Snorkel

This afternoon a couple of friends (Matt and Matthew) joined us and we walked down to the beach (we live just 2 blocks away) and snorkeled for a bit. Green flags were flying and the water was perfect. Very calm and clear. We were joined by a small school of yellow finned Pompano juveniles which didn't seem to mind our presence much as they swam about looking for food. Its the perfect time of year to start enjoying the outdoors again as the temperatures are starting to cool down some.

Male Betta

I had to make a trip to our local Walmart today and noticed in the pet section that they were selling Male Bettas on the shelf like regular merchandise. Our Beach Walmart doesn't sell live pets or fish usually and they have no tanks set up. These poor fish were in small plastic containers in filthy water. So we decided to rescue a white with red fins Betta and add him to our 4o gallon tank. The other fish are curious about him and his long flowing fins but not overly so. But he seems TERRIFIED by his new tank mates. I am guessing he has spent most of his life so far all alone in a plastic cup. Hopefully he will adjust to other fish and tank activity around him as I would like to think I rescued him and offered him a better life. I added the best photo of him I could take along with a pic of the tank overall. Wish him luck, His name is Sparta.

Monday September 27

Well not much to share today. I slept in till a little after 11:00 am this morning. No real reason, just felt like sleeping in. Then a quick trip to Publix to pick up a few groceries and refill a prescription of Rocco's. Once back home I prepared a late lunch of Homemade Steak and Cheese Quesadillas , refried beans, Mexican rice and sweet corn pudding. The rest of my afternoon was spent watching TV and watching my new fish swimming about until I decided to take a 4:00 pm nap. (Like I needed to sleep after getting up so late) This evening Adam decided we should go fishing at the Hathaway Bridge, so I tagged along to watch the guys. Rocco caught a WHOPPER 37 inch, over 20 pound Redfish. Too large to keep as the legal size is between 17 and 27 inches but boy what a fight. Rocco loved every minute of it. The huge fish was released unharmed. Once we returned home and relaxed, a few games of Wii archery, basketball and bowling finished out our night.

Sunday September 26

Had visitors today. Kimberly and Cody came to visit with Rocco's grandson, Brayden and Cody's four year old Niece, Ann Angel. I cooked a tasty lunch of baked Seasoned Chicken with Vegetables. After lunch, we all went to the zoo even though a morning rain threatened to spoil our outdoor plans. I worked at Zoo World when it first opened many years ago and found it to be quite a different place than when I was there last. But it was a nice way to spend time with the kids. The "Monkey" picture features Rocco on the far right, his son-in-law Cody in the middle and Cody's little niece far left. After returning home, our visitors headed back to Chipley, about an hours drive away and Rocco found a comfy spot on the couch to watch Sunday afternoon football.

Saturday September 25th

Today was a good day. We went to Port St. Joe with Adam (our roommate) for a music Festival. The festival was really not very organized with an hour in between each act for set up and sound checks so we lost interest early on and decided to head down to the docks for the guys to try a little fishing. It was so close, could still hear the music in the near distance. Rocco caught (and released) a small Black Tipped Shark and a Dogfish. Then it was nearing dinner time so we headed back to Panama City and stopped off at Golden Corral for dinner. After dinner we stopped at the Pet Supermarket and bought some fish for our 40 gallon tank that we bought at a yard sale Friday. It was a GREAT deal and came with everything, tank,lid,light,rock gravel,plants,heater,filter and a HUGE tree trunk with face decoration. We added some natural color rock to the black rocks and bought a HUGE vivid purple silk Amazon Butterfly plant. It looks awesome all set up next to our bed on the dresser, very relaxing to watch. And now it came to life with the addition of 3 Black Mollies, two male spotted swordtails, two Cory cats, one Pictus catfish, 2 mini flame Gouramis, and our largest Marble Angel fish moved over from our smaller 20 gallon tank (set up in the living room). We then played a couple rounds of Ping Pong and Basketball hoop throwing on the WII for fun and exercise then headed to the bedroom to enjoy our new fish and watch a little TV before retiring for the Evening.