in January – including a brutal stretch of 6 days in a row from the 20TH to the 25TH – when on a couple of days – we couldn’t get out of the 50s – and on one day – we were stuck in the 40s all day. In fact – we were stuck in the 40s for 46 hours in a row. I briefly thought about flying to the U.S. Virgin Islands during that Arctic blast.

We also had 50 cold nights when we were into the 40s (and 30s too). 4 were in November, 12 in December, 23 in January, 2 in February, and 9 in March. January was a very cold month indeed with 4 mornings into the 30s. In fact – it was one of the Top 10 coldest Januarys in modern recorded history – and the coldest in 15 years !

It was my 2ND full winter season here in Sebring Florida. (I moved here at the end of the 2022-2023 season.) I previously lived in Homestead Florida for 36 winter seasons. Down there we averaged less than 20 cold days and nights combined per season (compared with 60 to 70 combined days and nights here).

I know that those cold days and nights are just about 5 months away, and the snowbirds – well – they will be heading back here to their winter homes starting in less than 3 months.

We’re in our 4-month rainy season now. That’s when about 70% of our annual rainfall occurs. We’re also in our 6-month hurricane season. That started on June 01ST and continues until November 30TH with peak season being September and October. Hopefully the rain will fall (we’re recovering from a severe drought), but the hurricanes will stay out at sea.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll recap my walking season. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Commerce Driving Food Geography Home Shopping Travel

Texas Return

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about meeting my family at Disney’s Coronado Springs at Walt Disney World. My sister-in-law and two nieces headed for Orlando International Airport (#MCO) – on their way back home to the Dallas Texas area. My brother came with me, and we spent a few hours at Disney Springs before driving southward to Highlands County, Avon Park, and Sebring.

Day 2 begins now, and on that Wednesday we did more shopping at my brother’s request. We ate lunch at my favorite Asian restaurant in Sebring – Cang Tong. (It’s really my only Chinese restaurant here, as I haven’t visited any other.) We saw a fun “action on an airplane” movie at the mall – “Fight Or Flight” – starring Josh Hartnett. And we made a Starbucks run.

Day 3 (Thursday) consisted of breakfast at Avon Park Diner (one of my favorites), more shopping, and then our monthly Sebring Historical Society spaghetti dinner fundraiser at our Charles F. Weigle House Museum. My brother got to meet some of my museum friends, and we both enjoyed being served a delicious spaghetti dinner. (Normally I’m preparing the desserts or in the kitchen helping prepare the meals, but on this special night I was a paid customer.) And we made a Publix run.

Day 4 (Friday) consisted of lunch at Olympic. Everyone I know seems to love Olympic, and so do I. The first time I ate there was back in June 2022 – 3 days after my 55TH birthday – after I had toured my 55+ dream neighborhood for the very first time and determined that I wanted to buy and live there forever. Olympic serves all kinds of great food for lunch and dinner, and I believe it’s one of the longest-running restaurants in the area. It’s been there with the same name for 47 years – since 1978. The left / west side of the building has been there since 1951 – when it opened as a different restaurant. There’s a lot of history there at that corner of U.S. 27 and Circle Street in Avon Park.

We went to another historic business down the road after Olympic – Maxwell Groves Country Store. Unfortunately they had a sign up at their door stating that they were closed due to minor repairs. So no soft-serve / dairy-free orange ice cream for us. Maybe next year.

We saw another movie at the mall on that Friday afternoon – the # 1 movie of the weekend and perhaps my favorite movie series of all-time – “Final Destination Bloodlines” – the 6TH in the series since 2000. I’m looking forward to # 7 in a few years.

On Day 5 (Saturday) we headed back north to the Orlando area. We ate an early lunch at Skyline Chili – one of my brother’s favorite fast-food places from when he lived in Ohio near Cincinnati and Columbus. After that we went to a couple of sports card stores – and then The Florida Mall. This mall is thriving and bustling – unlike many malls around the country. There were thousands of young locals and tourists at the mall on that Saturday afternoon.

I dropped my brother off at the airport (#MCO), and then I headed back southward to my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida. My brother made his way back home to Texas via an unplanned (weather-related) trek through Houston’s Hobby Airport.

That ended an unusual span of 10 out of 19 days with my brother since the end of April – 5 days in Texas and 5 days in Florida. In summary – we did a lot of shopping (my brother’s favorite thing to do) and eating (my favorite thing to do). It’s what we’ve always done together for the past 40+ years in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and beyond.

And this concludes my 6-part blog series on those 10 out of 19 days with my brother. It was a lot of fun to write, as it brought back great memories with my brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and sister-in-law’s parents. Next #TravelThursday I’ll put on my Meteorologist hat and look back at the cold Winter of 2024-2025 here in Sebring Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Commerce Driving Food Geography Home Shopping Travel

Texas Brother

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about my final day in North Texas – Saturday May 03RD 2025 – my brother’s 50TH birthday !

I flew back home to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ) that afternoon, and I returned to my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida.

Fast forward 10 days later, and early on a Tuesday morning I drove 65 miles up to Walt Disney World to meet my family who had arrived 4 days earlier. But first I walked around their hotel complex – Disney’s Coronado Springs. It was built in the mid-1990s, and I’ve probably driven by it more than a dozen times. I took a bunch of pictures – some of which will eventually make their way onto my Flickr site. I met up with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces inside “El Centro” – the main entrance and lobby area. “Las chicas” took an Uber to Orlando International Airport (#MCO), and my brother came with me to my car with all of his luggage. He’d spend the next 5 days with me.

Our first stop was Disney Springs – the MASSIVE shopping, dining, and entertainment complex that was once known as Downtown Disney – West Side, Pleasure Island, and Marketplace. Me and my brother actually discovered Pleasure Island (and West Side) over 30 years ago on a family vacation with our parents, and we loved it so much that we kept going back there at least a few times a year for the next 10 years. I was actually an annual pass holder at Pleasure Island for many of those years, so I went back more often – all the way from South Florida 4½ hours away. The former Pleasure Island is barely recognizable nowadays. As we walked up and down the island we tried to figure out where various nightclubs used to be located at.

We ate lunch at Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy ! at the request of my brother. YES – it was yet another chicken sandwich for me – along with fries and an amazing Banana Pudding Shake. I know. I know.

My brother did a lot of shopping, and I did a lot of browsing – and following my brother around. I’m not much of a shopper – unless it’s shopping for food – like at Publix – where shopping is a pleasure.

That afternoon we drove down to my home near Sebring. That evening we went to Wawa – which is the nearest business to my neighborhood. But I’ve never been there before. I’ve only passed by it almost every day for the past 2 years and 2 months. My brother showed me how to order food via the kiosk, pay for it at the checkout counter, and then pick it up when it’s ready. I think I’ve got it down now. I’ll probably be visiting Wawa on a regular basis from this point forth. I should probably create an account with them, download their app, and start collecting rewards.

So that’s Day 1 of me and my brother’s excellent Highlands County Florida adventure. I’ll recap Days 2 to 5 – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp