Smartie's Bar & Grill #75

Just harvested my watermelon and it is the best watermelon of my life. Heavy, sweet, and harvested at their peak. This wet Alabama summer has produced the best melons I have seen, ever.

 

One more shift tonight and my "weekend" begins at 6 am.

What to do with myself? I want to head to the Gulf but red tide is present (though it changes by the day and location, tides and winds) Sucks to drive 50 miles to see stinky water and dead fish.

 

chihuahua I just now got what a chiwawa might be.. guess I finally sound it out LOL

 

Just woke up, thank gawd for Waffle House, I may actually leave at 3 am this time. What red lights? What traffic?

 

Sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico at manasota key.

Unfortunately the red tide is still here. I don't think I'm going to swim in it today, there's this crazy older lady that came down here in a one-piece bathing suit out there swimming around like it's nice clean water. She's swimming where the hell out there too, perhaps this is where she wants to kick the bucket someday I don't know? Sure seems a rather foolish thing to do to me. Sharks like to feed more Dawn and dusk also. But she's a grown woman she can do whatever the hell she wants.

He's beautiful dead crabs are littering the beach, along with various types of fish.

Maybe I will go to that one inland side of the key Park that I went to last weekend and try to make good on catching one of those baby iguanas?

 

Here's a picture of the typical houses along the coastline here, pretty much every single one I've seen has a no trespassing sign.

I'll assume some of them must be liberal Democrats and progressives, so much for the "all are welcome here" thing. NIMBY. All are welcome sign out in the front yard to virtue signal at a no trespassing sign out back, of course the sign out front is not meant to be taken literally after all.

Evidently that only applies to the country not their house and their yard.

I've walked about a mile and a half of Beach sadly littered with dead fish and all other forms of sea life.

 

A trail leading a trail leading to the Gulf and a shady spot to sit under some cabbage palms.

 

Really interesting.. totally different from my area! Took a couple of guys from Houston out to look at 10 acres they vbought in the middle of nowhere.. the guy was in a two wheel drive, so what I intended just to be a scout of crossing the arroyo, ended up beiong a 5.5 mile hike..
Just about killed my guest! Kinda hard on me also, but I was carrying fluids (ok.. it was my giant cup o' cofffee) long sleeves, canvas pants, bandanna and hat.. my wellington boots weren't appropriate for the short cut up and over the hills (piles of rock they are! ) It was a good hike altho the temp was nudging 100 degrees.. people may joke about (it's a dry heat" but that doies make a lot of diference. I didn't think I had too shabby of a showing for a 64 YO office guy.

 

My attire is a t-shirt shorts and some croc sandals. My fluids are beer and water.

Today is kind of overcast so the heat's not terribly bad, you still sweat though plenty.

Back at this one Park I took pictures of my last weekend. Trying to lasso some baby iguanas again with my fishing line noose. It's not going so well. They are sure some crafty and weary and paranoid little bastards. There are also plenty of adult iguanas but I don't really have any interest in trying to get one of those for a pet. They scratch and bite and whip with their tail and they say they can't really be tamed.

Sounds like you gave a good account of yourself for 64!

It is a good idea to wear lightweight long sleeves and pants if you're going to be out in the sun too much.

 

Try a pit? perhaps into a buried bucket?

 

What about trying your cast net?

 

I was under the impression Watermellons are at their best when
consumed.They ain't decorative like some Pumpkins.
Or Gourds.
Unless you one them fellars who believes the best part of
a 4 star dinner are the parsley sprigs.
I guess there are fellars out there like that.I'm thinking more
of a Three Stooges Short.
" Soitenly " ... : Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!

 

To large, areas

Area
too tight. Bastards too damn fast.

I'm comfortably home now....iguanaless..

 

That IS a good idea.

 

Today was pretty cool. I met "Mike" from Pittsburg.

He was fishing, we talked a bit then I bid him farewell and went back to my van. A bit later, he came back to his vehicle.

This is a nice fairly remote culdesac on a limerock "dirt" road.

We ended up talking for several hours and drinking beer (which I just so happened to have an 18 pack on ice).

I demonstrated the David sling. If you have never seen one in action, a 3-5 ounce "bullet" (rock, spark plug,,,,whatever is handy and will fly) is impressive, leaving the pouch at about 100mph. From even a 150 foot, if it hits bone it will shatter * or at least, fragment it. Soft tissue? Massive damage. In terms of energy, it's like a hard blow with a hammer

I hit a torso sized target at 100ft maybe 120....after 5 throws....Told him "You seen it, it's not on camera and most would not believe it, but we were here and you seen it". It was a rock of perhaps 3 ounces. Probably still going 80 to 90 mph at that range.

We were here, at the long part of the "Y" at the kayak ramp. In about 4 hours, only saw about 4 cars. Where the red mark is.

 

Take the guns, all I need is a dirt road (ammo dump) and a paracord sling, to launch a bullet.

Rocks can be deadly or maim. A 3 ounce lead projectile is absolutely deadly *IF* it hits a vital area. (if you are a ballistic math buff...calculate 3 ounces @ 100MPH)

One must be careful with a sling (and be in a safe area) ...You can't uncast a bullet....

Dont even get me started on my improvised ammo that can go boom, upon impacting a hard target....must hit something very solid, such as a wall.

 

Now that it will be getting cooler I have been thinking about stained glass work. I saw this beautiful blue and frosty window on the tv. show Once Upon A Time.

 

The problem is picking the right colors. Then you don't know if you picked the right colors. Then it's location. Where will it glow?

 

Yes, while seeing watermelon may be good.
Eating watermelon is much better.

 

My weekend draws to a close. 40 more hours before I can go back to my happy place. Hope the red tide clears up by Tuesday.

 

How about Unstarted.Since you brought it up.
Or sideways.Unless you only slingshot projectiles at the Sun or Moon at night.
Hoping to wing Some Man on the Moon.

 

If I'm going for maximum distance I release it at a 45° angle. But if I'm going for accuracy I use a sidearm release and I have a pretty flat trajectory for about 100 ft, you won't get max distance that way but that's not the point.

A 2 oz lead egg sinker i can realistically get maximum distances of around 200 yards.

If you think that sounds like a lot keep in mind the world's record was a 6-oz lead football shape and it was thrown somewhere just over 450 yards. And 6 oz is massive for a sling bullet the usual is 2 to 3 oz. Just imagine the kind of force that thing came down with.

I'll try to get it on video and post it one day.

I've been practicing off and on for about 8 years. I have hit beer bottle size targets at 100 ft many time but two in a row still eludes me.

Oftentimes when I hit a Target that I've called, some people say oh do it again that's just luck, I will tell them you do it once and I'll do it twice. When people first start practicing most do well just to get it to go slightly forward much less with any degree of accuracy.

 

A picture of mine with a lighter for scale. I make mine with gutted paracord, the pouch I make from several layers of athletic tape. I hand stitch it with braided fishing line.

The loop on the one side of it is the retention or the pivot, this stays hooked around the first joint of my middle finger when I throw. The knot on the other end is the trigger if you will, you hold this pinched between your index finger and thumb when throwing until the moment you're ready to release and you let go of it.

 

I was thinking about something like this but more blue. Draw it out on paper and get the crayons out I reckon. I like the textured glass.

 

Damn, just woke up about a half hour ago. I do get my sleep, even if it begins after noon.

Slept soundly. My landlord was getting a new roof on his house, not 80 ft away from mine. Might be time for a shrimp quesadilla from a most authentic mexican restaurant right near my house. Actual Mexicans work it.

Call or dine in. They mainly feed agricultural workers but it's popular with everyone.