blogs

 
Provided by Carol Ann Atwood

The Nassau County Extension Office’s garden of the month for July belongs to Chuck and Pat Panella of Amelia Island, who have a Lovely Cane Begonia, Angel Wing Begonia (begonia coccinea). The Panellas have a great interest in container gardening, mostly with begonias of different varieties, and their property is colored with blossoms.

WANT TO SEE YOUR GARDEN FEATURED?
Each month, the Nassau County Extension Service chooses a local garden to feature in My Nassau Sun. To be considered, send an e-mail to atwoodca@bellsouth.net with a high resolution digital photo, description of your garden, and your name, address and phone number. For more information, contact Nassau County Extension Horticultural Agent Rebecca Jordi at 548-1116.

Hot, hot and more hot is what our anglers had in store for them in Nassau County this past week.

The prevailing west winds calmed the surf but caused cooler water and high surface temperatures, and caused choppy seas in the morning for offshore anglers.

Local charter captains reported that slow trolling has waned a bit due to the cooler water temperatures, but there was a mixed bag of grouper, snapper, barracuda, kingfish and cobia at the reefs and wrecks. Live cigar minnows or Spanish sardines jigged up along the buoy line or at the wrecks will work best when live-bait slow trolling. Brunswick and Elton Bottoms can expect amberjack, kingfish and dolphin, along with an occasional sailfish.

In honor of America's Independence Day, I thought I would start with one of the most powerful statements in world history.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
— The Declaration of ndependence

We all know Thomas Jefferson’s famous words, right? Equality, freedom. Got it. And, yes, the pursuit of happiness. Our political doctrine dictates the right to pursue happiness. Not just freedom and equality, but happiness and joy. Of course, Jefferson states that we have the right to “pursue” happiness, not that it be handed to us. Interesting.

In February, Congress passed the omnibus financial stimulus plan proposed by the new administration. The plan calls for spending $789 billion,  and it will have an enormous impact on all our lives.

One of its principal goals is to increase domestic employment and save U.S. jobs from being lost to plant shutdowns and outsourcing to other countries. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com,  has provided an in-depth analysis of the plan. He suggests that it will give 2 million people jobs by the end of 2010, and as many as 3 million by late 2011.

That’s part of the big picture, but no matter what your political views, the main question is: What’s in it for you? The answer is some very significant changes to your taxes and overall finances.

With almost every patient I see, I introduce the concept and practice of deep breathing. It is one of the most effective stress-relievers in existence.

Learning to control your breathing, even in life-threatening situations, increases your chances for survival. Combat trainers working with Green Berets and FBI agents often refer to this phenomena as “combat” or “tactical” breathing.
The human body, when it’s working right, is an amazing system.

When faced with an extremely fearful situation, the hypothalamus produces adrenaline and cortisol for release into the bloodstream. These hormones increase heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure and metabolism. Blood vessels open wider and let more blood flow into large muscle groups. Blood chemically changes to coagulate more quickly so we bleed less if wounded. Pupils dilate to improve vision, our livers release stored glucose to increase energy, and our bodies produce more perspiration to cool us.

Talk about a heat wave; we’re in the midst of one of the hottest summers I can remember.

Last weekend was hotter than ever, but the anglers in the Nassau Sport Fishing Association Tournament of Champions were at the top of their games. Bob Johnson and Keith Lane of Leicester captured first place with a whopping, hard-to-beat 48.64-pound kingfish. Congratulations.

Anglers fishing the surf, offshore, jetties or the backwaters have had excellent action this past week. I would expect the same this weekend, with similar weather predicted.

Backwater anglers will enjoy good fishing, especially if looking for action from flounder and redfish. The lower levels of the tide will bring exceptional results when using live mullet, mud minnows or live shrimp for bait along the oyster beds, around docks and other structures, and at the mouths of feeder creeks. These areas are perfect hangouts for summer backwater fishing. Topwater plug fishing will continue to bring hot action early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Anglers bottom fishing in their favorite holes in the Nassau River are reporting redfish, puppy drum, whiting and flounder.

Howdy folks - did you see the Times-Union today? Our Simply Put columnist, Maria Murphy, is featured on B-1 in Charlie Patton's One of Us column.
 
Check it out here.

To read Maria Murphy's past columns on overcoming the trials of everyday life, see Simply Put here. Her column runs the first Saturday of each month in My Nassau Sun and is posted monthly on MyNassauSun.com.

Enjoy! 

Wow… You simply must come to town for Independence Day.

Celebrate with your family and join your neighbors and friends at the Stars and Stripes Freedom Festival in Fernandina Beach’s Central Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 4. In the evening, there will be a patriotic parade on Centre Street at 7 p.m., a concert of Americana music at 8 p.m. in front of the depot near the river, and fireworks about 9:30 p.m. at the Fernandina Harbor Marina.

That’s a pretty big day packed full of fun things to do. It should be enough to make even the most energetic child tired — parents will appreciate that, I’m sure.

Hot weather and light winds out of the southwest are predicted for this weekend. Local anglers will enjoy excellent fishing offshore at the reefs and wrecks, and in the surf, backcountry and around the jetties. I would plan to get out there early to beat the heat.

Offshore fishing continues to be productive with legal grouper and snapper being caught on the reefs and wrecks. It will not hurt to keep a flat line out while bottom fishing; it’s a great way to land a kingfish or cobia. Kingfish, cobia, amberjacks and barracuda are also being caught while anglers troll the local reefs and wrecks. Live bait has been available using a Sabiki rig. The pogy pods are scattered and you’ll have to work harder to obtain them this week.

Florida has the dubious distinction of being the pain pill capital of the Southeast. Some fly-by-night pain clinics have been dispensing prescription narcotics with little oversight. That all changed when state lawmakers passed legislation requiring private-owned pain clinics and pharmacies to report certain narcotic pill sales to a statewide database, and be inspected and regulated by the state.

While pills provide a quick fix, they do not treat the underlying cause of pain, which should be treated by a qualified pain management expert.