My Personal Favorite Blog Entry

I loved writing this blog.  It was personally enlightening.  It may have provided a little bit of entertainment to you, but it showed me that I could regain my creativity.  It was gone for decades thanks to a really bad tenth grade English teacher who said I couldn't write.  But what I learned was that it doesn't matter.  What matters is I like what I write, and by extension, some of you might as well.

I wrote an entry just about every day.  If a blog entry was late, I'd get emails.

"Dave, I'm sitting in my cubicle with my donut and coffee.  Where is the blog?"

So after many years of daily blogs, I accumulated quite a few.  I've been asked if I have a favorite.  Well, pelicans are my favorite bird, so it had to have pelicans in it.  It had to show that I regained the imagination of my youth.  It had to show humor.  This one, from April 3, 2013...

https://trawlerdriftaway.blogspot.com/2013/04/pelicans-and-mathematics.html
Pelicans and Mathematics

Short story.  After Drift Away, Pamela and I moved to a remote cabin in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.  We learned that we had Sasquatch (seriously?  They're real?) all around us.  So I decided to blog about it, of course.  Then I did the improbable.  I turned my blog entries into a book.

"Living Among Sasquatch:  A Primer" became a hit in the Bigfoot world.  It was, and is, a best seller.  It sold so well it was on Amazon's best seller list for a month.

I ran out of things to write about.  At Pam's urging, I wrote a novel.  And then a second.  No facts here, just my imagination.  They don't sell well, but they are also my favorite writings.

You can go to Amazon and search for "Dave Gibson Sasquatch".  Go to the book.  Click on my author name and go to my author's page.  There are all of may books, so far.  Thank you.  This is due to encouragement from you.

Writing fiction, where I can really let loose is liberating.  Exhausting at times, but it removes me from real life and sets me free.  I am in another place.

Why you should go now

Do you want a reason to go now, not later?


About two weeks ago I passed out in the bathroom, hitting the toilet so hard that I broke the seat. I didn't wake up until the hospital. After a week of them saying nothing was wrong and there was nothing they could do, they sent me home.

The next morning, I was hit with some kind of attack and was so weak that I couldn't get off the couch. The landlady found me and called 911 since I couldn't get to the phone myself. Back to the hospital, same result. Nothing wrong. So they sent me to a rehab center for physical therapy. I seemed strange to me, but it was they that figured out that my electrolytes were screwed up, with potassium being especially low. They can't get a handle on it. But they give me blood tests at least once a day and are pumping me full of potassium but it continues to drop. I might be here for a long time, until my insurance runs out.

I managed to take a cab ride home today and fetched some clothes, my phone, and my laptop. Now I'm back in touch with the world.

I am finally back on Facebook. What did I miss? Anything?

I'm at Windsor Woods in Hudson, FL, home of the sinkhole.

BTW, sitting here, I just realized that I have another concussion. One pupil smaller than the other, dizziness, poor balance, etc. I can only wonder if this is just a continuation of the first concussion, the head/tree one. Why would I just pass out?

But I'm afraid it might happen again, somewhere, without warning. I gave my car to Pamela. My car was my one remaining asset. I am now asset-less.

That is, asset-less except for the memories of Pamela's and my cruise.  No one can take that from me.

Do it now.

69th Birthday? Really?

For everyone wishing me a happy birthday today... thank you. I should not be here. The tree whacking me on the head in 2013 would have killed a normal person. But me Irish genes pulled me through, and my Polish side says "You want a fight? C'mon, bring it."

And me Irish side keeps saying...

The devil whispered in my ear "you are not strong enough to withstand the storm."

I whispered in the devil's ear, "I am the storm."

Your birthday wishes remind me of how lucky and tough I am.  And to the devil... you do not want me down there. I will make your life a living hell.

Visions

I am going to tell you all something that I have never told anyone. I have visions.

I am currently receiving mental health therapy for depression. I go to group therapy Monday through Friday. Am I nuts? Most likely. But there are things that I have come to learn about myself because of therapy.

There are two "me's". The conscience me that muddles through the day. And the unconscious me. The later is the me with artistic abilities who can paint, photograph, write, and ponder deep thoughts.

My visions come to me while asleep. These are not just dreams. These are vivid and there is a clear difference between dreams and visions.For example... many years ago, I was studying to become a Mormon. This is a religion that I admire. I was visited once a week by a Sister and an Elder. But as I got serious into converting from Catholicism to Mormonism, I had a vision. "THIS IS NOT MY RELIGION" it yelled. I stopped the visits by the Sister and Elder. I knew then that my visions were real.

When my dad passed, I had a vision. In this vision, saw people as far as I could see. Then my dad and mom appeared from thecrowd. "Look who I found!" my dad said, with his arm around my mom. There is an afterlife, my vision told me, and my mom and dad were OK.

For background, I am certainly different. I had an EEG after a car accident some 50 years ago. My doctor called me back to the hospital to repeat the EEG. After that was complete, he called me into his office to tell me that my brainwaves were abnormal. He had never seen anything like it.

So, because of therapy and connecting all of the dots like my weird brainwaves, I now realize that I am not normal compared to you all. I am wired differently. Perhaps that is why Sasquatch, who are very spiritual, can and will communicate with me, as does a higher power. It is why I know things about the Forest People that no one knows.

But am I crazy, or just coming to grips with a reality. At this point in my life, I am understanding that I have a gift. A gift that I am still coming to grips with. Or... I am just nuts.

Book Two is Published

 Well, actually it is book six for me.  But the first four are about Sasquatch, the last two about Drift Away and the live aboard lifestyle.

This is book one, available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold.  It covers the first part of our cruise, from Stamford to Albany to Annapolis and includes all of the highs and lows, including losing both engines off Sandy Hook and what we did to fix our fuel tank problems.

The second book is Annapolis to Savannah (actually Isle of Hope just outside of Savannah) and is more cruising oriented since we're actually moving.  This book is just published and hasn't made it to general distribution yet but is now available on Lulu.

Book three in the series will cover from Savannah to Brunswick to Jacksonville (Green Cove Springs, actually).   I haven't started on that one, taking a short break.   And that should do it... of course, I do tend to get wordy, so there may be a book four.  But I will do my best to keep it short... although there are victory beers involved.


Dave's author page on Amazon.

Be Like Sammy

I don't think we realize the impact we have on other people's lives. That being said, sometimes we instantly recognize the impact others have on us.

When Pamela and I traveled south on Drift Away, we stopped at Isle of Hope Marina outside of Savannah. We very quickly met the goodwill ambassador of Isle of Hope, Sammy Moore. Sammy was one of those guys you took an instant liking to. Happy, friendly, and outgoing.

Pam and I were admiring the blue glass tied to a small tree in his front yard and Sammy came down and introduced himself, and then invited us up to the apartment over his garage for a visit. That's where Sammy lived. Next to it was the house he owned, but he didn't live in that. It was more than he needed.

Sammy was an excellent photographer and was the inspiration for me to buy my Nikon DSLR and to get serious about photography myself. Sammy hated his photo being taken. This photo I took without him knowing it with my 300mm zoom lens.

Sammy also had a great sense of humor. Isle of Hope banned golf carts on the streets. This photo was Sammy's response.

Sammy was sick. His cancer returned. Sammy loved our pit bulls and we intended to make a trip from Florida to see Isle of Hope and Sammy again, but Sammy died on New Year's Day.

Remember what I said about Sammy not wanting his picture taken? Whenever he depicted himself in a photo, he replaced his head with a happy face drawing. See the third photo. To me, this is the finest

tribute that could have been paid to Sammy.

Sammy was beloved by all that knew him. Have a positive impact on the lives of others.

Be like Sammy.

The Voyage of Drift Away: Stamford to Annapolis

Well, I wrote book one of an anticipated two book set, the Voyage of Drift Away:  Stamford to Annapolis.   The next will be Annapolis to Green Cove Springs (below Jacksonville).

It is in the process of being published.  Until I receive a proof and approve it, the book is available only on Lulu.com (click on the link above).   Within a couple of weeks, it will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore, etc.

I did not go color.  The 6x9 paperback would run $105!  Ain't no way!   So the photos are black and white.  If anyone really wants color, let me know and I'll have one made for you. 

I used this photo on the cover, one of my favorites.