Leckband Cornhusker State Blog

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

MY BLOG IS BACK!

Did you miss me? Seriously, I appreciated all the comments I got in response to my posts about our FLORIDA ODYSSEY. Well, most of them anyway.

COVID

Just thought you'd like to know that Lois & I are getting our first COVID vaccination today. My prayer continues to be that those who need the vaccinations the most get them first.

FLORIDA ODYSSEY POST-MORTEM

We got back to Norfolk around 5:30 yesterday after an uneventful trip back from Florida. Regrets about our trip:

> I may have rubbed it in a little bit about the warm weather we enjoyed while our friends & family in the Midwest & Texas were freezing their buns off. Sorry, IF I offended anyone.

> We should have spent an extra day in & around the Everglades. We didn't get to do nearly everything we would have liked. We'll try to make it back there on a future visit to Kathy's.

> I should have done a better job with sunscreen. I badly sun-burned my feet during our first two days at the beach, & they're still peeling.

Highlights of our trip:

* The warm weather. [Once again, I apologize IF I offended anyone with my posts.]

* Seafood. We enjoyed seafood, especially fresh seafood from a genuine seafood market in St. Petersburg, which included salmon, crab cakes, shrimp, & lobster dip. We had scallops, grouper, mahi mahi, & blue soft shell crabs while we were in Everglades City. I had a dish from Portifino's Italian Ristorante--our favorite Italian restaurant in St. Petersburg--that included mussels, clams, calamari, & shrimp.

* Serving as Lois' sous chef. [I had to think long & hard before including this as a highlight.]

* Four trips, if I remember correctly, to Ft. DeSoto Beach.

* Picking off all the New England license plates, including Delaware & Rhode Island, plus several more states.

* Wildlife. We saw bald eagles, white ibis, great egrets, great blue herons, great white herons, cormorants, dolphins, white pelicans, brown pelicans, wood storks, turtles, & alligators.

* The Everglades, including our 3 boat trips & swamp buggy tour.

* Maybe most of all, Lois' sister Kathy's wonderful generosity. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to worship with her while we watched Terry Tiemann's online church service from Grace Celebration Lutheran Church in Memphis. [Also, it became obvious that I'm Kathy's favorite brother-in-law.]

2021 RESOLUTIONS REVIEW

> At least 8 road trips. We're off to a great start, thanks to our trips to TX, which included a side trip to San Antonio, MN, & FL, including a side trip to the Everglades. And later this month we're headed to CA!

> Give up French fries. I confess. I ate French fries 3 times while in FL, but I tried very hard not to enjoy them. [I have been successful, so far, in abstaining from tater tots during Lent.]

> Get a DNA report from Ancestry.com. I sent off my sample while we were in TX in January. I haven't checked to see if my report is available yet.

> Do my PT exercises at least 3X per week. I don't want to talk about it.

> Avoid useless arguments on Facebook. So far, so good.

> Add to our National Park & bucket lists. We added Everglades National Park while we were in FL. When we visit John & Wanda in CA later this month, we hope to add Yosemite, Sequoia, & King's Canyon National Parks. And we crossed off San Antonio, which Lois had never visited.

> Lose at least 10 lbs. I really, really, don't want to talk about it.