Bruce's Travels

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thursday Nov. 24 Dawn and I had a light breakfast at the condo, and then watched the Macy's parade as is our tradition for the last few years. We can tell we are getting older when over half the songs and artists seem to be rap-based. Loved the Rockettes, but oh my god Tony Bennett please retire. Thanks, though, to Miss Piggy for saving him from falling off the float. With our bigger kitchen, we decided to make a homecooked meal at the condo rather than go out. We had baked a Mrs. Smith's pumpkin pie the night before. We put a Jenny-O turkey breast in the oven about 10:30 a.m., and made mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce to go with. And of course gravy. Everything was delicious, and we played Scrabble in the afternoon. In the evening, I boiled the turkey carcass and picked it clean, and made matzo ball soup for dinner with plenty left over. It was a big day in the kitchen and we ended up doing three loads in the...

Dawn and I have noticed that, for the second year in a row, the local oranges aren't very good. They're dry and pithy and kind of sour ... not like the sweet, juicy oranges we remember. So I did a little investigating and found out that the oranges (and indeed all the citrus crops) here are being devastated by a bacterium (singular of bacteria) that is spread by an insect no larger than a grain of rice. The bug is the Asian citrus psyllid, and the disease is called "huanglongbing" or more commonly "tree greening" down here. Yep, it's a gift from our Asian friends, and the bacterium is so devastating to citrus crops that in 2003, the United States classified it as a bioterror weapon. At first, affected trees produce off-color, mis-shapen fruit that have an off- or bitter flavor. Eventually, the trees drop their fruit prematurely, and both trees and their fruit are useless. The Florida Dept. of Agriculture has been keeping its eye on this disease since 1...

Hi all: I've been in Florida one week already. The time flies by. Enjoying morning coffee and smoothie on the lanai. Dawn is at work; Abby is across from me, sleeping on one of the patio chairs. This is definitely her favorite room during the day. My travels here were some of the smoothest so far. Only one accident on the Interstate just north of Nashville. My accommodations in Clarksville (TN) and Tifton (GA) were there usual adequate. Abby once again was the perfect little traveler. I arrived at the condo unit about 3 p.m. on Thursday the 3rd. I got everything from the Prius unpacked and then waited for Dawn to come home. We had dinner at one of our fave restaurants, Pawnbrokers, where I had the 3-way shrimp platter and Dawn had baked cod. All very delicious as usual. Friday I walked a lap around Lakes Park, about 1.25 miles. The farmers' market at Lakes Park has been moved from Fridays to Wednesdays, so no market today. Next, I stopped at Sun Harvest Citrus (on my wa...