gatorcast from paul smith

On Friday night Jessica and I went to see U2 in Tampa.   We met Carol and John at the concert.  It was Jessica’s very 1st big rock concert.

Here we are in front of the “Space Ship” before they went on.    Bono says… You have a pirate ship. We… have a spaceship.”    And they did!

It was an incredible show. We actually never made it to our seats, we stayed right there.   The show was fantastic in that it felt and sounded like an arena show, but it was in a 66,000 seat stadium.  This make it 2 times I have seen U2 and I think this one was even better.   MUSE opened and rocked the house (stadium).   We were all very impressed with MUSE as well and plan to go out and download their music from iTunes.

Yesterday after the Florida-Troy game (Gators win by 50 points) I had a post-game tailgate get together. It started out with food and ended with all playing RockBand.   We all had fun singing and playing! Too much fun. ;>

Several dear friends came over  and I wanted to thank them all for coming.  It really meant a lot to me.

A friend from college and her husband came up from Kissimmee that I haven’t seen or talked to in 20 years.

It was wonderful to see Carol and watch her skillfully master RockBand!   It was a special night.

Paul & Carol 2009

I just took this picture on the balcony looking at the ocean.  I just missed it coming up.  Now there are no clouds and very bright.  I am in St. Augustine Beach/Crescent Beach with my boys and dear friends.

Friday night I took the boys to the annual Cub Scouts camp out at Possum Creek.  Most of the Pack came including the entire Herrington clan, yes ALL 7!   Ernie and I setup the tents and then both our families met at my house for a “cook out” before returning to the camp site.  The only way to camp!  It seemed easier to grill and eat at home since we are so close to the camp site.  I know it not the same as going to Camp Shands in Melrose but Possum Creek is supposed to be for “Beginner” campers.  As usual, we had a large bonfire Friday night and on Saturday morning we got to see the helicopters from the Alachua County Fire Rescue and the Life Flight ShandsCair from UF.  Both were very impressive and I especially liked the ShandsCair.Here is Evan standing next to the Copter Cameron is watching the demostration of the Sheriff Canine Buck  �

When you are separated from someone you love all you can remember are the good times you have shared.  These guys were apart for 16 days and I know Luther was very lonely.  He followed me all over the house and yard, rubbing up against my feet and toes.  This was a huge change before Gumbo left.   Today, Gumbo was reunited with his brother Luther and I think they are happy again.   When people separate things can get very complicated, but for cats, all is good.

Luther licking Gumbo’s head

Today Ernie and I found a main irrigation line broken at the high school.    It had been running for several hours.  When we found it we simply shut off the pump.