CountUp

Here’s what I’m thinkin’ ’bout on this Glorious Christmas Day Morning:

1.  I left work at exactly 9 AM yesterday (Christmas Eve) morning, and I arrived at my parents’ home at exactly 3:30 PM. It was a rather uneventful 6½-hour drive from Homestead to here. That included about a 30-minute stop-over in Fort Pierce along world-renown State Road 70 for Gas and Lunch.

2.  I’m currently in historic Clay County Florida – about halfway between the historic river cities of Orange Park and Green Cove Springs (the county seat) along historic U.S. 17. F.Y.I. – U.S. 17 extends from the foothills of Northern Virginia to the Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida.

3.  My last visit up here to the First Coast of Florida was during the Labor Day Weekend at the end of August 2008. I’ve been coming up here once or twice per year for the past 12 years to visit my parents (and my brother when he lived up here). 2009 will probably be my parents’ final year here. They’ll be moving to the north of Dallas Texas in a few months. They’ll be living just a few miles away from my brother and his wife.

4.  Of all of the cats that have been in our family over the past quarter of a century my parents’ current cat – Pumpkin – has the most beautiful fur ever !  She’s brown and black with hints of orange and tan – perhaps even a bit of burnt sienna. One time when Pumpkin was a kitten she was totally terrified of me, and she nearly tried to end her own life by jumping at least 20 feet to the ground below when she was absolutely frightened by an unintentional sudden movement of mine. Now she adores me and comes running to me whenever I spot my petting hand. Pumpkin loves me so much now that she even licks me at times. Even she has realized that cats all over the land adore me.

5.  Last night we enjoyed a MASSIVE Dinner at the local Longhorn Steak House. This afternoon we’ll be enjoying a traditional (also MASSIVE) Christmas Day Dinner. Don’t you know that I like totally dig that dudes and dudettes ?  SHYEAHZZZ !

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !