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Sunday, January 25, 2009

(3) A Marine's touching story, buzzard loping, and sand dollar hunting...

Oh my what an eventful day today turned out to be. It all started with church service at Marco Island Methodist Church, with a guest presentation by Private Randy Kington, a Marine Corp veteran who was wounded and paralyzed during the Vietnam War. He had a very inspiring message, and was truly a beacon of hope and motivation for everyone. If you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak, or read his book titled 'What A Life', I suggest you jump at the occasion. He exhibits such a can-do attitude, despite such obstacle and handicap he was faced with at the young age of 19.

Following church service, we stopped by Porky's for a terrific breakfast. I had a triple stack of strawberry pancakes with a side of sausage patties. They cooked the strawberries right inside the pancake mix, which was quite festive and delicious.

With full bellies we ventured on to Walmart to pick up our photo prints for the photo contest. After reviewing the prints, I decided to submit my photo of the lone pelican on the water. Here is a better view of the photo in all its glory:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY!!!

Grandpa Jack will be sending me the results after they judge the entries next wednesday. I'm feeling pretty good about this picture, but what the hell do I know about photography really? haha

After we dropped off the photos, we headed next door to the 'Pelican Lake' RV Park for a high-scale motorhome exhibit. They had motorcoaches ranging from $500,000 to $2.2 million dollars. They were stunning to say the least, albeit more than a typical fella would ever practically need. It was nice just to trounce around these chrome-clad land barges like price was no object to us. We didn't even take our shoes off like most decent folks, but they had plastic protective covers over all the floors. Not to mention, it takes a real mega-millionaire attitude to barge right into a 2 million dollar motorhome without kicking off the Nike's. I'm sure we had the salespeople fooled into thinking we were high rollers. haha

Last night George and Gladys insisted that Grandpa take me down to Stan's for some fresh mullet (type of fish), so we decided today would be a good day to check it out. To our surprise, today was the annual 'Mullet Festival', and the place was swarming with upbeat retirees and motorcyclists who were funneling in for some mullet and beer. We parked about a mile from Stan's and walked down to the crowded bar. It was quite a sight, and grandpa explained to me the tradition of the 'Buzzard Lope' dance. Every year they have a 'buzzard lope' contest for the ladies, who dress in elaborate buzzard apparel, and try to mimic the awkward jig a buzzard displays when celebrating a nice road kill find. It was way too crowded for my comfort, and after about 30 minutes of wading through the drunks, shaking hands dozens of times with the inhebriated, and getting hugged and kissed on the forehead by a fellow Army veteran (who had just learned I was back from Iraq), I decided it was time to go. Grandpa wanted me to try a mullet sandwich, but at 10 bucks a pop we settled for a $4 bratwurst. (with plenty of sourkraut for me, yummy)

After the 1-mile hike back to the truck we headed over to Tiger Tail beach to comb the surf for sand dollars. We walked a good 3 miles of beach I'd guess and I found about 10 decent sand dollars. Grandpa's knee was getting sore trying to keep up with an Army guy who just spent 10 months in Iraq with the infantry, so we watched the sunset over the ocean and headed back to the RV park.

Whew, what an intersting day! Tomorrow will be more relaxing, with some bridge fishing before my permit expires.

Until then...

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