My brother, Bill, is a Naval Reservist and has previously served his country in Kuwait.  His most recent assignment is to suffer sunburn and humidity in the Caribbean.  He landed in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.  His unit is supposed to help dig wells in some of the Central American countries.  Bill gets to stay in Cuba and push papers.  He can’t go off the base, but I asked him to send me some photos of the flora and the fauna.  Since it is a base, I wasn’t sure how much of each would be around.  Although, the Banana Rat makes me glad that I am not in Cuba!  Even if it is Paradise!

Bill mentioned that the iguanas just walk out in the roadway right in front of oncoming traffic.  Hopefully they give the men enough warning before they do so brakes can be applied in time. 

He said the weather down there has been nice.  Mainly in the 80s and they had a shower the other day.  I think he is trying to rub it in.  I hope he comes back to Iowa in February!

You don’t have to worry about winterizing anything in Cuba.

Dig it!

Posted under General, Photos

Okay, they were actually witches, princesses, vampires and Transformers.  Among many other characters.  Come to think of it, I didn’t see any rabbits.  I saw an elephant, a monkey and a giraffe, but no rabbits.  Hmmm. 

 

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday.  And it is our middle cat’s (Louie’s) birthday.  He turned eight, so we threw him a party.  A few hundred kids stopped by!  Of course, at the first doorbell, Louie ran and hid, and the kids really didn’t seem to care about the cat… although he is a black cat at Halloween.  Spooooky! 

The first Halloween we lived here, we had about three or four bags of candy.  We ran out in about 20 minutes.  Since then, I have learned.  I use our laundry basket to put all the candy in.

This year I had about 20 bags of candy.

We only had enough at the end of the night to fill our pumpkin trick-or-treat bucket and about a third of a plastic grocery bag.  I’ll be sending that to my brother who is currently in Cuba for a few of months with his Navy Reserve Unit.  I think the candy will melt, but he doesn’t care.  I have a feeling it will be eaten anyway!

 

Usually, I just wear several layers of clothing and get a chair or a towel out and sit on the front stoop.  It keeps the cats from having a heart attack every time the doorbell rings.  This year, however, I had a costume.

I bought it for the last regular season Farmers’ Market.  (We had trick-or-treat this year).  I figured I might as well wear it that night, too.

I think almost everyone enjoyed it.  I kept hearing kids yelling that they wanted to “go to the penguin’s house next”!  Some of the younger ones were a little more unsure, but it didn’t keep them from getting their treat!

I love looking at all of the costumes that the kids come up with.  A few years ago the teenagers didn’t even bother to dress up.  This year it seemed that almost everyone was in the spirit.

 

I can’t wait until next year.  I am already thinking about what I want to be when I grow up… er… for Halloween next year, I mean!

 

Dig it!

Posted under General, Humor / Fun