EEEEEEKKK

Several days after we returned home from the Hazelwood reunion I was roused out of our computer/laundry room by a loud scream from Carol. She was in the bathroom getting ready to shower when she screamed and I came a running!! She said she saw a large spider and it was behind the commode. I got our wasp spray while she watched for it.

When I sprayed behind the commode the spider came out running and I continued to spray it. The spray did not stop it but only slowed it down. It was the largest spider I have ever seen out side of a zoo!! I continued to herd it around with the spray while I had Carol get my camera and a ruler. No one was going to believe this unless I had a picture that showed the size!!!





After I got several pictures I smacked it with the ruler and we flushed it down the commode.

I then went online to see if it I could identify it because I thought it might have been a Brown Recluse Spider. There is no doubt at all that it was a Brown Recluse. If you Google search and read about them you will find that their bite is very dangerous. Their poison causes your flesh to basically rot away unless immediate and proper medical attention is given flesh.

We set out some glue board traps which were recommended by the article we found on line. So far we have not caught any others, or anything for that matter, in the traps.

We are still a little nervous when going in the bathroom at night!!

Hazelwood Reunion was a success

Last week Carol and I went to Jacksonville for the Hazelwood Reunion that I have been planning for nearly 2 years. I can say without a doubt it was a great success and I am relieved that it was. We brought a number of items of memorbilia to the reunion including the ship model Carol and I have had stored behind our lanai couch in it's case.

Carol had found a supplier to make a lady's shirt with NAVY on the front and DD 531 on the back. A number of the gals ordered them for the reunion and then more gals ordered them at the reunion.

We had 42 shipmates attend and 7 of those had never attended a reunion in the past. Nearly everyone I spoke to at the closing of the reunion said they are planning to come to the next reunion. That reunion will be in the Newport, RI area at the end of April, 2013. Richard Ernst will be the chairman and since he llives in Newport he has excellent knowledge of the area and can do an excellent job on selecting a hotel. I will assist him with the mailings since I have the files on my computer and can do it easily.

The reunion group heartly approved this location since the ship served out of Newport for many years. Tours will probably be planned to Newport itself and to Batttleship Cove in Fall River, MA where several historic WW2 Navy ships are located. We are also going to contact the Battleship Cove museum and see if they might accept the ship model as a donation to the museum. That would solve a lot of transport problems for the model and it would in a place that would give enjoyment to many.

Carol and I are planning our next trip up north in late May to attend our grandaughter's high school graduation. We will stay up north all of June visiting friends, going to NYC, Washington DC and Gettysburg. It should be an interesting month.