I don’t know that I have too much to report on from out here in North Key Largo, Florida. Yesterday (Christmas) was lovely and very lazy. We already opened our presents from the previous night, so instead the day consisted of breakfast, laying out at the pool, and preparing the traditional prime rib Christmas feast. The dinner was spectacular as usual and afterwards we sat down and watched a good chunk of Dodgeball with the absolutely fabulous Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. Then I went to sleep.
Today was a bit more eventful but still tame. I awoke pretty early in preparation for sailfishing in the Atlantic Gulf Stream. However a cool front made its way in early this morning and the winds were intense. They never did seem to die down and fishing was cancelled. This is good, because the surf would have been horrendous, but this is bad because the gentleman we were to fish with has a HUGE fishing yacht which would have been cool to experience. Plus it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been off the reef and into the deep, deep waters of the Gulf Stream so I’m sort of disappointed about that. Maybe he’ll call back to reschedule. Either way, we’re fishing on Tuesday and hopefully I’ll end up with a ton of fish to bring back to Houston.
So the day was much the same. I went to the pool (which ended up being the entire family), went to the golf range to get some practice in, then showered and got ready to see The Polar Express a CGI movie with the main voices done by Tom Hanks. I remember reading the book when I was little and still own the book I’m sure. I think it won the Caldecott Award or something. Anyway, the movie was absolutely fantastic! The animation is incredible. Seriously, it makes Shrek 2 look like Titan AE, which all was a computer animation pioneer back in the late 90’s but now is nothing more than a fancy cartoon. The story was nice too, as it focused on the “Spirit of Christmas” as opposed to the actual Santa Claus or if there really is one or not. It was a lovely message, the movie was funny, and the animation is the best on the planet (until next year when something else comes out). Pretty soon, there will be no need for real actors and people will make big bucks doing voices or something.
A couple of funny side notes, when I was at the pool, Mary Mathieu called to return my Merry Christmas wishes from the previous day. She is in Houston right now with family, and apparently it’s quite a zoo. Shortly after ending our conversation, I got a text message from her sister Sarah which said “It’s 11:30, and I’m already drinking. I love my family.” which was the funniest thing I’d read in quite a while. The other note is that my mom was in the clothes store a few days ago and found some cute pink golf balls that she wanted to get for someone, but the store only took the Ocean Reef credit card or cash. She thought she didn’t have any cash and was fumbling through her purse looking for some. The guy behind her pulled out a big wad of money and offered it to Mom to pay for the pink golf balls, but fortunately she found the correct amount of currency. She turned to thank the guy, and it was Frank Gifford who is a resident here. So that’s kinda fun.
Finally there are two tragic things to talk about. One is the horrible situation in Southeast Asia where an earthquake caused a Tsunami which has killed at least 11,000 people and I can imagine well over 25,000 when everything is counted. This must be one of the worst natural disasters of the last century or so and, it’s impossible to imagine the carnage and loss of life out there. I can’t comprehend 100 deaths much less 25,000. My heart goes out to all of those out there who have lost. The other death was that of Reggie White, one of the best defensive ends to ever play professional football. He seemed to touch many lives during his career and after, and that’s sad especially when it’s someone so young (43).
Today was a bit more eventful but still tame. I awoke pretty early in preparation for sailfishing in the Atlantic Gulf Stream. However a cool front made its way in early this morning and the winds were intense. They never did seem to die down and fishing was cancelled. This is good, because the surf would have been horrendous, but this is bad because the gentleman we were to fish with has a HUGE fishing yacht which would have been cool to experience. Plus it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been off the reef and into the deep, deep waters of the Gulf Stream so I’m sort of disappointed about that. Maybe he’ll call back to reschedule. Either way, we’re fishing on Tuesday and hopefully I’ll end up with a ton of fish to bring back to Houston.
So the day was much the same. I went to the pool (which ended up being the entire family), went to the golf range to get some practice in, then showered and got ready to see The Polar Express a CGI movie with the main voices done by Tom Hanks. I remember reading the book when I was little and still own the book I’m sure. I think it won the Caldecott Award or something. Anyway, the movie was absolutely fantastic! The animation is incredible. Seriously, it makes Shrek 2 look like Titan AE, which all was a computer animation pioneer back in the late 90’s but now is nothing more than a fancy cartoon. The story was nice too, as it focused on the “Spirit of Christmas” as opposed to the actual Santa Claus or if there really is one or not. It was a lovely message, the movie was funny, and the animation is the best on the planet (until next year when something else comes out). Pretty soon, there will be no need for real actors and people will make big bucks doing voices or something.
A couple of funny side notes, when I was at the pool, Mary Mathieu called to return my Merry Christmas wishes from the previous day. She is in Houston right now with family, and apparently it’s quite a zoo. Shortly after ending our conversation, I got a text message from her sister Sarah which said “It’s 11:30, and I’m already drinking. I love my family.” which was the funniest thing I’d read in quite a while. The other note is that my mom was in the clothes store a few days ago and found some cute pink golf balls that she wanted to get for someone, but the store only took the Ocean Reef credit card or cash. She thought she didn’t have any cash and was fumbling through her purse looking for some. The guy behind her pulled out a big wad of money and offered it to Mom to pay for the pink golf balls, but fortunately she found the correct amount of currency. She turned to thank the guy, and it was Frank Gifford who is a resident here. So that’s kinda fun.
Finally there are two tragic things to talk about. One is the horrible situation in Southeast Asia where an earthquake caused a Tsunami which has killed at least 11,000 people and I can imagine well over 25,000 when everything is counted. This must be one of the worst natural disasters of the last century or so and, it’s impossible to imagine the carnage and loss of life out there. I can’t comprehend 100 deaths much less 25,000. My heart goes out to all of those out there who have lost. The other death was that of Reggie White, one of the best defensive ends to ever play professional football. He seemed to touch many lives during his career and after, and that’s sad especially when it’s someone so young (43).
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