Jeff and Tom's Florida adventure 2006

[Tom]

Jeff had an opportunity to get away from Michigan's winter this year and made his first-ever airplane flight.  All the way to Florida, he came, and we have had a grand old time for the better part of two weeks. 

I had a sawing job that was going to take up most of my time, but arranged to be away some so that we could visit and goof off.  Jeff was good help around the saw job and took pictures that I am unable to take and run the mill at the same time.   You can see some of them in the "visiting Florida" thread on the General Board.

My wife was moving my computer around in the office and Jeff got volunteered for that as well.  I ran for the hills. :D  Now I have a lot of room, a window and a "fixed" scanner too.

Jeff has been practicing his Floridian talk, things like "faa-lieher"(fat lighter) and "ar-rite" (a slurred 'all right').

His most momentous occasion was answering the clerk in a convenience store with "ar-rite" when asked "howyadoin" and not getting a look or response like he was "not from here".

We visited the ocean, took pictures of the John F. Kennedy air-craft carrier in Mayport, across the St. Johns, container ships in the river and fishing boats at the dock, rode by several sawmills and a chip plant, visited with some of the Southern members in the area, walked the swamp again, visited my dock, ate a slab of bar-b-cued pork ribs (Jeff bought them), had some pretty good chuck, cooked on an oak and hickory fire out back, consumed great quantities of chocolate cake, coffee, home-made cinnamon rolls, shrimp, coffee, shrimp again, Salomi sandwiches, fresh oranges.

We sawed big pine into vertical grain flooring as wide as 10 inches, sawed 16 and 18 inch boards,visited with Sprucebunny and played in pine tar, and watched the US Navy perform touch and go approaches with A-10's and other planes,  over our heads.

We walked all over a hand-dug breastworks called Yellow Bluff Fort, visited a fishing community at "Dames Point" and even drove under the Dame's Point Bridge approach where I found a park that I never knew existed.  Jeff tasted his first persimmon (not overripe but approaching it). I don't know how I missed the thing.  It was hanging on my tree back in the woods and the wildlife had even left it alone.  I thought it tasted real good, even though it had gotten quite soft.

Woodbowl made us presents of some bowls that came off of a machine he is designing and even stamped and signed them.

We had a bonfire, of sorts, and a jam session that went into the wee ours of the morning.  Getoverit, Jeff and Woodbowl picked, strummed and fiddled some long-forgotten tunes. 

We suffered through some rainy weather by sitting in the house (that was fun) and playing with the computer.  It gave us a lot of time to discuss the direction that the Forum is taking and consider ways to get it back on track as a Forestry and Wood oriented site.  Not that the general kabitzing is a bad thing, it's just that it seems to be taking the forum over and I have had some concerns.  It felt good to be able to air them out with Jeff face to face.

Y'all probably noticed the effort to "tamper" with the quotes option.  That has been a sore point with me for several months lately.  It has seemed that the lazy way out of writing original posts has developed a proliferation of quotes of entire posts, pictures and all, as well as full quotes of posts immediately preceeding the written post.  It has made the forum difficult to follow, redundant and frustrates me to know end.  It felt good to get it off of my chest and be able to explain some of my concerns.  I am hoping we can guide these posting habits and off-site picture postings back to the friendly conversational atmosphere we once enjoyed.  The Forestry Forum has such a great amount of information in it's posts, past-posts, knowledge base and picture galleries that it seems such a waste to not take advantage of them.  I've never understood the need to be so quick to send members and visitors off to another site when we are so rich in information.

Well, Jeff is back on the plane.  He's headed back to Michigan's close-to-zero weather in a plane that was late and still has to fly over the edges of the storms that are hitting the Northeast.   I feel confident that he will make it alright, even though his luggage is a good deal heavier than when he arrived.  Ha!  I think he might be too.  :D

[sawguy21]

I was gonna suggest his luggage might not be the only issue, the way you guys have been feeding him ;D

[Dakota]

Tom,
A good time was had by all, including all of us that followed the thread.
Dakota

[SwampDonkey]

Tom, Jeff and all involved in the 2006 Florida visit, I also have been following and enjoying all your adventers. Tom, I've had persimmon also when I was down in Virginia visiting friends. Tastes right good to me. Not alot different than our wild Canada Plum, if you are lucky enough to find them. They (plum) are quite rare now. Now talking about wet weather and that mushy stuff we find moulded onto our shoes certain times of the year....We've been quite lucky with the winter we've had so fair. Not real cold, but enough to hide that wet sticky stuff and enough ice/crust to walk anywhere in the woods without the aid of them web type shoes inspired by observing the ruffed grouse walk on snow. ;D

cheerio

[Texas Ranger]

So, who was the horse's patoot? ;D

[Brad_S.]

Usually when there's a winter beach shot of a southerner and northener, it's the Yankee in shirt sleeves and the home boy with the sweater or sweatshirt. :D

[SwampDonkey]

I remember in college some folks were out in their shorts and short sleeves in March. But, it wasn't that hot out. It was probably in the 40's F on an exceptional day and they'de be sitten in lawn chairs on the south side of a brick building where it felt like 70 F in the sun. I guess they thought they were trying to set a trend.  :

[crtreedude]

I can't help but notice that there is no one on that beach - what did you do, scare them all off?

[Tom]

We decided that it was our Civic duty to protect
the United States from aggressors so......


Here's a picture of Jeff in ....arock.





;D

[Paul_H]

Groannnn  :D

[SwampDonkey]

All he needs now is a 5 lb mallet to work his aggression out on the rocks. :D :D

[TexasTimbers]

Yep it would be like that scene in that Eastood flick (pale Rider) where Eastwood and Hull are bangin away on that boulder and the giant comes along and splits it with one whack :D

Glad yoos gise   y'all had a great time.

[Jeff]

I'm busy recouping ta night but I gotta promise to tell my story about "being singled out" by Mr. Bubba security this morning at the Jacksonville Airport.  I'll just say fer now its a real desperate feeling when this great big dude that looks like Hoss Cartright that is two heads taller then me snaps on his rubber gloves and starts walking briskly my way...

[SwampDonkey]

Maybe you need to send him down to the rock pile for a spell. :D :D

[Tom]

For those of you who may need some help with the pun, it's pronounced "Iraq" .  :D

Dang and I found some real comfortable chairs
in the front yard and were visiting up a storm.


Somebody must've woke DanG up.

[SwampDonkey]

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it. I missed it the first time.  The rest of you guys are off the hook. :P :D

[DanG]

Brad S, that's another urban legend. :  It was pretty comfortable the day we went on the swamp stomp at Tom's place, but when the sun went down the temp dropped like a pregnant rock.  The Michiganders were the first ones to go looking for a jacket, and they spent the rest of the evening talking about how cold it was.

Sprucebunny spent the day here yesterday(new thread coming) and she did her share of bellyachin' about it, too. :D :D  We missed a prime photo-op by not taking a pic of the foot-long icicles on the old cabin. :-\

[Bro. Noble]

I'm sure glad I checked out this part of the forum 8)  That's pretty sneaky of Tom to post here so's some folks got to try some new buttons :D :D :D

Well with that frigid weather,  it looks like you had a miserable time :(------cept for the exploring around,  the good food,  the pickin and grinnin,  the good company,  more good food,  all that fun jaw hammering :D :D :D  Thanks for letting the rest of us enjoy some of the fun



DanG stoopid cows >:(

[Texas Ranger]

I STILL want to know who the horse's patoot with the foal is. >:(

[Dana]

Wow Tom, I am envious of Jeff for having you there as a guide/ host.  It sure is good to have local knowledge weed out the tourist traps and to take a person to the good stuff. ;) 8)

[Don P]

Look's like they were doing homework somewhere in there too  .
https://forestryforum.com/gallery2/florida_2006/DSC02808

Is this a king size jellyfish or something else?
https://forestryforum.com/gallery2/florida_2006/DSC02825

[Tom]

You guessed it, Don.  That's a big old jelly fish with his tentacles beaten off in the surf.  Sometimes they litter the beach.  That day, there were only a few here and there.


Hey Texas Ranger!    That baby horsey and momma's behind belong to the wife of the man whose logs I'm sawing now.  Jeff got some good pictures of the horses when Wade took him for a tour of the farm.

[Texas Ranger]

That little foal is what Texans call beautiful.  Cowboys and horses, that's what makes old f...ellas remember their cowboy days.

[Tom]

We managed to find enough stuff to build a little warming fire and hoped for some smoke to keep the mosquitoes at bay.


That looks like it might take


Now we're talkin'!   Take that, mosquitoes.


That looks comfortable.  A little heat, a little smoke....... ;D


Then we had to do it all over again. 
This time we moved to the back yard
and started our cooking fire.

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like alot of brick kicking, fire stoking and brain storming. What world problems did we solve now? ;D

That's a great looking cook'n fire. Where's my foil wrapped home smoked salmon steak? ;D