Chugging Along With Joy

When Ginny & I saw this ancient train in Blounstown, we were first shocked -- then broke out laughing.

According to the historic marker beside the relic, this train linked the town with the outside world carrying mail, passengers, lumber and staples before automobile travel became commonplace in the Florida panhandle. The M&B Railroad ran from 1909 to 1972. To us it looks like the sort of train Jessie James or tribes of Indians might have attacked.

The thing that shocked us and set us laughing is the realization that this train was still actually running when we got married in 1968!

Makes us feel antique.

Yes, we have now entered our 38^th year of marriage and we’re still in love and chugging along just fine.

For over a year we planned to observe this anniversary with a vacation trip to Port St. Joseph Peninsula State Park but until just 30 minutes or so before we actually left on the trip, we thought we might have to cancel, so we left in a state of mild confusion.

Here are two links to photos of our trip and the cabin we stayed in.

Rather than try to catch up a day by day journal of the past ten days, here are a few highlights:

Dancing Naked In The Moonlight: We had the park pretty much to ourselves during our stay; I doubt if we saw ten other people including park rangers the whole time. The balmy weather allowed us to live in shirtsleeves during the day and the nights were just cool enough for a fire’s glow in the evenings. The moon waxed full in a cloudless sky. Mars and Venus were fully visible and stars blanketed the night.

So one morning I packed a picnic breakfast and woke Ginny at 4 a.m. for a beach walk under the full moon. We crossed the dunes to the Gulf side of the peninsula, stripped off our clothes, and strolled naked in the moonlight. I splashed surf on her and we danced on the sand.

Personally I envisioned a scene out of From Here To Eternity in the breaking waves but sharp shells, sand, arthritis, and common sense (her’s, not mine) prevailed -- so we dressed and ate breakfast as the moon settled over the Gulf and the sun rose over the bay.

I did quote some poetry to her from Lord Byron:

She walks in beauty as the night
Of cloudless climes and stary skys
And all that’s best of dark and light
Meet in her aspect and her eyes…

Birds We Saw: Ginny & I carried our binoculars and bird books as we strolled over the dunes and in the woods. On our first walk we encountered an American Bald Eagle which glared at us malevolently. We also saw quail, eastern phoebe, kingfisher, plover, red-bellied woodpecker, great blue heron, a huge flight of red-winged blackbirds, and several species of sandpiper, along with a host of other birds we could not identify.

Deer Hunting: On our drive over to the Florida Panhandle, we stopped in the town of Perry. I soon noticed that I was the only male in town who was not wearing camouflage gear. Hunting season had just opened. Rifles were evident everywhere.

Ginny & I decided to go hunting with our camera, the digital camera Donald gave us a few weeks ago.

We tramped through the woods for two days without seeing even a squirrel but one afternoon Ginny spotted a doe lying in the undergrowth and we got our photo. But before we left, the deer had become so accustomed to our presence that a herd of seven grazed right outside our cabin. We could watch them as we ate breakfast.

Snakes: We saw one water snake while in camp.

However while we were gone, another snake showed up at the door of Eve’s library. This time a patron who lifts weights saw the snake curled up at the door. The man went out to the trunk of his car, brought out a barbell and squished the snake with it. Eve should get hazardous duty pay for managing that library.

Speaking Of Books: I should go camping more often. While we were off in the piney woods, a bunch of people ordered copies of my books.

Thank you.

I really appreciate your interest and I hope you enjoy my writings.

Oh, the printer says that unless you want to pay for express shipping, book orders are best in by December 8^th if you want on time delivery of any books you want to give for Christmas.

Two Odd Bits Of Human Behavior: In a restaurant in Perry we observed two interesting snippets of human behavior.

The waitress who took our order, a lovely young lady in her mid-twenties I suppose, wore a rather low-cut blouse. Whenever she spoke to a female customer in the crowded restaurant, she stood bolt upright; when she addressed a male, she leaned forward toward him. I’m sure the girl was entirely innocent and unconscious of her action, she was not at all flirtatious. But she looked like one of those bobbing birds that dip their beaks in a glass of water. It was really amusing.

As we ate a late supper, a local man entered the restaurant and spoke to the cashier. Together they went from table to table asking about a car in the parking lot; the man had hit it as he pulled in. Unable to find the owner at first, he borrowed a cell phone from a customer and called the police. Before they arrived, the woman who owned the car (she’d been fussing with her grandbaby and had not paid attention) realized that it was her car he had hit. They went out in the lot, looked at the damage and came back inside. She told her daughter, “Hell, he only knocked off a little chunk of the bumper. Forget it. No harm done”. The guy, who was apparently a stranger, sat at the table with them and ordered coffee. Perry doesn’t seem to be part of our litigatious society.

Spiritual Restoration?: One of our goals in taking this trip was to refresh ourselves spiritually. But, to tell the truth, the whole time we were gone I didn’t so much as open a Bible. I hardly gave God a thought except to be thankful now and then for this and that.

When Ginny and I returned to Jacksonville, we drove up to Five Points for supper. Park street was closed off being decorated for some holiday event, so people thronged the streets. Kids on skate boards whizzed all over. And sweet young lovelies paraded past in various states of dress and undress.

As we sat on a brick wall smoking after supper, an old man passed by and spoke.

“G’Evenin,”.he said.

“G’Evenin. Nice night,” I replied.

Where upon he fell to weeping. He threw himself into my arms hugging me and nestling against my shoulder as tears streamed down his face.

He told me he is dying and that he’s afraid of dying alone.

“Bet you’ve never had a black man cry on your shoulder a’fore,” he said.

Oddly enough, this is the second time this year this sort of thing has happened. If you’ve any idea how I cringe at being touched, you may credit a touch of divine grace in my being able to stand this stranger’s embrace.

Anyhow, here this man wept profusely in my arms as I rubbed his shoulders and cradled his head and soothed him. “I’m so scared to die alone. I got nobody,” he said.

I assured him that we all die alone. That Jesus is our only hope.

I told him that he probably knows more about Jesus than I do because he’s heard preaching all his life – but now it the time to give up fighting God and trust.

The guy eventually walked away muttering, “But I want to be forgiven. I want to be forgiven”.

Ginny and I do not know what to make of this. The same sort of thing happened up at Walgreens a couple of months ago.

Why is it that old dying black guys throw themselves into my arms? Why not some of the sweet young lovelies who were on the street?

I don’t understand at all.

After breakfast out Sunday Ginny and I came home and dabbled at our own projects around the house. As always after a time of intense intimacy, we need to distance ourselves a bit. So we ignored eachother all day. She worked in a different room and we hardly spoke but it is so good to know she’s there.

Anyhow, now it’s Monday morning. Ginny gets her hearing aid today. The kids are full of Thanksgiving plans and I need to clean the yard and get back to work on my Strangers manuscript. Vacation’s over. Damn it!

Oh, be sure to check out those photo links up top; we took Gin’s laptop and downloaded hundreds of pix but I’m just posting a few for the folks who asked what the park and cabins are like.

Another Oh – My foot precluded our taking that 18-mile hike I’d so looked forward to. For much of the time, Ginny & I sat in rocking chairs listening to the pine needles whisper in the wind and talking for hours and hours and hours. I left those crutches at home and used only my cane but the swelling in my foot is down and I was able to walk fine on the short tramps we could take….

It only hurts when I blog.