#3 An Earth Shaking Week....

This is how I would like to shop at Walmart!!!

One day this week we went to the beach and stayed until the man had had enough. This is the beach looking south.

This is the beach looking north. Note the crowds and all of the buildings? This is why we chose to come to Titusville this winter. This beach is a national park.

On the way back home from the beach we pass a wildlife sanctuary. Here we have a rosietta spoonbill.

Here we have a white bird with a very long beak.

There are many more birds here now than when I last visited in March. For all of you avid birders, there is a big bird festival coming to Titusville from Jan.21-26. For the rest of you, like myself, you like your birds with salt and pepper!!!

A little bashful but striking a lovely pose.

Approximately every two days we go to the gym. The building is right across from our building's front door so it is very convenient. I could write a blog on all of the different people we have shared this space with. Very interesting.................... But I won't.

On the morning of Tues.Jan.6th we got up at 6 to watch our first rocket launch. SpaceX Dragon was scheduled to take off at 6:20. There is a parkette beside out building and there were a large group of spectators assembled. I was thinking of going down and offering 12th floor balcony space to the first 18, that's what the elevator will carry, people willing to pay $10 each. But I didn't. One man in the crowd yelled,"5 minutes."....."2 minutes"....."1 minute".....and thirty seconds later,"It's been scrubbed!!!" What!!! This was no more than a sleepus interuptus at this awful hour of the day!?!?!? I was not impressed.

 Friday, Jan.9th was the next launch date possibility but now it is
going to be at 5:47 in the morning!!! Good grief. Could they not come
up with a more reasonable time than that!!!

There were understandably far less people in the parkette. We had the tv on to make sure this baby was going to actually do it and then it happened!!!! We saw it take off and start to rise but then it appeared to be coming right at our building!!! The Relative had warned us that the sound came about 30 seconds after the launch but I was not prepared for a freight train to roar through the unit!!! Not only that but the building was moving and the hurricane shutters were all rattling!!! Honestly, I was scared. I jumped behind Ray and grabbed hold of his jacket. He reacted like I was a pesky fly he couldn't get off his back. "What are you doing?" "Get off of me!!!" But I wasn't letting go. The noise went on and on and the rocket was getting closer and closer!!! I thought on 9/11 and how the planes went into the buildings and now I was going to witness a rocket coming into the building I was in...................Slowly, very slowly, the rocket began to curve to the left as it continued to climb. I can't remember all the things I promised God but I sure had a long list!!!!

Should you be planning on coming down to see us and want to have the experience of being in the backyard of a rocket launch, go to www.spaceflightnow.com to see the up coming dates for the next three months. It seems we are going to do this again and again and again and........



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Titusville is rich with thrift stores and antique shoppes. This was one of my early finds. Won't this look fabulous in the cabin??? Now to solve the "debate", is this a 3 point buck or a 6 point buck?

 You get the idea...... The other day we are sitting having cocktails and cards as we do daily at about 4 when the intercom in our unit started going,"Wha, wha, wha, This is an emergency. Evacuate the building immediately. This is an emergency. Evacute......" You get the picture. We couldn't believe it!!! I had had enough trama for one week!!! The teacher in me takes command, "Close the windows. Shut the doors. Get the register." Woops, no register and we start walking down 12, actually it is 24 flights of stairs. As we get to around the 6th floor I see a guy behind us carrying a beer. Again past training takes over and I calmly ask if he wants to go ahead which he does. Same thing happens around the 4th floor but this time it is a couple each carrying a glass too. We make it outside in good time I would say to see that most of the other inhabitants of our building are also having cocktail hour. Next time, no register but be sure to grab the cocktails!!!!

Finally, while Ray and The Relative are out golfing, I am exploring and what a delightful find this museum is at the corner in downtown Titusville of Main and Washington. The couple on duty on Saturdays are an absolute delight. The lady volunteer walked around with me pointing things out I may have missed and was there to answer any question that I might have. It has an amazing collection of gems all from Titusville. I even learnt that there are some large old homes in the area that you can go and visit if you are sure to call first!!! Again, what a delight. They even encouraged me to become a volunteer and if I don't hear back from a couple of the places I have offered service to, I may just do that!!!

Tomorrow I start volunteering at Brevard County Kitchen where I will be assisting in assembling 2000 meals on Tues. and Thurs. mornings for meals-on-wheels, schools and places where old folks accumulate. This will be a brand new experience for me. As I love to cook and certainly love food, I am looking forward to new knowledge and lots of fun!!!!