editor

We especially love those leftover stories about Thanksgivings past and present. Got something wacky that happened to you or your family this year?

Did cousin Helga ruin the turkey again? Got a proud teen who graduated from the kids table to the adult table? Did dad begin snoring in front of the televised football game again? We want to hear about it. Go on, be brave (and you can leave out names to protect the innocent).

Respond to this blog or create your own! Thoughtful, funny or interesting blogs may be printed in a future issue of My St. Johns Sun.

A few weeks ago an e-mail came in that asked "what in the world is going into that brick building next to the Fireworks store on County Road 210?" In case you haven't noticed it while rocketing your car past this area during the morning commute (pause for chuckle ...), it's literally just before the Interstate 95 exits.

From the outward appearance, it seems to have inside seating and a drive-through, so a restaurant would have been my first guess.

Because there are so many gas stations right by the interstate, you would think gas pumps would go up within the property, too.

Has it really been six years?

Sept. 11, 2001 was the second major news event I experienced while working in the Florida Times-Union newsroom. The first was the 2000 presidential election (I'm still reminded of that night in many ways, but I digress).

I lived in Fernandina Beach and usually enjoyed the 45-minute commute to my downtown Jacksonville office each day. That fateful day was no different. I was on the road from about 8 a.m. to almost 9 -- just before the live news accounts hit the radio stations. I was oblivious to the first plane hitting the Towers until I arrived at work.

PET IDOL IS UNDERWAY!!

Hopefully you've noticed the Pet Idol feature in the Sept. 1 My St. Johns Sun. These photos represent the 37 contestants sent by St. Johns County residents.

Each community section of the Florida Times-Union (Clay Sun, Nassau Sun, Shorelines, Mandarin Sun, Southside, Westside, Arlington and Northside) is featuring entrants from their respective areas. So the ultimate winners will not only be crowned this year's Pet Idol from Jacksonville -- they'll also represent the best in each county!

Let's not let our St. Johns County pets and owners down! You want to see those folks from Clay County cheering and jeering us from across the St. Johns River? Me neither.

If you subscribe to the St. Augustine Record, you probably opened your paper Saturday (Aug. 11) and noticed something was missing -- My St. Johns Sun.

Unfortunately this was a planned action, not a distribution mistake. A soft business climate for newspapers right now played a large role in this decision. But so did the desire to think long-term in the future of My St. Johns Sun.

Believe it or not, the Sun was originally a Record project several years ago. At some point (before I arrived on the scene) the details for getting the Sun off the ground shifted to the "big brother" paper, the Times-Union. As a way to help target the best coverage for readers, it was decided to insert the new paper in both the Times-Union and St. Augustine Record home delivery, while also putting free copies in racks around the county.

I have no illusions about the promise of death, for me or any member of my family. I'm content knowing that I don't know what to expect.

As I watch my parents struggle and cope with the eventual passing of their aging parents, I'm struck by an apparent lesson: One can prepare for the logistical and financial ramifications of the end, but you're never really fully prepared for the emotional ones.

My dad's mother passed away a few years ago. The youngest of four kids, my father voiced his concern at the time that my 90-year-old grandfather would slip into depression. "He may go soon out of lonliness," dad said at the time. His two brothers and sister didn't disagree.

Not too long ago the Times-Union reported the latest JEA plan to increase our utility bills by as much as 9 percent in the next three years. This after an announcement last year that gas prices were prompting an increase, and that came on the heels of a "long-needed water and sewer charge increase."

JEA's explanation is consistent with each increase -- it's long needed, we've got too much debt and we need to pay it off, rates have been some of the lowest in all of Florida and after these increases they still are (In other words, every body else is doing it, so we are, too ... just not as much in the past five years).