Exclamation Points!!!

I'll spare you the year end in review. For New Year's Eve I like to clean out my desk, get rid of junk in the closet, remove animal bones from the back of my car and check for belly lint. It's my way of starting fresh. So for your amusement and to continue my tradition - here is the clean up post where I offer a few photos I've taken during the year that I had no idea where to put throughout the year. Fort Myers Beach (Feb 08) - I called and tried to explain that I was worried about the economy. They didn't listen either.

Manatee Park, Fort Myers - No crabs, no diving, but falling backwards into the alligator inhabited water is fine.

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Myers Beach - This was all the wife's idea.

Coral Springs - What kind of monster forbids kites?!?

Cligman's Dome, North Carolina - It was cold. And no one was looking.

Cherokee, North Carolina - Tempting....

I don't know why I find this amusing.

Regional Southwest Airport, Fort Myers - Something's not right? Yeah I flew on Jet Blue. Never again.

Montreal, Quebec - The old man is faking it. He has his cane backwards.

Montreal, Quebec - Amusing to me. I imagined the artist desperately trying to convey a scene of violence with stick figures.

Fort Myers - I was cold. And no one was looking.

Fort Myers Beach - Sister Mandy...my sister...she's not a nun...obviously - poses with the Photo-Op-Cop.

Home - This happens more often than you would think in my line of work.

This post didn't end well. Thankfully 2008 did. Here's to a fantastic 2009.

New Year's Resolution - Use less exclamation points in my writing and live more exclamation points. I think I can do that! hmmm.

Rat Cheese

You know you want some.

I've milked cows before. It's not easy. They've been walking in their own manure. They kick as well as any horse and some can only stand the milkers for so long. Milking a rat can not be any easier. I hear the "rat milking" stools are tiny and it's nearly impossible to attach the milker to all 8 teats.

Nevertheless - Rat Cheese is sold on the southern slopes of the Great Smokey Mountains.We passed this sign on our way to the Great Smokey Mountain Train Ride in Bryson City, NC. Located on the Cherokee Reservation, the roadside market sold boiled peanuts and jams made from everything from papaya to kudzo. But most noticeably they sold Rat Cheese.

We stopped on our return trip - our imaginations running through a maze trying to find the elusive answer to the query - what is "Rat Cheese".

The woman behind the register - who looked as if she had stood over a boiling pot of peanuts since the Trail of Tears offered as much of an explanation as the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

"It's Cheddar"

The locals call it "Rat Cheese" but it's a "ring cheese" that comes from milkin' cows. Why Rat Cheese? She wasn't sure but it gets both rat aficionados and cheese lovers like ourselves to stop if for nothing but curiosities sake.

Here in south Florida we do the same. Go to any restaurant that serves seafood and no doubt they serve Dolphin, mostly to shock the tourists - but it's not the mammal but the fish - aka Mahi Mahi. Sound good? Would you like to start off with a Rat Cheese fondue?

Signs of Laziness

Jungle Pete is returning North - if only for a few days to visit the family and anyone else he can round up. He's also practicing speaking in the third person for no apparent reason. Pete can't leave without writing one more time, but seeing as he's been tying up loose ends at work before he goes, he hasn't had time to put together a cohesive thought. So Pete presents to you a few of the crazy signs he's seen on my exploits. I mean his exploits. They didn't really fit anywhere else so here they are.
Is it me or does the proprietor seem a little peeved with the police? Hey Police! You are on notice! (Naples, FL)

This one was put up after a raccoon swung a club and lost the grip, sending a 9-iron through the windshield of a BMW. (Cape Coral, FL)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know if this is a goof or if there are "land crabs" I need to worry about running over. I'd hate to think I was needlessly concerned. (Hollywood, FL)

It's hard enough to go 12 MPH, but this is impossible. The squirrel looks a bit flat already. (Punta Gorda, FL)

This one I think I may have posted before - but it bears repeating. (Did I say bear and but in the same sentence.) (LaBelle, FL)
This is a bonus. This is called the Cape Coral Tower of Terror. It was constructed by Rotary volunteers and has withstood hurricanes, high winds and poor construction. It's not trick photography. It really looks like an Eischer drawing. It's listing and shakes when you go up it. How it has not collapsed is beyond me.

Ok - this is perhaps the worst entry to date, but it's really just an announcement of my temporary departure from Florida. I'm looking forward to seeing new nephew Carter and the rest of the nieces and nephews. I'll be in Vermont on Thursday 9/6 for anyone who wishes to gather at the Long Trail Pub and Brewery in Bridgewater, VT.