G'Bye August; H'llo September!

Sunflowers from Internet

Goodbye August! With the hottest days of summer receding in the rear view mirror, here is a list of the most notable aspects of our recent months:

our view from a horse-drawn tour carriage

* We spent two romantic nights in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina with informative tours via horse carriage, ferry boat and bus, and we gobbled down some good Southern food.

Trauma Intensive Care

* Gary fell from a ladder resulting in 4 broken ribs, a bruised lung, a sprained shoulder, arm, and hand -- which was his "ticket" to spend a couple nights in the downtown hospital's Trauma ICU. He has since then made a lot of progress; but healing does take time.

the T-Bird at a car show in July

* We made the decision to sell the 2002 Ford Thunderbird so we can buy a truck. While we have enjoyed the T-bird, a compact truck would serve us better as a second car. By the way, the 'Bird has not sold yet, so if you are seriously interested, send me an email and I'll direct you to the classic car dealership that has it.

Mary Englebreit

* There was the loss of my long-time blog, Sweet Tea and Sandals, due to my own mistake (and I won't go into THAT again). This led to the initiation of the blog you are reading now, My Journal Memories.

concert tribute to Motown

* We've been able to attend two really good concerts this summer in the retirement community next door to ours: Motown and The Atlantic City Boys. While we don't jump up to dance in the aisles as some do, we still put on the moves and jive in our seats. It's great fun!

securing outdoor furniture to the safety of our lanai

* Hurricane Idalia blew past us just a few days ago. We were spared damage and our power never did go out. We have much for which to be thankful.

Internet clip art

* Listing this last, but certainly not the least of importance, is that I made a change with the church I attend. For much of my adult life I have wanted to be in a really big church in the Bible-belt South. Since coming to Florida over 6 years ago, I've been able to do that. I wanted to "see how the big churches do things." But my need for a smaller congregation and easier methods of connecting with people has become more important to me. Since May I've done a lot of on-line research, sent emails, asked others about their churches, and visited some in person, and praying -- resulting in what seems to be just right. 

Vector Stock

All of that is in the past. September is already off to a wonderful start with some (very) gradual cooling of the weather. For our after-breakfast bike rides I've begun to wear short-sleeved T-shirts with bike shorts instead of the sleeveless tank tops.

experimenting with blog headers

I've been able to spend more time with finishing touches on this blog. I no longer have access to some of the programs that enabled me to design my own headers (I am VERY particular about that). I've poked around the Internet and played for hours with what Blogger allows on their free formats. I won't go into the details of that except to say I'm not a computer programer, so I'm learning to be satisfied with what I can do. What you see in the header now is what it will be, and that's that. (I like to keep it simple)

MJM blog header as of September 2, 2023

Another indication of a good start to September was Gary's idea for us to lunch at Swampy's today on the Rainbow River. He knows I love to eat within view of water, be it ocean, river, lakes, or even a pond fountain will do. 

Swampy's in Dunellon

It's a local burger 'n beer type of place. Neither of us drink beer so my beverage is usually Sweet Tea and Gary takes water. 

Gary at our riverside table

Probably 90 percent of the dining is outside in the open air under a roof or at riverside tables with umbrellas, the latter being my favorite by far.

the view from our table, looking north

To me, this is like something in a movie; I can hardly believe I get to dine in such a beautiful tropical setting, so close to home, with this wonderful man!

the view from our table, looking south

As you can see, the "floor show" at this place has people gliding by on boats, kayaks, canoes, inner tubes, and the like. 

While we have no promises (nor expectations) that the events of this cooler season of autumn will glide by us like a silent canoe, we can choose to trust the Lord to be with us and to give us the wisdom we need to get through whatever comes our way.

... I am with you always, 

even to the end of the world. 

Matthew 28:20

Until next time, grace and peace.