The Dream

A Key West Waterspout

We lived in Navy housing in Sigsbee Park.  There was a large basin behind our duplex located on Truxton Road, with a canal that led out into the open water.  In Key West it is not unusual to see waterspouts over the water any time when we had any kind of weather change.

In the dream/night vision, we were in our boat that we kept tied to our dock in back, but we were not tied to the dock at the time, we were anchored down in the basin.

From the south/east all the way around to the north/east, the sky was dark with storm clouds.  We were tossing and pitching on the waves in the basin.

Suddenly out of the north/west a huge, very black waterspout came into view.  I could tell by the way it was headed we were in its pathway, and I just knew we would be destroyed!

A Tornado or Whirlwind
 for illustration purpose

But, the closer it got to us, the lighter and brighter it became.  It came to within I would guess about 50 to 75 feet of where we were anchored, and hovered there.

The mighty roaring sound of it was almost deafening. And it was so brilliant I had to clinch my eyes almost shut to look at it.

It became transparent, and I could see what appeared to be an elevator that came sliding down the shaft, the doors rolled back, and He stepped out.  I knew in the vision exactly who He was. He moved through the air, but I did not see His feet moving.  He just moved.

Chuck was on the bow seat, both our children were on the middle seat and I was on the stern seat.  The Lord Jesus Christ moved around the bow, and He approached to my left.  He stood beside the boat, and looked into my eyes with the most piercing look of love I have ever seen!

He never spoke a word to me.  He was wearing gold mesh gloves that covered His hands up to the elbows.  He peeled the glove from His right hand as you would peel an onion skin; He leaned over, and laid it on the boat seat beside me.  He straightened, and stood for a bit longer just staring into my eyes with that deep piercing look of love. 

He turned, and moved back into the elevator.  The doors closed, and the shaft pulled up into the whirlwind, and the storm clouds totally dissipated, there was such calmness and peacefulness.  I knew even in the night vision; I would make it then! 

The God of my childhood had revealed Himself to me in a way that I could easily understand that He does exist, and He does care about us.  He will come to us wherever we are when we call out to Him!

It has been a long journey of learning since that time.  The way has been anything but smooth.  I was definitely delivered from alcohol and drug addiction.  I went through some heavy duty withdrawal, and I had a few temporary slips over the course of the next few years, but by the grace of God I made it!

Through the way my deliverance came, the Holy Spirit taught me how to reason things out and make good choices, most all of the previous choices I had ever made were wrong for my life.

By his mercy and grace and the power and strength given in that night vision, I still walk in the deliverance and freedom from alcohol and drug addiction! 

Note: the illustration photos above are not exactly what I saw, but it will give the reader an idea of what I saw in that dream/night vision. The sky was totally dark and the whirlwind became much lighter and brighter. It definitely got my attention, which was God's plan...

Out of Control

Over the years Chuck and I partied a lot, he eventually quit drinking alcohol completely because it usually caused a big problem when we partied and we had both had too much alcohol.

But I didn't quit; in fact I got worse and sometime after Bo was born I had gained a good bit of weight. The new miracle diet pill was available, the little green and black beauty called Dexamyl, which was really nothing but an amphetamine. They were legal back then, and I got mine at the Navy Hospital, but they later became a street drug.

I started taking them and of course I began to drop the weight. At that time I had no idea how addictive they were. Mixing them with the alcohol I was consuming, my life soon spun out of control.

I became so addicted to the alcohol and the pills and soon I needed downers (barbiturates) because I would get so wired out, I would not eat or sleep for two or three days at a time, till my body crashed from exhaustion. It was a vicious cycle. I lost so much weight I was gaunt and I began to look like death warmed over.

I was so out of control of my life, and I knew I was, but I could not make myself stop. During the next eighteen months, I started seeing the Psychiatrist at the Navy Hospital and it didn't seem to help, and then I began seeing the Psychologist at the Mental Heath clinic.

Again it didn't seem to help and then I tried the Chaplin at the Navy Hospital. No help there either, can’t say it was anyone’s fault it just wasn't the right time.

Eventually Chuck reached his saturation point and he gave me quite an ultimatum.  He also gave me a week to think about what he said to me before giving him my answer.

He said, “I’m watching you die by degrees daily and I can’t stand it any longer, I love you more than anything in this world and I will do anything to help you get over this.

If I have to borrow money that it takes the rest of my life to pay back we’ll find help for you someplace; it’s either one life down the drain or four and I will not let you take me and the kids with you, and it's up to you to decide.”

In those days there was not a lot of help out there like there is now. There was AA, but the problem with that was me, from what I had heard I knew I could not stand up before strangers and talk. Many years later I did get involved in AA.

For the next week I was probably the most miserable person on the face of the earth. At this point in my life I had shut God out, and I was at the place I wondered if He was real or a myth. I soon discovered He is very real.

I will never forget it was on Wednesday night and Chuck had the duty, I put the kids to bed and I knew it would be a sleepless night for me. My concept of prayer was; if your speech was flowery enough, and "IF" there was a God he might hear you.

I tried some of those flowery speeches which didn't work, and I became so frustrated, so finally I just yelled out, “I don’t know how to pray so I’m just gonna talk to you, okay!” 

I have since come to understand this is prayer, just talking openly and honestly to Him about what is in your heart. My talk seemed to turn into a wrestling match for the next couple of hours.

At one point I was on my knees in the middle of my bed shaking my fist and yelling “I love my husband and children and I don’t want to lose them; I need your help like I’ve never needed help, and if you really exist I challenge you to reveal yourself to me in a way I can understand, because I don’t understand the mean God I always heard about.”

Suddenly wave after wave of pure peace began to wash through me, and I fell asleep and slept like a newborn baby. Two nights later I had a dream that changed my life forever, and I learned that LOVE is the greatest motivator in the entire universe.

Birds and Other Wildlife

My Red Spike Plant

A Purple Spike Plant

I have seen so many birds and other wildlife from my front porch. There is one kind of Humming Bird that I see frequently. 

Several of the plants that I have attract them, the Red Spike plant and the Purple Spike plant. My Purple Spike plant is about eight feet tall now.

A few other plants as well like the Coral Vine and another wild vine that has tiny white flowers, I have no clue as to its identity. But the hummers love it. There are many other plants that attract them that I don't have anymore.

A Fox Squirrel

Ruby throated Humming Bird

One morning some old Navy friends, Lloyd and Sandra were visiting and while having coffee on the porch with Sandra she spoke up suddenly and said, "OMG Annette is that a Fox Squirrel I see outside your fence there?”

I looked and sure enough it was, it had just come down out of the huge Hickory tree in the corner of my yard.  She said, "They are so rare these days.” They are, at least in this neck of the woods. 

A Wild Deer

One day I was coming home from an appointment, I was about halfway from the hard road to my house. A wild deer jumped the neighbors' fence in front of me, it was so close I almost hit it, would have had I been going faster.

It went into the Tangerine grove on my left, through a couple of yards and then into the pasture on my left and ran alongside me till just before I got to my driveway. 

It jumped the fence again directly in front of me and crossed the road, and then jumped into my little field and ran through my yard, and jumped the fence again into the pasture on the north side of my house.

A Wild Sow and Piglets

A year or so later a wild sow and eight piglets came into my yard and were all over it for about an hour or so rooting for acorns that had recently fallen. Cousin Diane took pictures, but I don’t know if she ever got them developed. It was quite exciting while they were here!

This sow is not nearly as fat as the one in my yard was and the piglets aren't quite as large as hers were.

Wild Turkeys

We see wild turkeys everywhere out here, and very often in the pasture on the north side of my house. Sometimes there are just two or three and then sometimes quite a few.

No matter how many there are I love seeing them, they have such a peculiar strut.

The Campfire Story of Glowing Toe

For many years I worked as a Volunteer at a summer Environmental Youth Camp named Wekiva, which is sponsored by The Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. 

Our cabins are all named after some of the Indian Tribes of Florida. This is our way of honoring them because they were the original people of Conservation and Environmental concerns.

Some of us had Native American names given to us by others. My Native American name Brightfeather, was given to me by the Campers. Many Native Americans come by their names this way. I worked in the Primitive Camp Program which at that time was the seventh grade level.

We took our campers to a place in the deep woods away from the main camp and we camped in a primitive way. We cooked all of our meals over an open campfire for three days and nights. The only creature comforts were two flushing toilets and two outdoor cold spring water showers.

We had so much fun especially around the campfire circle at night telling camp stories. And a few times we had naming ceremonies for the campers and or councilors! All of our camps were wonderful, but once in awhile it was pure magic.

The summer camp of 2003 was one of these magical times and it is imprinted in my memory like a photograph forever! 

Photo Courtesy of Mike Shaw 

Mike Shaw one of the male councilors who also worked in the kitchen at the cafeteria in the main camp, had come down to visit for awhile. Our evening was about to come to a close.

There was a big log that none of us females could pick up. I had asked him earlier if he would put it on the fire. We waited awhile to let it burn down some and then it was time to stoke the fire for the last time of the evening before turning in.

We left our fire to smolder at night; the smoke helped to keep the bears away; they are shy creatures, and the smell of smoke means that humans are close by and they will usually go the other way.

Mike volunteered to do this for us before he left to go back to the main camp. After it was over he received his Native American name right then and there without any ceremony.

Instead of using the shovel he decided to use his foot. He was wearing a pair of water shoes that had a mesh of some sort covering the toe of them. We cautioned him to be careful and to use the shovel, but it fell on deaf ears.

The log slipped down into the fire from the pressure of his foot as he pushed down, and the toe of his water shoe caught on fire immediately.

He jumped back and danced and stomped and let out a couple of war hoops, and got the fire put out, but it kept on glowing and glowing and glowing!

We were all laughing so much that we couldn't help him; I was doubled over with laughter! The glowing of his toe finally stopped. He was not burned badly, but his shoe was ruined, and because he has such a great sense of humor he laughed too, as much as the rest of us did. He will always be known by many of us as Glowing Toe at Camp Wekiva!

Mike Shaw and Devon Villareal Dabbs
Volunteers at Camp Wekiva Youth Camp
Yes, he is the young man who just planted the Butterfly Garden at the home he purchased not long ago. 

Mike started at Camp as a camper and worked his way through all of the councilor positions, he now works as a Volunteer in the Ninth Grade Program with my granddaughter Devon.