Looking Back

 We are told to not look back too much lest we get into the weeds of painful memories that tend to morph into bitter regrets. But a little backward glance, especially over the very latest of our days, usually doesn't hurt.... 

We have dined at Crumps Landing along the Homosassa River several times over the last couple of years. When we had our floors replaced, the salesman told us it was a favorite with his family and now we heartily agree.  

I ❤️❤️❤️ eating on the water. It's absolutely one of my favorite things about living in Florida.

All of the dining is outdoors and most of the [many] tables are under umbrellas, awnings, or this very large tiki roof. There are fans in some areas. Beside the water there might be a breeze.

The stretch of river where the restaurant sits is a "no wake zone" for the boats, so aside from background music, there are no obnoxious noises to contend with as we dine. It's about an hour's drive from our home. We arrived at 11am, when they open, and before it could get crowded.

After placing our order, I took this selfie of the two of us, but then Gary said I should take one with the water behind us, so here's that:

Either way, we look like incognito movie stars!! (ha-ha!)

Gary ordered a burger, and I got the steak tacos.

Crumps' food does not disappoint!

As for other recent memories made, the annual rainy season has FINALLY moved into our part of town. We tend to get a really hard downpour about once a day (late afternoon or in the evening) with about one inch registering in our rain gauge. It is helping with the extreme draught conditions we've had for many months (hard as that is to believe for Florida).

In addition to the rain, nature has also provided us with some visitors. These are 2 baby Doves nested in one of our palm trees. 

A raccoon visited us one morning while we were sitting on our back patio. As interesting as that was, there is concern that it may have been diseased. Raccoons are nocturnal animals. When they're prowling around at 10am in broad daylight, they may be sick. We left it alone and it eventually wandered off.

Our current jigsaw puzzle is a doozie (i.e. very hard!). I broke my own promise to myself when I brought this one home from the library. It has 1,000 pieces (500 - 750 pieces is my personal preference). This puzzle has many colorful beach umbrellas that I thought would make this a quick-assemble, but NO! 

It may (or may not) help that we work our puzzles on a glass-topped table. 🤭 But that fact does make for an interesting snapshot, don't you think?!

In the kitchen, one day I got it into my head to try out a recipe for tomato pie. However, when I saw the effort and time that's necessary to chop and drain the juices out of the tomatoes, I opted instead to make my bacon quiche in a ready-made crust and serve sliced tomatoes on the side. There were no complaints from my dinner partner! 😋

To conclude this post that began with "Looking Back," it is no secret there are many things in our past that do not make for pleasant memories. I cannot overlook these two events:

But oddly enough, right in the midst of our unhappy memories, there are good things, too. One of my eleven grandchildren was born on 9/11.

An undeniable fact of life is that we face potholes and pop quizzes [nearly] every day. While I wish that were not true, for those of us who are true Christians, there is blessing in adversity. We tend to learn better through the challenges. In troubles God is trying to get our attention so we can learn, be strengthened, and benefit in helpful ways. 

And we know that in all things 

God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 NIV

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara