Today I chalked up living through ninety-one years and start into my ninety-second year. It's a great ride so far and nothing but gratitude - - shehecheyanu - - blessed are you Lord our God, king of the universe, who gives life, and sustains us, and has brought us to this Time. We ordered the extraordinary coconut cake at the velvet bakery in Lynn Haven, picked it up Friday, and,  like my mother used to make for me,  it's way beyond delicious, heavy, dense, moist yellow cake and white coconut icing, OMG!! Friday afternoon we had cake and ice cream with Malinda at Pruitt. The ice cream was weird, but somebody (not me, I'm a vanilla person) wanted cinnamon, so I bought Jeni's cinnamon bun roll ice cream, not to my taste. I'll stick with our basic Southern style Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla as long as it keeps that essense of sweetened condensed milk that marked the ice cream we churned at home when I was a boy. Eagle Brand or Dime Brand. The birthday plan was to have st...

  The Peace of the Lord be always with you. And also with you. ++++++++++++ Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us. Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.' Jesus, redeemer, redeemer of the world, Grant us your peace. Grant us your peace. ++++++++++++ His Peace William Alexander Percy, 1924 I love to think of them at dawn Beneath the frail pink sky, Casting their nets in Galilee And fish-hawks circling by. Casting their nets in Galilee Just off the hills of brown, Such happy, simple fisherfolk, Before the Lord walked down. Contented, peaceful fishermen, Before they ever knew The peace of God that filled their hearts Brim-full, and broke them too. Young John who trimmed the flapping sail, Homeless, in Patmos died. Peter, who hauled the teeming net, Head-down, was crucified. The peace of God, it is no peace, But strife closed in the sod. Yet let us pray for but one thing, The marvelous peace of God. ++++++++++++++ The Peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and...

  The Lake Isle of Innisfree BY  WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

  2:48 AM, Monday morning, Labor Day 2026, and I'm outside here on 7H porch, sitting at the little round table watching the lightning display as a thunderstorm passes west to east far to the south of me over the Gulf of Mexico. Blinding flashes cover the entire width of the horizon, and wind is building, but little thunder, almost silent, it's that distant.  Dreams, a dream, one of those repeating dreams that won't stop, and when I wake up momentarily and fall back to sleep it resumes and torments me. It's sheer nonsense, an absurdity: no violence, not a nightmare, I'm parked at Culver's with a carload of strangers, and managing my crispy chicken sandwich order carefully, two sandwiches (one free with my coupon) with lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo, no sides, while they try to load their orders onto mine at my expense. Who the heck are these people, and why is this a dream? Repetitive, it ruined my sleep until I got up, made the walk, then out on the porch to w...

82-year-old Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger says there's nothing good about getting old. Mick would be absolutely correct except that the alternative is to not get old, and so far, getting old older oldest is proving worth living. We know what Mick means, of course, and he is right unless one lives on St Andrews Bay. Getting old here in 7H is the best that life has to offer. The only way it could have been better would have been spending my entire life here instead of starting at age 79. I could have done better myself by coming home to PC from UF and never leaving - - as indeed when we lived in Apalachicola we knew some folks who had never been out of town, and I almost envied them.  ++++++++ Nice church today, our visiting priest was the fellow with the thick Scottish brogue, except that, strictly speaking, it isn't Scottish: he's from Yorkshire in the North of England up right on the border with Scotland. He's retired and a good man, if he could be persuaded to rel...

Enjoying the brouhaha around NFL and NCAA about players leaving their NFL contracts to return to college and play a fifth year. Not that my opinion matters, but I don't have an opinion, I'm just watching. Seems like these young men are graduated or graduating seniors who would rather have stayed in college and play another year if the opportunity had been available earlier. My sympathy tends to be with the players, whoever is the least powerful in the scenario. +++++++ Last evening we had supper at the new restaurant across the street, Basil Asian Cuisine. They've spent a heavy investment in renovation, are really welcoming, trying very hard, and our food was good, the sushi dishes were well prepared and attractively presented, my soup was excellent, and the fried calamari was the best I've ever had. I had the grilled squid too, for the first Time, and am not a fan though the sauce was nice. They offer a huge menu: I don't see how they can afford to carry all the in...