One year ago today? Wow, it feels like tons of years since we lost everything in our brand new trailer home in PCB (ok, it was from the tornados, not the eyewall, but everything was still gone and without Ivan there would not have been any tornados, etc., etc.). We ran all the way through Georgia into Tennessee and back down through Alabama. I hooked up with a friend that flies out of Tyndall and we stayed down there for a few days and he got me on a helicopter for an overflight. It's funny, you know, seeing your stuff all spread out on the ground like that and recognising it, but still trying to decide whether it was yours or not. Must be denial. The beds from the slut motel that was closer toward the beach had landed on top of our stuff so most of it wasn't as ruined by rain as some. I did find the huge staghorn coral piece, amazingly still attached to the wooden stand, that I bought way back in the 60's from the now-closed Alan Davis Shell Shop in Pensacola and that was truly good since it can't be harvested anymore, and a few other things I had saved from my childhood, such as my shell collection that I had put into one of those 'fill it yourself' lamps (lamp didn't work but that wasn't the point), and a pair of naval style bookends. All were wet through, and had some new 'character lines', but were salvageable. Everything else was just 'stuff', chattel, my 'many goats'. Minimalism is great as you just don't have as many 'many goats' to escape or lose. The big boat did just fine (in the trench with 5 anchors on it) and the other 2 were illegally parked down at Tyndall in a hangar! My friend could have gotten in terrible trouble for that but they were fine and nothing happened and he got a series of fine steak dinners (prime rib a jou!) for danger pay. We however got nothing from the government, so when the insurance finally paid off we decided to get a real trailer that could move and keep it somewhere as our 'vacation home' and start over again in Alabama. I started at Auburn for my Masters and subsequently found this board, changed jobs and eventually changed Thesis and today it is now been one year. Again, Wow!
The tilapia grew almost a whole inch while all the debris was in the ponds - they will apparently eat anything in front of them regardless, and can also apparently digest it ok. South American(?) fish must have a very varied diet! USDA man came and several reliable witnesses reported that he checked their poo (I was apparently away moving the camper and missed this visual treat!) and he pronounced them clean, so at least we'll have fish for dinner and a paycheck. Yay!
Behold the humble Tilapia - tastes like Chicken and breeds like Rabbits!
I feel blessed.
