\u201cCan I?\u201d asks Bette.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure\u201d says Big Red, but it troubled us she had to ask his permission \u2013 he must feel like he has a lot of control over her to let her go so nonchalantly. Later, we bring that up. \u201cOh,\u201d she says, \u201cwe all kind of look up to Big Red as a father figure; and yes we all do kind of live by his rules; but there\u2019s a lot of really great people here; and we pick enough oranges to eke out a living selling crates of them at the local farmer\u2019s market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, by now she\u2019s got me convinced she certainly doesn\u2019t want to be \u201crescued,\u201d and is probably doing just fine here in Florida, and if we go through with this it\u2019ll end up on the police blotter as a kidnapping. When I privately tell Bob all this, he was so into his promise to Carol, to come through with The Big Rescue, that he didn\u2019t want to give up. \u201cLook,\u201d I tell him, \u201cit\u2019s nightfall and we promised to deliver her back before dark, just ask her straight up, \u2018you wanna go with us?\u2019 and if she says \u2018no\u2019 we\u2019ll have to live with that.\u201d She said No and our Rescue Mission was over, or so we thought.<\/p>\n
Resigned not to be on a Rescue Mission, Bob decides his next destination will be his sister\u2019s in Denver and asks if I want to go along.<\/p>\n
![\"Didn't](\"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/campaignOnPorch.jpg\")
<\/a>Didn’t take 10 years to start doorknocking (here the Caprionis) for votes.<\/p><\/div>\n
Sure, I said, but first let\u2019s stop and say a last good-bye to Fred on the way, and shoot another game of pool or two \u2013 besides maybe my friend will show up. So we drive all night across Florida and when we get to Fred\u2019s it\u2019s past Midnite, so we decide to crash on the beach instead. The next morning when I wake up, Bob tells me that there\u2019s some bad news \u2013 he thinks he\u2019s gotten my sister into some trouble with her landlord. Fred had come by walking her Cocker Spaniel and reported the landlord was super-pissed about Bob sleeping in the driveway \u2013 and so we really couldn\u2019t stay there anymore, but she did invite us over for dinner after she got off work and before we left town.<\/p>\n
We spent the day on the beach at Skip\u2019s and all day long I had to keep telling Bob, \u201cNo, we aren\u2019t going back to Ormond Beach to make sure Bette\u2019s all right. If she wants to leave, it\u2019s obvious she can leave anytime. I think she\u2019s genuinely happy being there.\u201d When we arrive at Fred\u2019s for supper, Bob asks if we can go buy some groceries to return the favor of her hospitality, but I demur and say I\u2019d rather stay and visit with Fred. Fred’s boyfriend goes along with Bob to supply directions.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow: \u201c<\/em>Could I go with you guys?!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No virus found in this message. We headed straight to Big Red\u2019s house. Got there around noon after leaving Madiera Beach around 8. We were brought into this large, sunny, dining area to meet Big Red, who had heard we might be coming. We asked to … Continue reading
\n<\/div>\n
\nChecked by AVG – www.avg.com<\/a>
\nVersion: 2013.0.3462 \/ Virus Database: 3658\/6910 – Release Date: 12\/11\/13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"