After having "Looking Back on 2006" themes stuffed in our face for the past week or two...It seems appropriate for me to add to it :-D. This year has certainly had its ups and downs, but, heck, life's good. You may not be interested in reading about my life, but...well...I need to post something for the new year. Keep in mind I did not start my blog till June.
My dad and I kicked off 2006 with our first big trip on our Pelican kayak, an 8-mile trip on Durbin Creek and Julington Creek on New Years Day.
I made my annual camping trip (7th year there, I believe) at the Battle of Olustee Reenactment in February. My dad and I drove into Lake City on Saturday night to eat at the Cracker Barrell restaurant. I intentionally wore my period dress, because I knew that Cracker Barrells in north Florida are always filled with culturally clueless tourists passing through to Disney World. Seeing the place filled with men dressed in uniforms, they must have thought They really DO think The War's still being fought! (and it is...just not with weapons.)
June brought a new chapter in my life, as I got into the whole blogger craze with the creation of The Minorcan Factor. I have discovered that there really are other people outside of my family who care about true Florida...however, I have yet to find another person my age who cares...but there's got to be one out there somewhere. It really has been, and still is, a great experience to (sort of) come into the lives of a few bloggers.
June also brought castnet knitting into my life. Though I have yet to post on this yet (darnit, no pictures), I have been slowly learning the traditional technique to create these tools that were so vitally important to my ancestors. One of my favorite old fools, Mr. Stuart Pacetti, has welcomed me into his life and home (well he is a distant cousin, I guess), to learn this valuable skill. I have been told by many that he is the master castnet knitter in Florida (he ties EVERY knot himself, unlike others who just knit together pieces of machine-made mesh.) It is an honor learning from the best. Not to mention the fact that his is one of the best story tellers I have ever met. A true Cracker, indeed.
July brought Camp Hope, which is always a great experience.
June, July, August, September, October, and November brought an unusually inactive hurricane season. Bummer. Unfortunately, it has not quieted down all this global warming *&%& like I had hoped it would.
August brought my birthday and a very memorable trip on Juniper Creek.
December brought my brother Andy back down from Chicago. When I turned the country music station on the night he got home, he asked me to turn it off...Too much of a culture shock. I fear he has been Yankeeized. (And now he'll quit griping about how I have not mentioned him on here yet.)
Well, I have rambled enough for tonight...only about 2 and a half hours till 2007. I will miss 2006, but I know 2007 has a lot to offer me too (such as my sister-in-law coming down from Chicago.) :-D
Have a good night, everyone...I don't really have a sly way to end off this post as I usually do, so I will have to resort to my Bag of Randomness (see below.)Hopefully the new year will bring back my dry humor...and take away this dry weather.
5 comments:
Happy New Year! It is already 2007 down there in the south, but up here in unusually warm Chicago, we Yankees still have 25 minutes left of 2006. I hope that 2007 brings you much happiness - I look forward to spending lots of time with you! But please, God, no country music. Although I am looking forward to engrossing myself in "southern culture", my "yankeeized" husband and I have to draw the line somewhere.
Happy New Year. But yah gotta be careful. Some of us Yankees adore country music. In fact, I only have my truck's radio tuned to country stations.
anonymous - I hope, once again, that you will find out what your name is someday. Yes, yes, I wish I was up there with you. I look forward to both of you being here. However, you don't necessarily have to draw the line at country music...draw it at...say...walking through the swamp.
paint - Happy new year to you. Whew I do know some people from the north how like country music. But those people obviously have some culture in them, so they aren't truly Yankees :-D. Thanks for reading this year...er...last year!
I'm guessing Mr. Stuart and my dad know each other. They are only a few years apart in age. I'll have to ask.
FC - Just about everybody in St. Johns County (or at least the people who have lived here a while) knows Mr. Pacetti. He's calls himself a "dumb ol' cracka" but he sure gets around!
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