Monday, November 26, 2012 – Cocoa:

            Well, I apologize for the short blog yesterday afternoon (although most people reading this are probably thankful for a “short” blog), but I was rather on the cranky side as it seemed that the day was not exactly productive and most of all it was a good bit frustrating.

            I realized by mid-afternoon that what I needed was a good, long walk, and Bob said he thought that would be a good idea, too – he just didn’t say when.  So when I first suggested it, he said, “Sure, just let me finish (I don’t remember what he was doing at the time, but it was really important to finish it whatever it was), and then we’ll go.  “On our way, let’s take up the recycling, and check the mail one more time, and I want to ask the marina office if I can borrow the float I see over by that dock over there so I can clean the hull.”  “Ok,” says I, thinking this will prolong our walk, but at least we’ll be headed in the right direction.  So we get up to the marina office, and no one is there, but there is this giant TV, and before I can say, “let’s walk on the sunny side of the street,” Bob has sat down in this big comfy chair and turned on the football game.  I can see the walk getting more difficult.  The only game that is being broadcast is the Steelers and Browns, and the score says the Browns are WINNING.  Winning??  The Steelers are losing to the Browns??  What planet are we on??  So, of course, that game got Bob’s attention, and also the two other guys that came in around that time, so the walk was by now is getting to be a distant memory.  So we watched the game, with Bob promising that the Ravens would be on right after this one was over.  So I’m thinking, “Ok, that will be fun”, and I think it is actually kind of cool that the Browns are winning this game (I like to root for the underdog), and maybe the day will end on a fun note.  So, the game gets over with the Steelers looking dazed as they walk off the field, and the Browns (having, I believe, only won two other games) don’t look all that happy to me for winning – so what’s up with that?  I mean could the coach at least smile?  So now with the promise of the Ravens game in the air, my mood perks up, but, wait, the game that comes on is not the Ravens.  So…Bob starts surfing the channels looking for it.  I think he went through about 3580 channels, but no Ravens.  Aaarrggh…time to go back to the walk.  I am standing by the door, and Bob is resurfing the channels – I am beginning to think he really doesn’t want to go for a walk.  I think about begging, and then I consider that maybe tears will work, and finally, he says, “Ok, but first I have to figure out how to turn the TV off.”  This takes another several minutes.  Do you understand my frustration?

            So, anyway, we do finally go for that walk, and it was a good walk, except for the scary couple that we thought were going to ask us for money, so we walked faster to the opposite side of the street.

            And so you know the rest of the story about trying to get the Ravens game on the computer, which didn’t work.  We also brought along the Sirius radio we have, but we couldn’t get the game on that either.  So that accounts for the “cranky” blog.

            But the evening wasn’t over – Kitty cat had a little adventure.  Bob and I were reduced to an evening of our usual card playing, and neither of us were particularly hungry, so we decided about 7:00 p.m. to forego dinner and eat cereal.  Hey, sometimes it’s acceptable to do that on a boat!  However, around 8:30 p.m., after several rounds of cards, we decided we wanted something more than cereal and then decided to do the dinner thing.  So Bob cooked a port tenderloin on the grill, and I made wild pecan rice and peas to go with it, and that glass of white wine went along nicely as well.  However, as Bob was grilling (we left the door open as it was a nice evening), Kitty cat got very brave and decided to actually step out onto the deck and look around.  Then before we knew it, she was walking all along the port side of the deck, and even the heron that squawked at her and flew right overhead didn’t seem to bother her!   So, after this little stroll, she comes back inside, and she was so full of herself for conquering the port side of the boat, she required me to play “Lions of the Serengeti,” with her.  As usual she won this game, and I was very glad I had clipped her little kitty cat claws the other day.  So now, she decided to venture out again!  And this time, she walks to the stern, sniffs the bikes, and continues completely around the entire boat, and then saunters back up to the bow and sits down and contemplates her surroundings.  Maybe she was trying to plan her escape – I don’t know – but she better remember she’s been microchipped!

            So dinner was served, kitty cat came back in, and she was so totally proud of herself – she just walked around purring. 

            This morning dawned lovely again, and we sat up on the flybridge with our coffee, but Lucy did not grace the outside with her presence.  We were planning the day, which will consist of visiting the hardware store – hopefully, it will be open this time.  Anyway, I was thinking about how this town came to be named Cocoa so I checked it out on the town’s website.  I thought it was pretty interesting, but the story was too long to try and condense, so I have cut and pasted it here:

The city was founded by fishermen very early in Florida's history. An authentic, historical account states that the first families arrived in Cocoa around 1860. A post office was established at Magnolia Point two miles north and the first commercial building in Cocoa was erected in 1881 or 1882. First plats of the new settlement were made in 1882 under the name "Indian River City" on land owned by Captain R. A. Hardee. The name Indian River City was unacceptable to the U.S. Postal authorities who claimed it was too long for use on a postmark.  In 1925, the Cocoa Tribune published several accounts, supplied by readers, of the town's naming. A Mrs. Ruby Myers credited Captain R.C. May with the choosing of the name Cocoa at a town meeting in 1884. Those attending the meeting focused on a local product or characteristic feature of the area; e.g., citrus plants and Cedar Key

   It was stated that at Captain May's suggestion, the group finally chose [the name]for its association with the Cocoa plant. The name was forwarded to Washington, D.C. where it was officially adopted.

 Another version suggests that while a group of citizens were seeking a name for the town, an old woman received inspiration from a box of Baker's Cocoa and her suggestion was adopted. Still another version suggests that along the bank of the Indian River lived an old woman who would supply hot cocoa to the sailors as they traversed the Indian River. As they passed, they would call out "cocoa, cocoa" until the woman supplied them with refreshment. Whatever its origin, by 1884 the name Cocoa had become permanently associated with what was then an infant settlement.

(I don't know how to get rid of this weird formatting.)

            So, this is what I should have written last night with my final sentence being, “and kitty cat strolled the decks by the light of the silvery moon.”

            Today is just beginning, so who knows what will unfold…