13 Christmas Gift Ideas For Your Older Adults

November 5, 2024 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life, It's Not For Sissies

With Christmas just around the corner, there’s still time to skip the holiday rush and find the perfect gift for the over-60-year-olds on your list! Here’s a curated list of thoughtful, unique gifts at various price points—all deliverable straight to your door. Make this season truly memorable with something special!

Links with gift ideas are included!

For Her

A warm, cozy long-sleeve zip robe. Most of us don’t need a robe that ties. It’s drafty in the winter, and mine made me look fat. A zip-up robe is more slimming.

https://amzn.to/4hvQdgW

Some of us also like a lighter robe. This one is sold as a nightgown, but it buttons up the front and can be used as a housecoat. I personally like this housecoat so much that I have two.

https://amzn.to/48Ed7iv

A nice cardigan. We ladies with grey hair have found that pastels look best on us. Try a pastel cardigan, but make sure it is long enough to cover the rump.

https://amzn.to/3C8Tcfe

Throw Pillows. Here is one last idea for the ladies. Look closely the next time you visit her. Do her throw pillows need replacing? Take note of what colors she has in her home and gift her a new throw pillow or two. Someone sent me this one, but with the letter “L”. I loved it.

https://amzn.to/4fvF2mP

For Everyone

A New Kind of Charger. My sweetheart has trouble charging his iPhone. With dementia, he thinks any charging cord will work, but sometimes, none will. He frequently has difficulty doing the simplest things, but simply placing a phone on a charging surface may suffice.

https://amzn.to/4fj3NCQ

A Warm Throw for the Bed. I’m a napper, but I hate to mess up my bed. So I have a throw that stays in my bedroom and I use it to take my nap. This cotton throw is perfect.

https://amzn.to/4fxmnqP

A good warm scarf is great for those blustery days, but it is also great to take into a drafty restaurant, like when they seat you near the door. We get chilled so easily. A blanket scarf is wonderful, too.

https://amzn.to/4hHFeBx

Comfortable and Stable Bedroom Shoes. These are by far my favorite bedroom shoes. And in a pinch, I can wear them outdoors.

https://amzn.to/3YmpvP6

A massage gun. I bought a massage gun a year ago. I love it, but this one may help me reach some of the hard-to-reach areas that cramp up near my shoulders.

https://amzn.to/3AnD6Oe

A Coffee Warmer. Chuck loves a hot cup of coffee and is always in the kitchen microwaving his cup. What a splendid gift for his desk!

https://amzn.to/4fo6P8H

A good book. Give a gift of a good book! You might find out what genre they love, but if it is nonfiction, try this.

https://amzn.to/3C917JD

For Him

A Warm Puffer Vest. Chuck has a puffer vest that comes in handy in the winter.

https://amzn.to/3NP8kB6

A Fleece Sweater. He also loves his fleece sweaters. He has three, and Lord Help Me if I forget to pack one for a trip in the winter.

https://amzn.to/3YHTl21

That’s It! I hope this helps you to shop for us because we realize that shopping for old-timers is not for sissies!

The Little Bird said, “Cheap, Cheap, Cheap!” Wasted Products!

June 25, 2024 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Home and Garden

Those of you who are veteran readers of this blog know that from time to time I drop a post on “how to save money.” Mostly, it is a product that is cheaper than another or something I did. You can read one here.

Today, though, I want to show you how I get to all the product in tubes without throwing any away. I’m sure many of you already do this, but younger people may not.

I have quite a few products that come in tubes, usually plastic tubes. Now, I slice the tubes in half to uncover what is left inside.

Somewhere in my yesteryears, I usually wasted the remaining contents of tubes. I also found that a key would not work on plastic tubes as well as metal. One day, I took a pair of scissors and cut a tube in half—a tube I thought was empty. There was lots of product left.

It changed everything. I even figured out a way to keep its contents fresh until gone. I use the bottom half to make a cap to fit over the top half.

The cap keeps the product fresh. Here is an example of sunscreen and how I cut it and placed it back on.

I also do this for an eye gel that I get from my doctor.

Notice how much of this product is left even when you think you have gotten all of it out. Since I only use a small pea size of this product at night, there is about three weeks of this product left, maybe more. And this stuff ain’t cheap!

If you don’t already use this system, give it a try!

The Rest of the Story for Memorial Day

May 20, 2024 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family History Writing, Family Life

I usually look for a good story to tell each Memorial Day, a story of sacrifice and honor. Several years ago, I looked up information on Robert “Bobby” Mitchell, my husband’s uncle. He paid the ultimate sacrifice in World War II, but Chuck knew little about it, other than his mother’s story about a Fall day when a car pulled to their curb and two Army soldiers approached their Augusta, Georgia, home, where the two sisters lived with their mother along with their baby sons.

You can find what I found here. It describes Robert Mitchell’s actions in World War II from the Normandy Invasion to the campaign called Market Garden, where he fell. He was in the 508th Parachute Infantry, and their story is much like the 506ths in the book and movie series “Band of Brothers.” Whereas the 506th was called the Screaming Eagles or “We Stand Alone”, the 508th were the Red Devils or “The Fury from the Sky.”

Now for the rest of the story… A few months ago, Robert Mitchell’s son, Alex, who is also Chuck’s first cousin, called and let me know that someone in the Mitchell family read my blog post about Alex’s father. Alex had not seen it before. I thought Chuck had shared it with him, but apparently not. Anyway, Alex called to thank me and to share more information.

Several years ago, he and Eileen visited his father’s grave at the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands, and they made a surprising discovery. Someone had placed flowers on his grave. They learned that a local family had done it.

Netherlands American Cemetery, Wikipedia

In 1945, at the end of the war, an official of the Margraten village suggested that families and individuals adopt each of the graves. Three-quarters of a century later, the men in those 20,000 graves remain adopted. Many citizens of the Netherlands and Belgium adopted them, passing the adoptions down through family generations. In 2021, according to Wikipedia, there was a waiting list of those who wished to take up any lapsed adoptions. I found most of the information about the cemetery and the adoptions on Wikipedia.

Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Wikipedia

What a beautiful tribute. These Dutch people keep the memory of these men and women alive in their hearts. The family who adopted Bobby told how their deceased grandfather led the effort.

Each year, there is a Dutch Memorial Day commemoration which takes place in the cemetery. In 2005, President George W. Bush became the first American president to visit the cemetery and speak. He said during his commemoration speech:

On this peaceful May morning we commemorate a great victory for liberty, and the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we pay for that victory. For the Americans who rest here, Dutch soil provides a fitting home. It was from a Dutch port that many of our pilgrim fathers first sailed for America. It was a Dutch port that gave the American flag its first gun salute. It was the Dutch who became one of the first foreign nations to recognize the independence of the new United States of America. And when American soldiers returned to this continent to fight for freedom, they were led by a President (Roosevelt) who owed his family name to this great land.

Once again, we Americans pause to remember our fallen. These Americans paid the price of freedom for this country. Let’s not forget it! If Europeans can remember, we should, too!

Scent is Our Strongest Tie to Memory

December 9, 2023 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life

Scent is the Strongest Tie to Memory

There is much truth in this, and I especially realized it after I lost so many of my family’s earlier generations.

Each Christmas, I begin decorating by pulling out a box of miscellaneous items, such as extra bulbs, hooks to hang things, an old CD album of Christmas music, and anything else that helps me get in the spirit and stay focused. Best of all, though, in this box are two bottles of fragrance.

Mama liked Estée Lauder’s Youth Dew perfume, and Dad wore Brut Aftershave. I’ll wear one fragrance on one day and the other on the next. I can smell her as I walk from room to room. It is comforting and an annual tradition for me.

But it doesn’t stop there. Many of you have read about my Grandmother Roe and how she lived next door my entire childhood and helped raise me and my sister. She wore Avon’s To a Wild Rose, and several years ago I found that Paloma Picasso smells like her To A Wild Rose. I still have a bottle. It seems like these older fragrances never lose their essence.

Another Christmas tradition is my family’s Christmas letter. I’ve done one for over 35 years now. The ones when the kids were teenagers were the best. They dreaded the letters because I used them to broadcast to all our friends and family their latest screw-ups including their punishments.

Like the night Tracy spent swatting mosquitoes in one of my weedy flower beds while I sat in an air-conditioned car with the lights on her. I needed to make sure she finished the job. Don’t you know every mosquito on Lake Jackson was attracted to those lights? She accused me of child abuse on that one—that is until she had kids of her own.

Or how about the year Tracy, as the angel, couldn’t be still in the Christmas pageant and knocked over the manger causing baby Jesus to roll into the audience. Notice how so many of these stories highlight Tracy. There’s your sign!

Incidentally, when baby Jesus took his tumble, Jamie, who had pouted all day about being a shepherd, because there weren’t enough boys in the church, said out loud, “Mama, I told you I would make a better angel!” They gave me great material every year.

A couple of days ago, while working on this year’s letter I wore Dad’s Brute aftershave and stopped several times to reminisce about him and all the mirth and tomfoolery he brought to our Christmases.

I don’t remember a specific fragrance for Grandma and Granddaddy Hamrick but there are strong memories of the aromatic smells of their kitchen, especially at Christmas. Cooking was her forte, and the smell of well-peppered chicken and rice makes me remember her. Hers was the best!

For Granddaddy it was fried bream and the best cornbread I have ever eaten. He passed away in 1968 when I was only 14, and I remember the complaints about everyone’s cornbread, though Mama and Grandma both said they made it just like he did.

About a year ago, though, I think I discovered what they were doing wrong. You see, that was just about the time everyone was encouraged to remove animal fats from our diets and cook with vegetable oils. Now don’t you know there were portions of our food industries who pushed that narrative.

Anyway, I have developed stomach problems with these newer processed oils, and I discovered gravy made from them makes me sick. But not gravy made from lard or bacon grease. And that is when it occurred to me to try bacon grease in my cornbread instead of other oils.

Voila—my cornbread is extra good. It will make your teeth slap your gums. I can’t help wondering if Granddaddy used animal fats and both Mom and Grandma, who both watched their weight, used the new fats, such as Crisco. Could that have been the difference?

A campfire or outdoor fire reminds me of a Florida winter tradition—an oyster roast. My Hamrick and Roe families get together one night each Christmas and we build a backyard fire and shuck oysters. That is a special smell all its own. And for me and Chuck, a gin and tonic is the perfect chaser.

When the girls were in high school, their school had a Shuck and Burn with this same tradition.

Yesterday, I put up a tree. I no longer worry about a real tree, though we have done it for over 40 years. Now, I drag out that little three-piece fake pre-lit tree and stick a Glade pine-scented bottle in a socket. The house smells like the tree is real.

Of course, the kids think they’re missing out on their family’s traditions and nostalgia, but they better suck it up. The year before last when we had moved to Monticello and I had been downsizing by over 1500 sq. ft. since the Christmas before, I put this same tree up and then dreaded doing all the rest of the decorating.

I stopped to rest, lay on the sofa, and read an article in a magazine about the newest fad called the naked Christmas tree. I looked over at the pre-lit tree and decided right then and there that I was done.

After more than a week, Jamie finally asked when I was going to finish decorating. Tracy, who lives north of Atlanta, walked in several days before Christmas and was astounded. She said she missed the surprise of seeing what color the tree would be. I told her the color this year was nude. Jeff? Well, I’m not sure our engineer son even noticed.

So Christmas brings its own scents to remind us of those who have passed before us. And who knows maybe our grandchildren will remember us in the same way many years in the future.

Is this the Day and Month that will be on your Tombstone?

November 7, 2023 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life

Just about this time of November, I find myself making note of the days on my calendar—of days long gone. Somehow, November hangs in the balance, because several dates hold special memories, both happy and sad.

November 1st is my mother-in-law’s birthday. Dody was special and if she were still alive, she would now be 105. We called her the energizer bunny. She had amazing energy right on up until she passed at the age of 93. I can still hear her say, “And that is all I am going to say about that.”

Between Dody’s birthday and Veteran’s Day, my mind turns to the veterans in my family. I never got to meet my granddaddy Roe, because he was killed in an accident four years before I was born; but there is a banner hanging downtown to honor his service during World War I. There is also one for my dad, who I lost on November 13 in 2003, due to pancreatic cancer. Daddy served in the Korean War.

There is a new banner on the courthouse square this year to honor my Grandmother Roe’s brother Duff Smith. Uncle Duff and Aunt Eva had only one child who died at birth, and they were never able to have any more. They left my dad and my uncle their farm, so this year we made sure his banner was added. He served in World War I in some of the worst fighting in the trenches of France.

Next year, we will add Chuck’s father’s banner. He never lived in Monticello, but his son Chuck does. Charlie Littlejohn participated in the second wave on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. Chuck was born during that invasion in 1944. I never met my father-in-law, because he passed away just as Chuck and I began dating over 35 years ago.

November 11 quickly turns into November 13, the day my dad died, and with it come my own thoughts of mortality. This year, I’ve pondered which day will be my death day.

Think about it! One of those 365 days will forever be your death month and day. Will it be November 15 or March 18? Or it will be December 25th! Every day of the year has a 1 in 365 chance of being the month and day on your tombstone. I try not to dwell too much on that one.

My next special date in November is the 16th, the month and day my parents married. I was their first born and probably you could find my essence that day somewhere behind my mother’s smile. I was born two years after their marriage.

Finally, the month culminates in Thanksgiving. Christmas might have been my favorite holiday when I was a child, but as an adult, I treasure Thanksgivings more. My memories overflow with decades of wonderful family get-togethers—of mama, Aunt Sandra, and grandmother Hamrick preparing a feast for a king. All three women were fabulous cooks! I can still smell the wonderful aroma of my grandmother’s chicken and rice.

My memories overflow with family stories, laughter, and pick up games like the Gobbler Bowl at the high school football field, where the entire town showed up. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, at the baptist church days later, the auditorium was full of injured church goers—broken bones and sprained limbs.

And all through the month, football reigned supreme. My high school then was one of the winningest football teams in Florida. I always thought it was due to the watermelon fields where the boys worked during the summer. It made a great weight room.

November was always a special month in this household, and now it holds so many memories. I now live in the house in which I was raised.

Thankfully, I learned early how to count my blessings, and by doing so I now lean on those wonderful blessings and let the sad parts go.

I feel fortunate that I was brought up to believe in a higher being and to lean on his everlasting arms! Through thick and thin, something inside of me holds stead when times go low.

And I can’t help wondering if this may be the reason so many young people give up today and take their lives. Are there correlations between family, spiritual teachings, and their happiness and ability to cope. Have they learned to depend on themselves more and do they have someone else to depend on when things spin out of their control?

But that is all I have to say about that!

My Life with Alexa

June 22, 2023 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life

And how it can help dementia patients!

I remember when I first met Alexa. We spent a weekend at the beach with our three kids and their families. Our youngest daughter brought her Echo Dot.

I know not everyone uses these things and are asking, What is an Echo Dot?

The Echo Dot is a smart speaker developed by Amazon.com. It is about the size of a hockey put or paper weight. Tap below to see one on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/All-New-release-Smart-speaker-Charcoal/dp/B09B8V1LZ3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O15471L1X882&keywords=Echo&qid=1687486541&sprefix=echo%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-1

Mine is set up in the kitchen because that is where I need the most information. I often need help with measurements, like how many ounces are in a half cup. Or in the morning I might want to know what the weather is for the day. Or I’ll ask her to set an alarm for 35 minutes. Or maybe I just want to listen to the radio.

Cost is reasonable at under $50. Simple to set up. Simple to use.

Sitting here, I asked Alexa to play a Louie Armstrong song, and “When You Are Smiling” came up first. Wow! His trumpet solo at the end was just as amazing as the first time I heard it. I love Alexa.

A few days after I got the Echo Dot, I was in the kitchen as was Chuck, who had no idea what was lurking behind the beige rooster that sits by the range. All of a sudden, I said, “Alexa, play 100.7 Tallahassee,” and instantly Preston Scott’s voice appeared in our kitchen. With a confused look on his face, Chuck looked around for where the sound was coming. That was fun.

Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that can play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms, and much more. I like to play the state capital game. She asks five questions, like “What is the capital of Pennsylvania?” I keep wanting to say Philadelphia, but she says, “That is incorrect. The capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg.” It entertains me while I’m cooking.

My Echo Dot can be connected to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or a 3.5 mm stereo cable to play music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, or TuneIn. The one I now have in my kitchen is bigger than the dot and has a screen. Chuck loves to see pictures of himself on it.

I now have a few compatible smart devices in my home. The one in my kitchen turns off and on a light in the living room. When she does it, she says “ok.” Sometimes, Chuck says, “ok, what?”

The Echo Dot has a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, as an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer.

It has been especially helpful with Chuck’s dementia. Everyday at 9:30 am, she says, “Chuck, please don’t forget to take your vitamins.” At 10:30 am, she reminds him to mix some protein powder with fruit juice. Twice during the day, she reminds him to do his physical therapy exercises.

Sometimes, it works, with no additional prompting from me. He takes his vitamins. Some days, she says, “Chuck, please don’t forget to do your physical therapy exercises, and from his man cave he blows her a raspberry. Funny man!

Chuck has an echo dot in his man cave. For a while, he would ask me to come get it to play 100.7 WFLA in the mornings. I obliged, until one day, I heard him talking to her. When I got there 100.7 was playing. I wondered how he did it all by himself.

A few days later, he told me that Alexa was so cool. All he has to say is “Alexa start,” and she does. I try not to disagree with Chuck, but I’m thinking, “I don’t think that’s how she works.”

Turns out, I was wrong. Somehow, those two have worked it out. He says, “Alexa start,” and she plays the last thing he did, which is always the same, 100.7. I’m always amazed at how Chuck maintains his independence! We’re still hanging in here!

I’m Back!

August 3, 2022 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life, Palmetto Pioneers

Several years ago, I wrote a farewell post letting all of you know that I was taking some time off. The post is here.

Chuck’s dementia and the book I was writing took too much of my time. I suspended the blog for the interim.

I am happy to announce that the book is finished and finally published. I knew it was taking me forever, but the book is now three books of the “Palmetto Pioneers” series. Here is a post I did on the book back in 2016.

The first book in the series is entitled, “The Emigrants”, and it follows the main character’s life from the age of 7 until Florida becomes a state in 1845, when she was 23 and married. Her family moves to the territory of Florida in 1829.

Full Book Cover (Front, Spine, and Back)

The book has three purposes. The primary purpose is to help her descendants understand what it was like to move to Florida during that era. It describes what Monticello looked like when they arrived, and how it and Jefferson County changed over the early years of its founding.

A secondary purpose of the book is for Jefferson County and its residents to understand the area’s heritage.

A third purpose is for Floridians to understand this part of the state and the role it played in the formation of the down-state areas. Many of these families migrated farther south after the Indian wars and the Civil War.

So I am back writing posts for this blog. Chuck is doing as well as can be expected. He no longer drives and lacks his short-term memory, but he is still fairly independent, especially after we moved from the larger house to my much smaller family home. We are in walking distance of downtown with its coffee shop, barber shop, and vegetable and fruit stand.

Chuck walks everywhere and enjoys his newfound freedom. He has no trouble finding his way back home as long as he can see the courthouse which is higher than anything else in town. From the courthouse, he knows to go toward the bank and keep walking.

More to follow!

I won’t post weekly like before, but will try to post at least once a month.

Glazed Ham with Applejack Fig Chutney

May 18, 2020 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: In the Kitchen

This ham recipe that I used for Easter was super easy and equally delicious.

The recipe is below:

Glazed Ham with AppleJack Fig Chutney

Preparation time 40 minutes, total time is three hours. Serves 12

1/4 cup applejack brandy

1 1/4 cups fig preserves

1/3 cup, +2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar, divided

1 8 to 9 pound fully cooked bone in spiral cut ham, half, I used a Fresh Market ham

1 pound of fresh figs, optional, if you do not have fresh figs you may just add more fig preserves, but my fig preserves were homemade and had whole figs in it

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

One piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced, 2 Tbs.

Quarter teaspoon kosher salt

8th teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1. preheat oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set a wire rack inside the baking sheet. Stir together applejack, one cup of fig preserves, and 1/3 cup of the brown sugar in a small bowl to make glaze. Place ham on a large piece of aluminum foil big enough to cover entire ham. Brush with 1/2 cup of the glaze. Wrapped tightly in aluminum foil. Please cut side down on prepared wire rack. Add 3 cups water to baking sheet under rack. Bake ham two hours.

Meanwhile, heat a large cast iron skillet over high until hot. Add fresh figs, cook stirring occasionally until browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add coconut oil and ginger. Cook, stirring often until softened and fragrant, about two minutes. Add salt, allspice, and remaining quarter cup preserves and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Cook, stirring often, until liquid has mostly evaporated, about four minutes. Remove from heat, stir in lime juice. Transfer mixture to a bowl, cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove ham from oven. Remove foil. Increase oven temperature to 425°F. Baste ham with 1/2 cup of the applejack glaze, brushing in between slices. Return to the oven. Bake uncovered at 425°F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Brush with the remaining half cup of glaze. Continue baking uncovered until the thermometer inserted in thickest portion of ham registers 140°F, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven. rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve with fig chutney.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.

How Working Forests Work During a Hurricane

October 26, 2018 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life

This week members of the forestry community are hard at work in Northwest Florida after the devastating winds of Hurricane Michael.

When Michael slammed through their area on Wednesday, October 10^th about two weeks ago, over three million acres of Florida’s forestland in eleven counties were affected. Hurricane Michael pummeled these beautiful forests, some of which will take generations to recover.

This week is Working Forests Work Week in Florida, and members of the forestry community will work all this week to help people understand the business of forests and trees in our state. Last year I posted about this. You can read it here.

Forests are Important to Florida

What you may have learned last year is that a working forest is one that produces economic value to an area. There are over 17 million acres of forests in Florida, mostly in the north and central regions of our state, which is more than half of our state’s total land area. Almost 65% of them are in private ownership.

A Florida Forest – Florida Forestry Association Photo

But what does that mean to those lands in the path of Hurricane Michael?

Well, it means a lot, a whole lot! Hurricane Michael seems to have picked the least populated path to go through Florida. The eleven mostly rural counties affected depend totally on agriculture, and trees are their biggest crop. The initial value estimate of these altered, damaged, or destroyed timbers in Florida is staggering.

Michael’s Path Through Rural Northwest Florida – Florida Forest Service

Of Florida’s 17 million acres of forest, 2.8 million were affected, that’s 16.4%. Almost 350,000 acres suffered catastrophic timber damage.

Catastrophic Damage

That means an estimated 164 million trees were destroyed. But those are only the trees on acreage with catastrophic damage. Another 1.04 million acres have severe timber damage and 1.4 million acres have moderate timber damage.

Florida Forest Service Photo

These numbers include not only pine acreage, but also mixed uplands and bottomlands. Plus, damaged were pulp mills and sawmills.

A Catastrophic Financial Loss to the Industry

The financial losses to the timber companies and private landowners are devastating. The total estimated timber damage is over $1.289 billion, but these are only the immediate and direct impacts of the hurricane.

Floridians are used to these hurricanes, and previous experience and knowledge indicates that there will be even more long-term impacts and losses. These same industries will spend added dollars for significant debris removal of the timber that can be salvaged. Also, reforestation could be as high as $240 million.

Some timber may be still standing, but will lose value due to wind damage, such as poor form and wind sweep.

Wildfires may pose problems due to upwards of 100 tons of forest fuels on the ground per acre.

Yes, that is a house back there behind a lot of forest fuel on the ground. It reflects how much fuel is actually there.

Finally, long term there will be potential losses due to the reduction of jobs and forest industry in the area. Not all tree owners will replant.

It takes anywhere from 20-25 years of hard work and diligence to grow a pine forest. That is why these losses are so painful to so many. The private landowners especially have such a passion for their lands.

So Who was Affected

The three counties with the most catastrophic damages were Bay, Calhoun and Gulf Counties. Bay and Gulf are coastal counties, but interior Calhoun’s forest lands totaled 88.1% catastrophic loss. Gulf which includes little Mexico Beach lost almost 85% of their forest lands.

The Cleanup Has Started

For a short time many of these areas will have an increase in forestry-related work. Loggers, tree nurseries, truck drivers, and others will find themselves busy over the next few months clearing and salvaging what can be salvaged, while others will be replanting.

Many Recreational Lands Affected

This area of Florida is also cherished for its recreational value. It is full of beautiful state and national forests used for hiking, camping, hunting and other recreational activities. These industries will be affected as well.

Great Quail Habitat – Florida Forestry Association Photo

These lands were also crucial to our environmental systems. The recovery of these resources matter, not only to our state but this region especially.

To add insult to injury we are entering winter in Florida, and normally we get cooler and drier here in north Florida. Wildfire conditions increase normally during the winter, but this year may be worse due to all the downed trees and dry debris. Added to this are crossed fire lines, inaccessibility to timberlands, and the chances for fire increase exponentially.

The Aftermath of a Wildfire – Florida Forest Service

Last weekend, my daughter, brother-in-law, and I made a relief run to a little town called Howard’s Creek just north of Port St. Joe in Gulf County. We witnessed this devastation first hand, and many of the photos above were taken then. Already, though, the recovery efforts have begun. Timber crews were already at work removing downed trees in these forestlands.

These are survivors. The people of Florida are survivors. The work has begun, and this is how working forests work in our state even during a disaster.

Everyone Listen: Here’s Why I Must Say Goodbye

July 4, 2018 by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Family Life

It is with a heavy heart that I must discontinue posting to my blog; why I must say goodbye. I find that I have less and less time for this endeavor as Chuck’s condition continues to decline.

If you remember, a little more than a year ago I posted a description of my initial reactions to Chuck’s diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. You can read about it here.

We entered into a long line of tests feeling confident that they would find an answer to his short-term memory problem, a diagnoses that could be reversible. We were wrong. It appears Chuck is part of the 65% who worsens over time.

At the time I thought I could continue the blog and maybe even share moments of our life with all of you. I even thought it might be therapeutic.

But I was wrong on so many levels. As Chuck’s condition deteriorates, I have less and less time for the blog, book, the garden, or any other hobbies that I had. It’s time to say goodbye.

One Wild Ride

It has been a wild ride. He completely stopped paying bills back around Christmas of last year, and it was a relief at the time because I never knew whether all the bills were getting paid or not. Since then I have had to pick up that chore myself. For the first time in 30 years I’ve had to sit down and pay bills. On the bright side I haven’t had to worry about our finances in a very long time.

On the other hand when things break, I no longer have him to depend upon. In fact the situation has reversed and is worse than ever. He still thinks he can fix it.

For example, a few weeks ago one of the toilets at the coast malfunctioned. We don’t stay there all the time, and we noticed an odor each time when we arrived—an odor that disappeared after a short while. Then a couple of weeks ago we arrived but this time the odor did not disappear right away. Instead Chuck flush the toilet and water poured out of the seal just above the floor.

We immediately called the plumber but it was Friday afternoon and the plumber could not get to us until Monday. We decided not to use the toilet until he came. He told us that the toilet had been re-sealing itself after each long period of non use until finally the gap got so large that it released water.

However on that Saturday Chuck called me into that bathroom and proudly announced that he fixed the toilet. He had a bucket of water and had taken the lid off of the back of the toilet whereupon he demonstrated how he could pour the water into the tank and then lift the bulb to flush the toilet. I tried to explain that this wasn’t the problem but he would have none of it so convinced was he. I’m learning to just agree and move on. By that afternoon, he broke the bulb off.

The next Monday I had a doctor’s appointment and was away when another plumber came who did not know exactly what was wrong with the toilet. So he fixed the broken bulb and left without fixing the seal. I had to call the plumber back to fix the original problem.

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

This is my life now, one step forward and two steps back. And now Chuck is having fender benders—at least five that we know of in the past several weeks. Two totaling almost $5,000. He is having a driving assessment. Meanwhile we have to try to keep him out of the car…and the boat.

He is angry about it because he doesn’t understand. He keeps telling us that he feels fine and that nothing is wrong and that we are all blowing this out of proportion. Yesterday he angrily accused us of treating him like a child.

Time to Reorganize

And so my time is consumed by phone calls, appointments, and general minutia. It is time for me to re-organize my life so that I begin to have more time for Chuck as well as myself. I also have to realize that I cannot do it all.

So I won’t be posting anything new and will probably not continue updating any of the old posts as I have been doing since the first of the year. I will keep the website up and I may give everyone an update from time to time but nothing will be regular. For now I owe it to my sweet, sweet Chuck to try to maintain calm and carry-on the best that we can, to bask in the fleeting golden moments of time together.

It has been a wonderful five years writing to you. Thank you to everyone for all the supportive comments and feedback and all the best to each of you. I may be back when life changes again, but for now it is goodbye.

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