......florida.....

OK, so look up the word in the dictionary..... Jan and I were on the back deck of Jim n Nicks.... Jan with her Coors lite, spinach dip and BBQ'ed turkey and Jim with his Coors lite (yes, it seems as if I've taken this "retirement" thing to heart and have begun to "indulge" a bit every now and then) habanero hot buffalo wings and "pig in a potatoe" (I definitely do prefer the D. Quale spelling) doused with BBQ sauce....Of course, we were the only patrons present on the private back deck because of the slowness of the season.....  As quickly as Jan and I had completed our usual toast of "it's a beautiful day in Sandestin" and were about to partake of the first test taste of the wings..... WHOOSH  From a high, overhanging and well hidden branch of a neighboring tree dropped the grey and black body of a badger....  With little fanfare and even less ado, Billie (as we later came to affectionately call the wild beast from ahigh) struck a pacing pose....walking to and fro without his head ever moving from it's snaralous sneer....we sat transfixed, unable to set out a proper defense....and with the most curious calmness, Billie raised his massive body (estimated to be ATLEAST 35+ pounds by several witnesses) upon his two hind legs....forelegs with claws that appeared more sharply honed than that the deadliest of Jason's cutlery...claws that seemed never to stop quivering....black-hooded eyes that glowed yellow to orange to red and then back to yellow...with irises that were as dilated as the most crazed addict in need of a "pick me up"....a thick, heavy drool slobbering down the left side of a massively gaping wide jaw....a jaw which exposed  55+ finely chiseled teeth that glinted intermittently in the intense light of the full moon....some would say "it's only a badger" but at that very moment we knew that we were about to be attacked by "the beast from beyond"......  Frozen in terror, we could not move....  Faced by this unholy terror....threatened by this ferocious meat hungry beast we did the best we could with what we had at hand (no, the .44 magnum was still at home and no, the ceremonial samauri sword was still hanging in the den)....we dug down deep into our vast repetoire of actions....Jim quickly grabbed the next wraught iron chair and "faced down this demon" while Jan cheered me on from a somewhat safer distance away.... finally with the beast tamed, and without any exageration at all, it took ATLEAST THREE cheese biscuits from JnN's to calm this wild beast....  To say none the least, we moved our dinner indoors and proceeded to enjoy another wonderful retirement dinner.....  Well, until tomorrow when we discuss the ardious task of "taming Publix... Until lated folks.....

Jim/Jan