Food Drive up at Fort Mose today

They posted that they had a food drive up at Fort Mose today, so I decided to raid the larder, got a bag full, and headed up- hadn't been here before, glad I went, not much to see, but very nice interpretive museum, and a .3 mile boardwalk out to the marsh- got 2 toy whirligig erector sets for my donatation.....

The islands are actually bird rookeries, and there were lots of wood storks, and herons about.

They have this site listed as a "precursor" site for the National Underground Railroad, meaning slaves may have very well taken off from here North.  This is a rendering of what the fort might have looked like-  There is nothing left building wise to tell- it was all trashed during the city of St Augustine's development- 

Fort Mose: Birthplace of Freedom

Hidden away in the marshes of St. Augustine, Florida is one of the most important sites in American history: the first free community of ex-slaves, founded in 1738 and called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose or Fort Mose (pronounced Moh-Say).

More than a century before the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves from the British colonies were able to follow the original "Underground Railroad" which headed not to the north, but rather south, to the Spanish colony of Florida. There they were given their freedom, if they declared their allegiance to the King of Spain and joind the Catholic Church.

Fort Mose was the northern defense of St.Augustine, the nation's oldest city.

The events that took place there should cause all American history textbooks to be rewritten.

Weekly Miscellanea

Getting back into the "Florida Routine" since we got back:

Randomly:

2 Trips to the Flea Market, the book store we like had books BOGO, so bette got 6 craft books for $5.00- and her Sunday hot dog breakfast- 

We made our first trip to the Linconville Farmer's Market, but it turned out to be a total bust-  just 4 tables of produce, and a guy cooking something-  so that will be scratched off the list for a while.

Our pals the Andersons came home from a cruise last night, so we invited them out to dinner, so they woudn't have to cook-  Went to Schooners, and I pigged out on coconut shrimp- Bette had a big steak. 

Went with the McCaws to what was supposed to be a big light show at the St Augustine lighthouse,but it turned out to be a complete bust-  There was supposed to be a shaft of light going "36,000 feet in the air, ala the World Trade Center lights they made it out to be-  supposed to be visible from miles around   NOT-   as we got there, we could barely see a shaft of light, total misrepresentation!  We drove downtown and did a drive through to see the downtown Chrismas lights, and then went to our favoite yogurt place at the Theater complex, but it was closed permanently!  Wound up back at Lou and Mary Beths for coffee and pound cake.  They have a cute new cat,  Chloe. 

Went to Wal mart a couple of times, Michaels for nothing, Bette is out today going to Hobby Lobby and Barnes and Noble-  this afternoon, I'm going to Fort Mose State Park - they have a food drive, so we're going to drop off a bag of food-  

Tonight is New Year's dinner with the Andersons and McCaws downtown at Harry's, our favorite place- 

Wednesday I have my appt with Dr Brian about my shoulder,and start my PT sessions back again-  Friday is the sleep test at Flagler Hospital- 

The house reno guys start back on Wednesday also up at Saddle Hill-

Busy week- 

Safely Home, even if we did leave at 0340!

Both of us couldn't sleep-  so we got up at 0320, fired up the coffee pot, and left the driveway at Saddle Hill at 0340

Hit Coquina at 1030-  ran up to the post office to pick up some mail, and got a half gallon of milk, and got unpacked very quickly, and are now resting up-  Bette of course is running up to Mah Jong- 

Got this wierd habit lately of leaving at 4 in the morning to go back and forth to SC-  It hits traffic perfectly both ways-  may be on to something!!!

Latest Medical

Now have the telephone it in results from the series of MRI's

Verdict is this so far:

Right shoulder-  Multiple tears of rotator cuff-  not sure how severe, how many, where, etc.
Plan of action for just now is to continue PT on my own for the next three weeks, since we are heading out of town, then I see Dr Raymaker again on 2 Jan for a consult. 

Surgery?  PT?  Can't say just yet.

Neck-  Evidence of large amount of arthritis and unspecified "disc disease."  Unknown what course of action just yet-  Current wishing and hoping is we can PT our way out of this, or at least get it to tolerable conditions.

Currently, my posture is much better as a result of PT, so we'll see how the next three weeks go.

Lower Back-  "No significant change since MRI of 1.5 years ago-  What this means as of today is unclear- again, we may be able to address this issue via PT, as opposed to any surgery. 

So- course of action is spelled out-  PT on my own for next three weeks, and a critical test as I am weaning off of the Prednisone in three days, and we'll see what my body says as far as the totality of the joint pain I was experiencing and its effect-   Hopefully lots of iceing 4x a day will take the place of the Prednisone.  Have to wait and see. 

New Plan- off to South Carolina on Friday

Bette rethought the travel plans and decided we should leave for SC on Friday, so she can have a rest day before heading off to Memphis on Sunday-  so ipso facto, we're off on Friday.

Still waiting to hear from the Drs office re the MRI's.  Suspect it will now be after the holidays before we move on that issue- 

Sooo- 367 miles or so later, Saddle Hill, here we come!

3 MRI's, Memphis Bound

I did a personal best 3 different MRI's today- shoulder, cervical neck, and lumbar back- I was in the tubes for almost 45 minutes!  Proud of me-  Hopefully, Dr Brian will have some direction for us to take in the next day or so. 

I did take a mother's little helper pill before hand, and had earphones and a rag over my eyes this time-  I did tolerate it finally. It was a pretty narrow tube, too.

Best guess at this point is perhaps a surgery required to repair possible rotator cuff right shoulder, and a decision as to what we can or can't do as far as lower back, and if there is anything we can do about the neck.

We also heard from Megan, and Bette will be joining she and Deanna next week in Memphis while Deanna goes for her checkup and treatment review.  We'll leave this Saturday for Greenwood, and then Bette will join them on Sunday, head to Memphis, and stay the week.  We'll wind up just staying in Greenwood at Saddle Hill for about three weeks.  That will work out since we are just about ready to start the major house renovations there, so I can be there for that. 

PT  for two more days this week, then I'll be off for three weeks, while we are in SC.  Thursday we have the monthly Golden Lion lunch with the Kingstons-  looking forward to that. 

This week pond stuff

We had beautiful weather this week, mid to high 70's most days, one day of rain showers with a nice rainbow-  and some pretty critters as always, missed a big gator because the batteries were not charged :-(

May have found the silver bullet!

I went on a 15 day run of Prednisone three days ago, and so far, have gotten rid of 95% of the grinding pain in the joints, can move my hands and right shoulder again, no pain in the hips, and am sleeping! 

Still don't have a final diagnosis, I go Monday and Tuesday for MRI studies on both shoulders, hips, cervical neck, and lumbar spine, mainly to determine if I have a torn rotator cuff, and also if I am a candidate for RA. 

Best thing is the pain relief- It's till not 100%, but much better.  Have to monitor for side effects of the Prednisone, so far, none. 

Think the house repairs will start at Saddle Hill next week, excitied to get that job finished up.  They think they will be done by Christmas. 

Still don't know yet if Bette will need to go to Memphis, awaiting word on that. 

Progress! 

Big gator, little gator

Here's the "big boy", he comes about every other day, and sits out and suns himself, then slowly slips back into the water and goes back through the culvert to whereever he spends the night.

This is the little guy, he comes every day usually in the morning, and stays for a couple of hours, then may come back in the afternoon. Haven't seen either of them feeding yet.

We for sure keep Buster inside now a days.