In October Barbara and I went on vacation for eight days to Tennessee. I had not been there before but Barbara had been there as a nurse in her youth. We had a great deal to stay in Gatlingburg for three nights and padded that out with a stop in Woodstock Atlanta with Roger on the way up through Georgia and North Carolina. We also stayed with Roger one night on our way back down to Jacksonville a week later. Roger was a great host who even cooked us an 'Indian' meal which I had not enjoyed for over seven years. Barbara was not so sure but she did the best she could with the rice and I took the left overs and enjoyed it at our hotel the next day. Roger is part of a group called 'couchsurfers'. Try them at dot com. After a great three days in the smoky mountains. (We climbed Clingmans Dome which is 6,600 feet above sea level. You have to walk the last half mile straight up and it was daunting. Barbara resolves not to do it ever again.) Gatlingburg was wonderful for walking. We did not touch the car for the whole time we were there. We took the tram for 50cents everywhere. We had several trips on the tramway up the mountain, one in the dark. We will post the clips here sometime. We also had a voucher for a meal at Hard Rock Cafe which was really good. The second day we were here it snowed on the mountain tops and the 'dome' was shut down. We got some really great pics and Barbara took about 1000 and I had 150 short movies. After the three days and then we went to to Nashville to stay with Tom and Beth who we met through 'couchsurfers' and they were awesome. We did not 'have' much of a couchsurfer track record so they had to be accepting. I did link to my articles however and fortunately we both were 'lefties'. Tom cooked us a meal and we were trusted to be left when they both went to work the next day. You don't get those kinds of people in too many places. Tom also was very helpful with maps and advise as to how to get around. We look forward to visiting with them again in the spring of 2009. Here is a link to our vacation photos in a movie and set to music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBFS9bfD0es

Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving and Christmas to me? Thanksgiving is entirely new to me or at least was when I arrived here in November 2001. My first one was quite dramatic. First there was a ride from Pensacola to New Orleans, which was just a place in the movies and songs to me up till then. “The Rising Sun” music of the animals? We were going to Spokane for me to meet my new family. We were flying from Nola. It was a bit dingy around the airport and where we got lost. It did not bother me though as I was well travelled. We left the car in the parking lot and boarded the flight for Spokane. On the plane I met Sharon’s youngest son who was a barman in Austin Texas and a bit of a rebel. He drank his way to Spokane without getting rowdy. At Spokane we were met by John, the middle son who is/was a doctor. They seemed to all get on fairly well and it was late and James wanted to eat. There was some friction. James had a huge house and we were accommodated in the comfortable basement. We were not married yet but no one seemed concerned. John had a young son and his parents in law were there also from Gainesville Florida. We all had a pretty good time but James and John had some friction and James left to go to a motel for a day or so. We had some good sports sessions and games in the basement and James let loose on the set of drums. I was useless on the questions on one game as it was ‘USA’ oriented. My partner was a bit blond though when she named a famous American General as Napoleon. I walked up the mountain with Johns father in law and we got on great. He was a doctor also. After a few days we left to return and we were ‘bumped’ off the flight as there was a huge storm in New Orleans. We took a later flight via Chicago to New Orleans. Our luggage got lost somewhere in between the two. We earned a free flight within a year for the ‘bump’ as they call it. I met the other son, who is an attorney, and her mother in January in ARK.

 One year later and coming round to Thanksgiving I was in somewhat of a different situation. I no longer had the support of my wife in any respect. She had turned out to be a little flimsy in that department. The new tight security of INS and their missteps also added to the strain of a new relationship. The outcome was that I had no money and was divorced all but the paper and had no money or plan. Sharon was NOT about to be affected by my quandary. I thought I had used the Internet to find a wonderful partner who dissolved quite rapidly and I now used the Internet to find a friend for Thanksgiving. I resolved to cash out the money orders to INS which a year later still had not been dealt with. I was aware that our demise as a couple meant deportation and resolved to go out with a bang. I had a free flight to New York and was quite happy to walk around for four days if I had to. I actually found someone quite willing to trust me to stay in New York State. Wingdale to be precise.  I left my van at a friends house near Pensacola airport and flew to NY. I got a train to Wingdale, which was fairytale. It was snowed in and everyone had four wheel drive vehicles. I was met and taken to a mountainside house with deer in the yard. I was shown around and the garage was like a slaughterhouse. Ah Hah I thought, this is where all the missing Brits disappear to. Actually this lady was quite good at chopping up deer with a chain saw but it was a bloody undertaking by the look of it. Some other friends came from New Jersey and on Thanksgiving Day we set off for Hartford Connecticut. A couple of hours and we were there after wonderful scenery. The group was large and friendly. It was an awesome day. I arrived back in Pensacola a few days later and knew by then that Sharon had illegally tampered and taken over my identity on email and sent a vicious lying letter around to my email list.  It was a bad time and I expected the worst from the Jewish Princess I had mistakenly gotten tangled with. I stayed with a friend in a fog and not knowing what was waiting for me should I try to visit and retrieve my possessions. I later found out that on the day I returned from NY, my whole possessions were placed on the sidewalk and she went away somewhere. There were a lot of electronics and it was raining. There is an affidavit about that documented and my neighbor retrieved my stuff and I collected it a whole three weeks later. That was awesome of her. So there are two thanksgiving events for you. I had a couple with good friends in Pensacola and I have had a few in Jacksonville. One year, my wife Barbara and I just went to Cracker Barrel which is quite good food and reasonably priced. This last Thanksgiving though was really very good. Barbara’s daughter Mary Laurel was able to have her first own event in her own house and she did great. It was nice to be involved with all the preparation and to get some good photos without any tension. I was quite hungry when food was eventually dished up. Harrison had also provided some ‘Crown Royal’ whisky, which I had not partaken of for a couple of years. Three of those and all that good food and I was quite mellowed out by evening time. It was real nice not to have to travel far to get home and then not having too many chores to do afterwards. I did try to help with washing up but the offer was declined. So it goes down as one of my better Thanksgivings and I certainly have had a few experiences. Thank you Mary Laurel and Harrison. Muchly appreciated. More about my varied Christmases’, over the many years, later.

Going on vacation in January to Daytona. It amazes me how it can be ten degrees warmer there just 80 miles south of Jacksonville? Happy New Year.