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New year’s resolutions? Keep them attainable

This is the time of year when people have made their lists of goals that they hope to accomplish in the new year. New year’s resolutions tend to be glorified in today’s society, and they are usually unattainable and unrealistic goals that people set for themselves.

New year’s resolutions have become goals that people believe will dramatically change their lives for the better, although these resolutions usually do not last.

The resolutions people come up with can be life-altering changes that they give up on after a week into the new year. People look in the mirror, point out their flaws, and think that once the new year begins, those flaws will magically be resolved.

The ability to change habits and routines does not happen overnight. People set unrealistic standards for themselves that they should be a totally different person once it is the new year. This is unattainable, and people can be self-deprecating if they do not achieve their goals.

Many try to improve their lives for the better by having new year’s resolutions such as eating healthier, going to the gym, and getting straight A’s. Although these goals may be something to aspire to, they are not realistic.

I believe that new year’s resolutions should be small changes and goals that people can realistically meet. Resolutions are goals that one can achieve and be proud of. If I do not achieve my goal, I am usually disappointed. The right way to start a new year is to have resolutions that are within reach while also challenging.

I also believe that waiting until the new year to make goals for yourself is not the right way to improve yourself. If you are so determined to make changes to your life, waiting until a specific day would not make a difference. Setting goals that don’t depend on the calendar can have a better outcome.

People set the bar too high for themselves. The most realistic goals to set are ones that can be divided into small, doable tasks. It is crucial to make small, tangible goals that will lead you toward your overarching goal.

If the resolutions are realistic, there is a greater chance that one will keep them throughout the year. It is important to take time to reflect on the change one wants and what one can realistically do to achieve that change.

New year’s resolutions can have a positive impact on people’s lives if they set reachable goals for themselves and do not give up. Being harsh on yourself will only make it worse; it is possible that you may slip up on your goal, but that does not mean you give up.

Instead of making resolutions that cause stress and anxiety, make resolutions this year that will encourage self-improvement.

It is also important to congratulate yourself for what you have accomplished thus far. Each step you take to achieve your goal is something to be proud of.

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New year’s nights

Congrats on completing another journey around our local star! For the record, you traveled about 584 million miles (940 million Km) around the Sun at an average speed of about 66,000 mph (30 km/s). Alas, your FitBit probably didn’t even give you credit for that… 😊

This month’s constellation challenge for beginners: Orion. One of the most recognizable constellations in the entire sky, Orion the Hunter is a great reference point from which to begin surveying the winter sky. Orion’s Belt is an asterism of three bright stars in a line that is hard to miss. At a roughly equal distance above and below the belt are two of the top 10 brightest stars in the night sky — reddish Betelgeuse above and bright-white Rigel below.

This month’s telescope challenge for beginners: the Orion Nebula. There is a tiny smudge just below Orion’s Belt, forming part of his dagger, which is an enormous star-forming region. It can be seen with the naked eye, so even small telescopes will reveal it as a fuzzy little cloud (“little” because it’s 1300 light years away!). And for slightly larger scopes, look for four very luminous, newborn stars very close together at the heart of the cloud. They are in a somewhat trapezoidal arrangement and, thus, are called the Trapezium.

More celestial highlights this month:

  • 2 — New Moon. We start out 2022 with some particularly dark skies (minus the Moon’s glow) — enjoy!
  • 3/4 — Quadrantid Meteor Shower. With only a crescent Moon out, this should be a nice meteor shower to see from dark skies. Best seen after midnight, but, as always, no binoculars or telescope needed — just lay back and enjoy some “shooting stars”!
  • 4 — Perihelion. Believe it or not, this day marks the closest that Earth will be to the Sun in 2022. Earth’s orbit is nearly a perfect circle, so our slightly varying distance from the Sun during the year has a negligeable effect on our seasons. Remember, it is Earth’s 23-degree tilt that produces its seasons.
  • 7 — Mercury at its greatest elongation. We don’t get many chances to see Mercury compared to other planets (it hangs out near something called the Sun). But this evening will feature our Solar System’s fastest-moving planet at about its highest possible point above the Western horizon after sunset (still relatively low in the sky, though).
  • 17 — Full Moon. This moon was named the Wolf Moon by early Native American tribes.
  • Throughout January. Various launches are planned from Kennedy Space Center, though none seem to have a confirmed launch date as of the writing of this article.

Enjoy the brilliant and bountiful winter constellations and happy hunting in Orion. Wishing you and yours a pleasant journey on your next trip around the Sun.

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Fish for fresh grouper before year’s end

The grouper season in South Florida closes for four months on January 1, so time is running short to catch one of the hard-fighting, great-tasting fish.

The good news is that now is the best time of the year to catch grouper according to the legendary Capt. Bouncer Smith, who retired after 54 years of running fishing charters in Miami Beach.

Live-baiting around coral reefs and wrecks is the most popular way to catch grouper. Boaters can either anchor up-current or drift or troll with their baits.

“Probably the most consistently productive bait that is readily available is pinfish,” Smith says, noting they can be caught on hook and line or in a pinfish trap. “With that being said, if you caught live ballyhoo and slow-trolled them in 15 to 50 feet of water, wherever you find a reef edge, they’re very, very effective.”

But, adds Smith, there’s an even better live bait for grouper — a baby bonito of 1-3 pounds.

They can be caught trolling a homemade, Sabiki-like rig consisting of some small spoons and bonefish jigs with a small trolling lead in front of them. Meanwhile, Smith says, your grouper fishing rod is already rigged with a 9/0 triple-strength circle hook and a 120-pound leader about 20 feet long, tied to a three-way swivel with a 1- to 3-pound weight attached to a short piece of monofilament tied to the bottom of the swivel. His preferred mainline is 80- or 100-pound monofilament because the line stretches without breaking when you apply maximum pressure on a grouper to prevent it from heading back into a reef or wreck.

“You’re trolling those little lures around all the wrecks out to 200 feet, and at some point, you’ll catch baby bonitos, which are very prolific in the fall,” Smith says. “As soon as you catch a baby bonito, you hook it through the upper lip and you drop it down on the upstream side of the wreck. And you better have all the drag you can afford.

“That live bonito is the No. 1 black grouper food you can drop down. It’s a great bait anytime, but the little bonitos are very common in the fall and the black groupers get common in the fall.”

Another tried but true, but seldom used tactic that works for grouper is to troll dead baits along coral reefs, which was perfected more than 50 years ago by Capt. Buddy Carey of the famed Pier 5 charter fleet in Miami. Smith says the technique is still effective and not that difficult to master.

“The grouper see something going by that looks like it might be edible and they’re out to get it,” Smith says. “They come charging up off the reef.”

Smith trolls skirted ballyhoo, using a planer to get the bait near the bottom where the grouper hang out. A planer is a small, rectangular, weighted piece of metal that is attached to the mainline of a fishing outfit at one end and to a long leader at the other end.

When it is deployed, the planer, which comes in different sizes that travel at different depths, glides down through the water behind the boat. Depending on the size of the planer and how much fishing line is put out, the bait can be presented at a depth that will attract the attention of any fish in that zone.

Smith rigs the ballyhoo on a 7/0 triple-strength 3417 Mustad J hook at the end of a 100-foot length of 100-pound monofilament leader attached to the planer. He uses dual-speed Penn International reels, size 30 or larger. In low gear, the reel can pull a grouper away from a structure. Then, the high gear setting enables an angler to get the fish quickly to the boat, before a shark can bite it.

“The grouper on occasion will come up and hit the ballyhoo on top of the water, but basically you want the bait about 10 feet off the bottom,” Smith says. “If it’s real close to the bottom, they’ve got the advantage of getting back into the bottom. And if it’s too high, then a lot of them will say, ‘Oh, that one’s too far away.’ But generally speaking, they come charging up to get that morsel going by.”

Smith says that anglers can learn how to precisely troll for groupers by practicing with a planer over a sandy bottom. When the bait starts hitting the sand, mark the fishing line and record the RPMs of the engines. The next time you troll, run at the same speed and let out the same amount of line, and you’ll know how far down your bait is running.

The grouper season closure, which runs through April 30 in Atlantic waters, was implemented in 2010 to allow the populations of black, gag, and red grouper to increase in number and in size, as well as to protect the fish during their spawning seasons.

The minimum size limit for black and gag grouper is 24 inches and reds must be 20 inches. Anglers can keep a total of three grouper per day, but only one can be a black or a gag. The other two, or all three, can be red grouper.

Follow Capt. Bouncer’s advice and you’ll be able to enjoy several delicious meals of fresh grouper for the holiday season. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until May.

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Turkey roulade – cornbread stuffing

This showstopper dish is a play on the Italian Porchetta and its a fun new way of serving turkey. This dish has become a holiday classic at my home every year, smokey flavors of bacon wrapping around the meaty turkey breast that’s filled with sweet cornbread stuffing laced with Granny Smith apple, vegetables, herbs and blue cheese.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 large turkey breast (skin on)
  • ½ cup celery (diced small)
  • ½ cup carrots (diced small)
  • 1 cup Spanish onion (diced small)
  • 1 cup of granny smith apples (diced small)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 oz butter
  • 2 oz olive oil
  • 1 cup of blue cheese
  • 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp sage, chopped
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pepper, to taste
  • 1 ½ lbs of corn bread
  • 2 whole eggs
  • Butcher string

Preparation:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Remove skin form the breast and set aside
  • With a sharp knife, butterfly the breast
  • Lightly pound the breast with a meat mallet. Set aside
  • In a large pan ,sauté onions, carrots and celery in olive oil for 3 minutes
  • Add apples , garlic, butter and herbs and cook for 2 minutes
  • Season with salt and pepper
  • Place mixture in a large bowl, crumble the corn bread, blue cheese and mix in the eggs
  • Spread out the turkey breast and place the stuffing on top
  • Roll the breast tightly
  • Lay out the turkey skin and roll the turkey on it
  • Tie with butcher string to secure the skin
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until fully cooked
  • Remove the butchers string and slice

 

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Excellent, affordable reds from Chile

Just in time for the winter holidays, and the colder weather, three very interesting and affordable red wines have arrived on our shores. These wines are from Chile, a nation whose wines are gaining accolades at all of the professional wine tastings while still remaining in the affordable range.

Veramonte 2019 Organic Cabernet Sauvignon ($11.99). This wine, as the king in the play and movie “Anna and the King of Siam” observed, is a puzzlement. For the acknowledged king of the red wines to sell for so low a price, it can’t be real, or the wine must be pure junk. This wine is real and as far away from junk as a wine can get. It is a wine that offers quality usually found in wines that are much more costly. This wine comes from the Casablanca Valley, the Napa Valley of Chile, and its low cost is reflected in the much lower cost of producing the wine than it is here in the United States.

The proof, however, is in the tasting, and what incredible proof it is. The aroma is alive with ripe summer berries, cranberries, and dark raisins, with dark chocolate and spice and vanilla in the background. These carry over to the flavor and then on to the finish, where they last for a very long time. This is the final proof that price alone does not determine quality, and quality need not command a high price.

Ritual Organic Pinot Noir 2017 ($19.99). Here we go again, price versus quality. I am not going to go through another long-winded tirade on price versus quality with this wine too. Needless to say, the proof is there for the tasting. The first thing that should be noticed is that this wine has been well aged. That alone should indicate that it was not quickly made and just as quickly bottled and released to the public. The grapes for this wine come also from the heart of the Casablanca Valley. The cooler climate there lets the grapes develop slowly, allowing the fruit to develop more concentrated flavors. The flavor development on the vine, coupled with the careful selection of the grapes in the field, results in a pinot noir of classical dimensions.

This very nice wine exhibits a broad spectrum of flavors, with cherries, plums, and wild summer berries being the most prominent. There are also many other flavors lying in the background, with oak and an earthy mushroom being the most obvious. As a pinot noir lover, I must say that I enjoyed this wine and would put it up against similar wines selling for many times its price

Primus, The Blend 2018 ($18.99). It appears that the Chilean winemakers have taken a hint from the French, who love to tinker with their cabernet sauvignon by trying all sorts of blends. The Primus blend seems to have hit a home run. The wine is 55% cabernet sauvignon, 20% carmenere (a local red grape), 10% petite verdot, and 5% cabernet franc. While this is similar to many of the French and American blends, it is the carmenere that sets it apart from all the rest.

While it is the cabernet sauvignon whose flavor and aroma dominate, it is the carmenere that adds body and smoothness to the blend without suppressing any of the other partners in this blend. The flavors and aromas of currents, blackberries, and plum with an obvious background of oak and vanilla and a long finish are the hallmarks of this wine. If you are a cab lover or just curious, this is the wine for you.

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Uncle David and the perfect dog

I am sure that everyone has that uncle or relative who either chose his career or his career chose him. I have friends and relatives who are either accountants or engineers who make every decision according to a logic that I just don’t understand. My uncle is an accountant; thus, he bought his house because it was the perfect size, it had the perfect number of rooms, and it was for less than market value. His car fits four to accommodate his family, but no one else can fit in it. So, to summarize, my uncle’s life and finances can be put into a spreadsheet and perfectly reconciled every month. The world according to David.

His two twin daughters were the cinnamon and spice to his vanilla. They tested the limits and like any freshmen in college would do, they bought a dog because they could. They snuck the puppy out the back door of the dorm like every other freshman, without a hitch. The resident advisor also had a dog and didn’t care as long as the puppy didn’t bark and get her in trouble.

The girls sent me a picture of the puppy. They were told that the puppy was a mixed breed, but based on what I saw from his head and paws, Milo the puppy had some Great Dane in him. Over the next month, Milo gained 12 pounds, and it was becoming harder and harder to hide him. In month 3 of puppy hiding, Milo was so tall that he could look out the window; the RA got nervous, and Milo was expelled from college. Luckily the girls only had one month left in school and were allowed to stay.

Uncle David didn’t like dogs. They were an unexpected cost that he could not justify. He never had a dog or any pet. David is the definition of consistency, so any change from the norm was unacceptable. He also had no idea about Milo. The girls and my aunt never discussed it with him, but now Milo was going to live in his house until the girls moved into their apartment in August. The girls came home and set up the cage and spent the weekend teaching my uncle and aunt about living with a six-month-old puppy who was now over 60 pounds. A lot of words were exchanged, and there was some crying, but by the end of the weekend, it was agreed on by everyone that my aunt would be the caregiver.

Fast forward three months. I was driving from Florida to Colorado and decided to stop off in the Midwest to visit my relatives. It was a surprise visit, and my aunt greeted me at the door. I just wanted to see how my uncle was doing with Milo. I was told that David was out walking Milo. I asked where the girls were, and my aunt told me that they had gone back to school. Without the dog. David didn’t want Milo to be in a small apartment without a fenced backyard.

My aunt was smiling and brought me into David’s office, and there was a giant bed next to his desk. There was a picture of Milo on the computer as a screen saver along with a giant tub of dog treats on the desk. She took me to her bedroom and showed me a second giant dog bed. I was shocked. She said the best is yet to come. She brought me to the garage where a Honda Odyssey minivan was parked. David had bought it because in his sedan, Milo couldn’t sit without bumping his head. I couldn’t believe it. Then the garage door opened and there was Milo pulling my uncle into the garage.

The first thing my uncle said was, “Have you ever seen such a great-looking dog?” I told him that in all my years as a veterinarian, he had the perfect dog.

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’Tis the season to give back

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are feeling extra grateful for all that we have, and the ability to spend time with the ones we love — a luxury we will never again take for granted. Some Parkland residents are sharing both this good cheer and generosity with those in need of some extra love this year.

Cancer Kids First South Florida

At just 15 years old, Joshua Grynbaum decided that he wanted to give back. Inspired by his family, Grynbaum decided to lead his own initiative, establishing a local South Florida division of a teen-led nonprofit, Cancer Kids First.

Cancer Kids First South Florida partners with children’s hospitals in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties to lift the spirits of children with cancer by providing get-well cards, bracelets, toys, craft kits, and other fun items.

This holiday season, Grynbaum has organized the Spread the Joy Toy Drive for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami and is also doing a toy drive for Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital in Hollywood. Cancer Kids First South Florida is accepting toy donations for children of all ages until Dec. 5.

To get involved, check out their Instagram page @cancerkidsfirstsouthFL or email them directly at cancerkidsfirstsouthfl@gmail.com. Student volunteers can receive community service hours.

The Christmas Eve PJs Project

Every Christmas, Heather Khalil organizes the Christmas Eve PJs Project, which provides Christmas-themed pajamas for children in need — an idea that stems from Khalil’s own family tradition of gifting new holiday pajamas every Christmas eve.

Participating volunteers are assigned a specific child and tasked with being their personal elf — providing a stuffed animal, blanket, and book along with the pajamas. They are welcome to include hot chocolate, board games, a personal note, and anything else that reminds them of cozy family traditions.

The packages collected benefit Kids in Distress, Hope South Florida, God’s Little Lambs Preschool, and SOS Children’s Village.

The Christmas PJs Project is already well underway, but for those interested in getting involved, Khalil will be recruiting volunteers in January for her next project, Boxes of Love, a Valentine’s Day–inspired drive benefiting homeless families and veterans. Created by Khalil’s son in honor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas victims, volunteers provide wrapped shoeboxes full of toiletries, books, and crossword puzzles.

All boxes collected benefit Hope South Florida, Broward County Task Force for Homelessness, and Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen.

For more information, visit their Facebook page @Heather’s Volunteer Opportunities.

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Forming a deeper bond with your pet

“We all have the ability to connect with our animals on a deep spiritual level,” says Elaine
McCarty, animal Reiki master teacher and animal empath. Known as “the Animal Reiki Lady,” McCarty is dedicated to helping people establish deeper connections with their animal companions. We asked her to share that wisdom.

Q. How do you help people build a deeper connection with their animal?

A. The secret to forming a deep connection is balance and harmony and peace and calm. I show people how to release stress so that they can be fully present for their animal.

Q. What does being fully present mean?

A. Animals pick up on stress. Being fully present means clearing your mind and putting your stress aside. You can do that by meditating, focusing on your breathing, focusing on what you love about your animal companion.

Q. And once our mind is clear?

A. Spend time that’s not for you, but for them. I think that’s especially important right now. A lot of pets were adopted during the pandemic and are used to having their human companions at home. But now many people are going back to work. When left alone, this causes stress for the animal. They need to know you’re still there for them.

Q. How do we do that?

A. If you have a dog, take him for a decompression walk — a walk where you take your time, letting him go where he wants, sniff what he wants, not making him heel. The walk has to be for him, not for you.

Q. You practice animal Reiki. What is that?

A. Reiki therapy is a relaxation practice that rebalances our pet’s energy. It helps reduce stress, promote healing, and create an amazing space of love and compassion for people and animals. It’s a complementary practice to veterinary care that supports our pets’ spiritual well-being.

Q. What is Reiki used for?

A. Connection, behavioral changes, healing, end-of-life transitions. For animals that are exhibiting a certain behavior — say a dog that always barks when it’s raining — Reiki can help change their behavior without punishing them. Animals cannot voice their discomfort or confusion. They can’t say “I don’t understand why I feel this way.” When a vet tells you your horse has cancer, your horse doesn’t freak out. It doesn’t know it has cancer, it only knows how much pain it’s in. But the horse can feel your stress when you hear that your horse has cancer. Reiki helps keep them calm and in a space that allows their bodies to heal.

The healing benefits of Reiki are not limited to animals. Both the Mayo and Cleveland Clinic incorporate Reiki into their holistic treatment for pain management.

Elaine McCarty lives in Colorado but frequents Parkland at least four times per year, teaching animal Reiki at Three 7s Animal Sanctuary and seeing private clients. If you’re interested in learning more, check out her informative videos on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, under the handle “The Animal Reiki Lady.” For additional resources, or to get in touch with McCarty, visit her website at theanimalreikilady.com.

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Discovering December sky delights

The longest nights of the year, cooler weather, clearer skies, and a dearth of mosquitoes — what more can a South Florida stargazer ask for?

This month’s constellation challenge for beginners:  Taurus. Taurus is one of the most ancient constellations and one of the most easily recognizable. A V-shaped star cluster called the Hyades forms the face of the bull and a ruddy-hued star called Aldebaran represents his reddish eye. Two long, straight horns complete the picture.

There is a plethora of celestial highlights this month:

  • 4 — New Moon. It’s the best time of the month to look for Deep Sky Objects. There will also be a Total Solar Eclipse … if you happen to be visiting Antarctica, the only place on Earth where it will be visible!
  • 6. A thin crescent Moon and Venus should make a gorgeous pair low in the western sky after sunset. This is the first of a triplet of “conjunctions” just a few days apart.
  • 7. The crescent Moon will be seen near Saturn in the early evening sky (though not as close as it was to Venus the previous evening).
  • 8/9. The final conjunction of the set will feature a wider crescent Moon appearing near Jupiter for a couple of nights in a row.
  • 13/14 — Geminid Meteor Shower. This is always one of the most consistent and beautiful meteor showers on the calendar (my personal favorite). The best time to catch it this year will be in the predawn skies. A bright Gibbous Moon won’t set until 3 a.m., hampering observations earlier in the evening. But the brightest meteors may be visible all night long. As always, dark skies are far preferable.
  • 18. The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched from French Guiana onboard an Ariane 5 rocket. This mammoth infrared space telescope has been dubbed the “successor to the Hubble” for its importance to astronomy. The launch may not be visible from Florida, but astronomy enthusiasts everywhere will be watching the 7:10 a.m. EST liftoff with great anticipation!
  • 19 — Full Moon. Some early Native American tribes referred to this as the “Cold Moon.”
  • 21 — Winter Solstice. This is the shortest day of the year and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere (and the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere).
  • 21. This is the date of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to resupply the International Space Station.
  • 21/22 — Ursid Meteor Shower. This isn’t one of the better meteor showers of the year, but it still might be worth a look under dark skies. The meteors will seem to originate from Ursa Minor (which includes the Little Dipper) but can be seen anywhere in the sky.

Enjoy the long nights of December, stargazers!

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Look to November for fishing mutton snapper

After a cold front sweeps across South Florida in November, Capt. Abie Raymond knows that it’s time to fish for mutton snapper.

Now is when the tasty snappers gather on reefs in shallow water to take advantage of the reduced water clarity caused by the wind and waves. The limited visibility allows the sharp-eyed muttons to aggressively feed on ballyhoo, a baitfish that is plentiful this time of year.

“When you get a northwest wind, a little cold-front wind, and you get that north swell that creeps down and splits the gap between the coast of Florida and the Bahamas and agitates the bottom, all the way into the first reef especially, you’ll get this milky water in there,” Raymond says. “It’s just sediment in the water, and it makes the ballyhoo so much easier for the muttons to catch. Once that water gets dirty, they can ambush them way easier.

“You can catch muttons decent on the clear days, but when you’re sitting in a boat that’s anchored, it’s so much better when the water’s a little bit dirtier.”

The first step in catching mutton snapper for Raymond, whose Go Hard Fishing (gohardfishing.com and @abie_raymond) runs out of Bill Bird Marina in Miami Beach, is to catch ballyhoo. As he drives his 28-foot C-Hawk center console south from Haulover Inlet to Key Biscayne, he looks for the baitfish jumping out of the water.

When he spots “showering” ballyhoo, he anchors near a patch reef in 20 feet or ties up to a mooring ball on a reef and puts a block of frozen menhaden chum in a fine-mesh chum bag. That way he doesn’t “over-feed” the ballyhoo.

His preferred way to catch ballyhoo is with an 8-pound Shakespeare Ugly Stik rod with a 2500 Penn Spinfisher reel. To the end of the 8-pound monofilament line, he ties a tiny No. 20 gold hook baited with an even tinier piece of frozen shrimp, then he floats it back to the baitfish, which pick the offering off the surface. He uses a de-hooker to drop the ballyhoo into the livewell without touching the baitfish.

With plenty of bait, Raymond anchors near patch reefs in 10 to 30 feet of water from Cape Florida in Key Biscayne to North Key Largo. Then he puts the same ground menhaden he used for the ballyhoo in a chum bag with larger mesh and puts out two ballyhoo, one on each side of the boat.

The baits are hooked on ½- or ¾-ounce jigs. Raymond prefers Hookup Lures jigs — chartreuse is his favorite color, but pink and white also are effective — and says Troll Rite jigs work well. He breaks off the ballyhoo’s bill with an upward snap and runs the jig hook through both of the bait’s lips and through the front of its skull to keep the hook in place.

The ballyhoo are fished on 7-foot, 20-pound Ugly Stik rods with 7500 Penn Spinfisher reels spooled with 20-pound monofilament line and four-foot, 30-pound fluorocarbon leaders. (The dirty water and light mono allow Raymond to use shorter leaders compared with anglers who use 30-foot leaders for wary muttons.) He ties a four-wrap spider hitch in the main line and attaches that to the leader with an eight-wrap no-name or Yucatan knot. He attaches the jigs with an improved clinch knot.

Unless he has patient anglers, Raymond leaves the mutton outfits in the rod-holders.

“The reason I have them sit in the rod-holder is because they need to be real still,” he explains. “Customers have a tendency to want to wind and wind and wind. The rod-holder doesn’t have that tendency.”

Patience also is essential for letting the chum attract the snapper, as long as there is some current. As Raymond notes, “The longer you can sit on one of those patch reefs and wait to get a quality fish or two, the better. If you can allocate about two hours at one patch reef and let that chum really get established and let those fish really settle in and come running from all the other patch reefs, a lot of times you’ll do better. If you don’t have current, you give it half an hour, 40 minutes and you move on to the next one.”

While waiting for the muttons to show up, Raymond has his anglers fish some lighter spinning rods with strips of ballyhoo and drift the baits back in the chum slick for yellowtail snappers. Or he’ll have his anglers fish fresh dead shrimp on the bottom to catch porgies, hogfish, groupers, and yellowtails.

As good as the fishing can be this time of year, Raymond typically has the patch reefs to himself because so few anglers realize that mutton snapper can be caught in such shallow water.

“Most people just run right past that stuff,” says Raymond of when schools of ballyhoo jump out of the water as they’re being chased by the snapper, along with hungry sailfish and dolphin. “It’s usually happening in 20 to 60 feet of water and most people think that’s probably bonitos in there, that’s probably mackerel in there. Not this time of year. Most of the big muttons I caught last year were in less than 70 feet of water.”

So instead of going deep for mutton snappers, follow Raymond’s game plan and you’ll come home with enough fish for several delicious dinners.

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Different isn’t a disability – Helping young adults on the spectrum live authentic, independent lives

“We’re people who have goals and feelings and dreams. We can do anything.”—Haley Moss, neurodiversity expert

She was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old, and doctors told Haley Moss’s parents they would be lucky if she were to be able to hold a minimum-wage job or obtain her driver’s license. Not one to accept any limitations placed on her by others, she not only defied but obliterated those expectations.

At 27 years old, Moss has already reached a number of milestones that many people would be grateful to accomplish in a single lifetime. She graduated from the University of Miami School of Law and passed the Florida bar, becoming the first openly autistic attorney in Florida. A published author, Moss has written four books, her latest debuting this month. She’s also an advocate, public speaker, artist, adjunct professor, and leader on disability inclusion, autism, and neurodiversity in the workplace. Her op-eds have been published by NBC News, Fast Company, Insider, Teen Vogue, and The Washington Post.

Oh, and she did also manage to get her driver’s license.

Living on her own, Moss is busy loving life her way. And with her latest book, “The Young Autistic Adult’s Independence Handbook,” she is determined to empower others on the neurodiversity spectrum to do the same — to live fulfilling, independent lives their way.

“I really wanted to make the book as inclusive as possible, realizing that everyone on the spectrum is different,” explains Moss. “It’s not just autism. The neurodiversity spectrum includes people with learning disabilities, ADHD, mental health disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and even acquired differences like dementia, Alzheimer’s, or traumatic brain injuries.”

The inspiration for the book stemmed from the lack of available resources for young adults on the spectrum on transitioning to adulthood. “A lot of us are expected to be perpetual children, or we’re just expected to know how to be adults.”

Moss’s book provides advice and a framework for navigating situations many young adults struggle with that may present unique challenges for those on the spectrum — from relationships to maintaining a household, managing finances, and creating healthy habits.

The book is also a resource that can aid parents in preparing their children for adulthood. “There are all sorts of little things that you may not realize are stressful,” advises Moss, who uses grocery shopping as an example. “You’re not thinking maybe this is hard for them because there are so many options, or the lights are overwhelming, or it’s really crowded, or the carts are clattering. You’re not thinking like that because it’s not your experience. But it might be your child’s experience.”

Complete with advice from experts, personal experience, and practical ways to handle these challenges, the book emphasizes — as does Moss herself — the ability of people on the spectrum to make their own decisions and create their own lives.

“We might need more support in reaching those goals and dreams, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. We all want to be happy. We all want to feel fulfilled. We all want to feel loved. That goes for anybody.”

“The Young Autistic Adult’s Independence Handbook” releases on Nov. 18 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.

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Stargazing in the November sky

This month, be sure to check out the bright and beautiful Pleiades Cluster, easily seen with the naked eye and gorgeous through binoculars or small scopes. For newbies to stargazing, try to find the “W” of Cassiopeia or the Great Square of Pegasus — two very easily recognizable “asterisms” in the fall sky. Jupiter and Saturn will still be visible in the evening sky as well. It’s also a great time to view the Andromeda Galaxy through a telescope, which will be highly placed in the evening sky and is the closest large galaxy to our own Milky Way.

Here are some more highlights:

  • 4 — New Moon. This will be the best time of the month to look for Deep Sky Objects.
  • 4/5 — Taurid Meteor Shower. A minor shower, but it coincides with the New Moon, so it might be worth a look, especially late.
  • 5 — Uranus at Opposition. In most backyard telescopes, this distant planet will appear as just a tiny blue dot, but this is the closest approach it will have to Earth this year.
  • 17 — Leonid Meteor Shower. A bright, waxing Gibbous Moon will spoil this popular meteor shower through most of the night, except for a short time in the early morning hours before dawn.
  • 19 — Full Moon. This month’s Full Moon is nicknamed the “Beaver Moon.”
  • 19 — Partial Lunar Eclipse. The Moon will pass into the Earth’s shadow in the early hours of the morning, reaching maximum coverage around 4 a.m.

Possible rocket launches for the month include the launch of the Boeing Starliner capsule on an Atlas V rocket and NASA’s Space Launch System for Artemis I, but no firm dates have been set.

Enjoy your autumn stargazing, friends!

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