When I left, the attorney(?!) who was seated a couple of seats down from me was also kicked off, but the two police officers, one of which was a specialist in their crime were still sitting?! I couldn't believe it. It must've been a strategy thing. The only questions they asked related to that were: 1) do you think police automatically tell the truth?, 2) would you weigh their testimony like anyone else's?, and 3) have you had bad/good experiences with police officers? That was it. I was speechless. I knew the area of town where they commited their crime, and all that surrounded it. That was the part they wanted you to be impartial about, and there was no way I could've agreed they didn't know where they were, or be impartial at all!!! I couldn't believe it.

WONDERFUL!!! You all just make my day so light hearted and joyous. Down right funny and Rick that is a fantastic poem. Poor Ellie, please, be sure to stay away from my Chaste Tree (Vitex). I bet it had thousands of bumble bees on it yesterday. I tried to get a photo, but the bees move so darn fast that my poor camera just couldn't do it justice. You could actually hear the BUZZZZZZZ before I got within ten feet of the tree. Well, maybe I will post a photo of the tree. It's been so pretty. Blessings, Mona

We were without power for 21 days in 2004 after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. My husband lost his saltwater reef tank, all the soft and hard corals and fish he had collected and nurtured, we lost everything in our freezer and fridge. We could stay here during the day, we do have a pool but after the first week it was not able to be used for any human use. We had to stay in a hotel that had power at night. My greenhouse had a foot of water in it but surprisingly I lost no plants, it receded pretty quickly as we drain downhill to a creek in the back of the property. We have vowed to get a generator every year for the last 4 and now we are going to. Thunderstorms here in North Central FL blow up quickly and out of nowhere due to the sea breeze convergence zone that sits right over us. We are in the almost exact center of the state, 45 minutes from each coast, and when east coast and west coast seabreeze meets, we get lots of fireworks. There was a very severe storm here on Friday, it was raining torrentially and I had to go pick up my daughter from summer band at the school...on the way home down our road we almost had to stop and pull over because I couldn't see the road, but then a huge bolt of lightning struck right on the side of the road by the car! We saw where it touched the ground and it made flames for a brief instant. The whole road and the car shook, and the crack of noise was deafening. My ears were ringing. AFter that I was scared to pull over in case a tree fell or something. We found out the next day that a local park ranger in a nature preserve area called Paynes Prairie was killed when a tree blew onto their car during that storm. These summer storms are nothing to fool with no matter what state you live in, and they are almost impossible to predict sometimes. Just glad you are safe and have power back!

I've been wondering how you were doing. It's good to hear from you. Yes! Take it easy and do everything you are told! I know guys who didn't and have paid for it ever since. A bit of pain management advice: the first couple of times you go to physical therapy take half a pain pill (or a whole pill) and you'll get more out of the session. Trust me on this. Someone will have to drive you but it'll only be the first couple of times. After that you'll be much stronger and have more endurance. Glad to have you back! "Down Dunkie! Down!" Lori