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Florida Homecoming

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my trip to North Texas – where I spent 9 days and 9 nights with my family in Wylie – about 30 miles northeast of the center of Dallas Texas. I arrived during the early evening of Wednesday November 20TH 2024. I wrote about me and my brother’s visit on that Saturday to historic downtown McKinney Texas and the Collin County History Museum.

During the rest of my time with my brother we shopped, we ate, and we saw 3 movies – “Heretic”, “A Real Pain”, and “Red One”. I think that me and brother both liked “A Real Pain” the most. It’s a dramedy written, directed, and produced by Jesse Eisenberg. He and Kieran Culkin are the stars. It’s a good well-written story of two cousins visiting Poland on a tour to connect with their Jewish heritage.

As is tradition – my brother prepared a home-cooked Breakfast twice – on that Sunday morning and on Thanksgiving morning. We also opened all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree later on that same holiday morning, and then we watched football for the rest of the day while smelling (and eating) our traditional Thanksgiving dinner at around 3:30 PM.

Fun Fact: The weather in North Texas was all over the place – to include the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s. As an amateur weather forecaster – it was not unexpected. Thanksgiving Day was the coldest day (40s), and the next morning was the coldest morning (33°F / 1°C). I brought that cold air (modified) back home to Florida.

The next day – Friday November 29TH 2024 – my brother dropped me off at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), and I flew to Charlotte Douglas (CLT) with a short layover before my connecting flight to Sarasota-Bradenton (SRQ). (My nonstop direct flight back to SRQ was cancelled about 3 months prior just for that afternoon, and I was automatically booked on the two replacement flights.) Both flights were packed, but they actually departed and arrived early !

Fun Fact: It was my first time in North Carolina since the last time I flew through CLT as a layover between Miami (MIA) and Salisbury-Ocean City (SBY). CLT was also a layover for the return flight between Reagan (DCA) and MIA. That was in July 2015.

I returned back home to Sebring (76 miles from SRQ) right at 9 PM on that Friday, and I was in my own bed less than an hour later. It was a long travel day, and I was exhausted.

The next day – Saturday November 30TH 2024 – I awoke knowing that it was on that date 37 years earlier that I left my family behind in Northern Virginia and flew to MIA en route to my new USAF duty assignment and home for the next 36+ years – Homestead Florida. I’ve now entered my 38TH year as a Florida resident. I’m a #FloridaMan forever.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my road-trip to and from Homestead. It’s my 32ND trip southward – and my 33RD trip northward – since relocating from Homestead to Sebring almost 2 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 11TH 2024, 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 Super Bowl Sunday – an unofficial holiday here in the U.S.A. That’s when hardcore American Football fans, casual watchers, and even non-football and non-sports fans around the world gather together in unison to watch the biggest game of the year and the most-watched television spectacle of the year on the biggest TV that they have access to.

I’ll be one of them here in Sebring Florida. As soon as I return home from my church family and our service this morning – I’ll be turning on CBS on my living room TV, and it’ll stay on for the next 10+ hours – from all of the pregame shows and festivities through all of the $7-million 30-second commercials to the post-game celebrations. (Of course – there’s the actual football game in there too.)

After it’s all over – football (the NFL anyway) – is off for the next 6 months. My Sunday afternoons will include more free time to do more research for #TravelThursday.

Last Sunday morning we started a new message series from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, so we’re studying 1 Peter on Friday nights and Ephesians on Sunday mornings. That’s two favorite books of mine of the New Testament. My own personal Bible studying and sermon writing will continue on most Saturdays into my retirement.

I’m making great progress on my sermon on “Sebring & Weigle”. It’s almost done in fact. It’s the story of two friends who became neighbors who founded a city built on a firm foundation in our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

Starting in April I’ll begin transcribing my “Jude & Judgment” sermon that I preached to my Homestead Florida church family on Sunday November 26TH 2023. It’ll be presented as a series of 4-minute reads through April, May, and June. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday December 24TH 2023, 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.

I wish each and every one of you following me and reading my blog a very Merry Christmas.

My traditional family “Christmas” actually occurred 4½ weeks ago in North Texas on Thanksgiving Day. For the past dozen years or so my brother has prepared a hearty home-cooked Breakfast for he and I, and then shortly after that we’ve opened all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree. Once they are all opened it’s time to watch football for the rest of the day and into the night – including for about an hour while we’re enjoying a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at around three or four in the afternoon.

On the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”) Christmas is done and over for me. Well – sort of. For the first 3 weeks of December I get to observe and celebrate bits and pieces of Christmas here and there by listening to Christmas music on the radio, watching Christmas shows on television, writing and sending Christmas cards and messages to family and friends from afar, and enjoying several Christmas meals with friends and neighbors. I’m especially looking forward to my first Christmas potluck dinner with about 100 of my neighbors in our clubhouse.

We all celebrate Christmas in our own unique and traditional ways. May you spend this holiday season with your loved ones. Make and share good memories that will last a lifetime. Honor each other. Love one another.

And let’s remember why we celebrate Christmas.

And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21 NLT)

The LORD saves.

My testimony is featured here each week on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Weeki Wachee Springs

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. You know I’ve written a lot about my new home near Sebring Florida over the past 7 months. This week I look elsewhere, and I write about a place that I actually have never been to before, but I’d like to visit.

There’s a local TV show that a couple of our Tampa Bay area PBS stations airs called “Central Florida Road Trip” (also just “Florida Road Trip“). I love these shows. I’m discovering them now for the first time. On a recent episode they did a segment on Weeki Wachee Springs. I’ve heard of it before, but I didn’t really know much of anything about it until they featured it on their show.

Weeki Wachee Springs is a historic roadside tourist attraction located right along U.S. 19 about 50 miles north of Tampa.

Fun Fact: U.S. 19 extends over 1,400 miles from near the shores of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania to near the shores of the Gulf Of Mexico in St. Petersburg Florida. It traverses West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia in-between. U.S. 19 between I-10 and Crystal River Florida is a frequent route for me to and from the Panhandle.

Weeki Wachee Springs has been open since 1947, and it was recently added to the U.S. National Register Of Historic Places. Various TV shows and movies have filmed on-location there attracting big stars. It was one of the most popular roadside tourist attractions in the region during the late-1950s and throughout the 1960s. Everyone wanted to drive there to see the mermaids in action. Its popularity began waning during the 1970s as nearby Walt Disney World arrived on the scene. It became a Florida State Park late in 2008. The mermaids are still performing there 2 or 3 times daily.

Check out the Weeki Wachee Springs Facebook page for the most current news and information.

I definitely want to visit this place in the months to come. It’s about 116 miles from my new home (less than 3 hours away). This may be part of my upcoming 3,000+ mile post-retirement road-trip.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll look back at my visit on Cedar Key Florida – a place that was recent devastated by Hurricane Idalia. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp