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Off And Running

Fact: Wind Turbine Towers Are As Tall As the Statue of Liberty.  A notable feature of wind energy generation is the scale of wind turbines – an average turbine blade is about 200 ft long, while turbine towers reach up to 295 ft tall on average.  But wind turbines are expected to be built with longer and more prominent blades, and with taller towers too, to help generate even more power and improve the performance of power generation.  In 2020, the average capacity of utility-scale wind turbines installed was 2.75 megawatts, 8% higher than the previous year.

It was 8:00 AM we got up to tour the backyard.  The weather was quite cool, and the wind was picking up.  My gardener talked to me about edible herbs I can grow, and it was sage advice.

So my neighbor sees me kneeling, busy in my garden, and asks what I’m doing.
“I’m putting all my plants in alphabetical order”
“Really?!  I don’t know how you find the time!”
“It’s right next to the sage.”

It was crisp outside.

The pool skimmer was not functioning, and it appeared as if it disconnected from the side of the pool.  Mary opened up the top of the skimmer for me to find it chocked full of stuff, leaves with small branches, and even some perlite.

Being fearless, Mary cleaned out the area and reconnected the vacuum line.  She is brave because the water had to be 50°.

Mary clears the pool filter.

We examined the new sink and even tried the water faucets, and all is working well.   We are going to cover it with a special order cover from Amazon.

The sink is in, and it works well.

Yesterday we talked to Joe, and my idea about him and the boys building a potting bench was discontinued.  Joe priced the wood for the job at close to $700.  I went to my trusty Amazon account and ordered a potty bench for $250, and it will be here on December 1st.

The feedback on this product was very positive; we will do our job even if it only lasts a  couple of years.

It will be helpful when it is potting time or cutting up veggies.

We could hear the flag flapping in the breeze as we went back into the house.  If you look carefully, you can see that the top of the flag pole is slightly bending towards the left with each of the heavy gusts of wind.

Do you know Mary’s Law?  Wind velocity increases directly with the cost of the hairdo.

The top of the flag pole was leaning a little bit.

Mary and I sponsored two of our neighbors to become Elks, and today was the “orientation day.”  They had to be at the Elks Lodge at noon, and then they would get a “free lunch.”  Mary and I went at noon, but we went into the bar and had an excellent breakfast and a glass of orange juice; it wasn’t 5 o’clock.

Jeff lives catty-corner from us, and he’s a fascinating man.  He and I share a lot of things in common, including, unfortunately so, our sense of humor.

Jeff, our neighbor, is about to become an Elk.

Jim and his wife, Vito, live next door to Jeff, and we know them reasonably well.  They were looking for some social activity, and I suggested the Elks, and I think they will enjoy it.

Jim is joining the Elks.

Jim is quite funny, and he and Mary get along very well.

Jim and Mary are funny!

We returned home and again took a yard tour to ensure the wind didn’t do any severe damage.  The whirligigs were spinning almost 90 miles an hour, and I just happened to catch this one with the fast camera setting.

How do you stop your newspaper from flying away in the wind?  Use a news anchor, duh!

The whirligigs were going fast this morning.

We got ready to depart for Long Beach as we were going to the 80th surprise birthday party of a good friend Wally.  The flags made a lot of noise as they were flapping in the breeze thank goodness the American flag is brand new.

I asked Mary if she had heard about the cow lifted into the air by a tornado.  It was an udder disaster!

The wind was already gearing up for a busy day!

Thanks to the wind, we got our first fruit from our two trees in the front yard.  One of the avocados we’d been watching for several months was lying on the ground, so we picked it up and brought it inside and hoped it would soften up so we could celebrate the fruit of our labor.

The little orange tree was bending slightly.

We arrived at the Cerritos Bay yacht club at about 5:30 PM and found our friends had already staked out a table.  Of course, we went to get our glass of wine and waited for the arrival of Wally, the guest of honor.

The lights were dimmed for the surprise party!

The evening was very delightful and especially being with our good friends.

We are ready to sing.

Ghislaine said that Wally was indeed surprised, which was a good thing.

Ghislain pulled it off!

Jim joined Vicky this evening, and he seems to be getting well-adjusted to the nonsense of our little group.  Mary and I are so happy that Vicky has found a good friend to be with who is also quite witty and can dance.

Jim and Vicky are fun!

On my way back from the “gentleman’s lounge,” I took a quick picture of the bay adjacent to the yacht club.  You could see stars in the sky tonight because there were no clouds due to the high wind.

It was a clear night!

We sang happy birthday again, and just Lana sang it in French.  Of course, I could not let that go, so I asked Vicky to come up and sing it in Spanish.  And, of course, I had to finish it by singing it in English backward.

Wow!  What a cake.

Wally’s son was there this evening; it was fun meeting up with him again.

Wally and his son.

Mary’s tooth was bothering her this evening, but after one glass of wine and a nice chicken dinner, it began to feel better.  Food for the fact that we got up to dance?

Guess who!

It is enjoyable to be out with this lady as she is so capable of joining any conversation and sharing thoughts plus, she’s not bad to look at, either!!

She makes me very, very happy.

Our table made several comments about why and I know I said something about Wally and his tuxedo and how he looks like a penguin; everybody got a good laugh out of that one.

We got up and told stories; ask about the penguin!

Wally and Ghislaine make a lovely couple, and it’s nice to see them so happy.

Awe, Love is indeed in the air.

We had thought about going by Patty’s place for a nightcap, but it was close to 9:30 PM when we departed, so we went VFR home and hit the sack.  Mary was anxious to return to her Yellowstone series, and we watched Yellowstone until midnight.

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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