Sunday, June 26, 2016
Sunset on AMI
A nightly ritual for us when we are on the island is going out to the beach for sunset. Everyone is different and everyone is spectacular in it's own way. One of the things I've noticed is that as soon as the sun drops into the gulf people start leaving. Sadly they often miss the best part of the show which is the 10-15 minutes after "sunset". The pictures below were taken right after the sun had set tonight.....enjoy, it just doesn't get much better than this!
Growing up in Mulberry (Part 1 of Many)
I was raised in the thriving metropolis of Mulberry, Florida which in the early 70's was a dusty little one red light town. Today it's a dusty little 3-4 red light town that now has a McDonalds so it's really moving forward at a rapid pace. Who knows, another one hundred or so years and there will be a Wal-Mart within the city limits.
If you look at the Wikipedia page on Mulberry which is a good 7-8 paragraphs in length you'll learn a couple of interesting facts. First and foremost is that it got it's name because there was a Mulberry tree by the railroad tracks and back in the 1800's they would drop off the mail under the tree. The tree served as a gathering place for the townsfolk to discuss the issues of the day and also as the "hanging tree". Kind of an all occasion tree.
Not too many famous folks have come out of Mulberry but we do claim a fella named John V. Atanassoff who has been declared as the inventor of the digital computer which is a pretty big deal because without the digital computer Al Gore could not have proclaimed himself as the "Father of the Internet". We also claim Bob Murphy who had a good bit of success on both the PGA and Sr. PGA Tour before becoming a golf commentator for CBS for a number of years and Wogan Badcock, Sr. who developed a large chain of furniture stores that can be found across Florida and several other southern states. Mulberry proudly proclaims itself as the "Phosphate Capital of the World". Phosphate is a mineral used in agriculture and various industries. Being the "Phosphate Capital of the World" however had a downside to it because it also meant the production of an extraordinary amount of dust and released a bunch of toxic stuff into the air and water which probably played a big role in my losing my hair at an early age.
http://www.themulberrypress.com
Although Mulberry wasn't exactly the cultural, intellectual or entertainment center of the universe it was a great place to grow up during a simpler day and age. There is one thing that I personally would rank us near the top at back in those days and that was giving each other nicknames. Some of these nicknames were descriptive in nature while others I have no earthly idea how we came up with them but we did. Most have faded into the past as time has marched on but some have endured the test of time and are still in use today. I'm not going to reveal the actual name of the person but rest assured there is a real person from Mulberry behind every one of them. If you're from Mulberry and I left you off the list it wasn't intentional, e-mail me yours or others you remember and I'll add them to the blog.
Kent.Tucker0731@gmail.com
Here we go:
Armadillo Duke
"E" or Big E
Stew Beef
Chick
Worm
Skeeter
Roundman
Tool
Possum
Sputnik
Bo
Crape Myrtle
Pig Turd
Buckwheat
Stymie
Gut
Baldy
Stinky Pete
Stringbean
Tater Rake
Preacher
Rap
and probably the best worst nickname of them all; Ugly.
As I said earlier, some of the nicknames were descriptive but I'm not going to pass judgment. The crazy thing I remember about Ugly was that even some of the teachers called him by his nickname. I don't know what happened to Ugly but I hope he's had a nice life.
Mine, Turtlehead Tucker to Jimmy Motsinger who named my best friend Armadillo Duke but mostly I was known as "Tuck" by most of my buddies. Not terribly creative but with the last name of Tucker it could have been worse!
If you look at the Wikipedia page on Mulberry which is a good 7-8 paragraphs in length you'll learn a couple of interesting facts. First and foremost is that it got it's name because there was a Mulberry tree by the railroad tracks and back in the 1800's they would drop off the mail under the tree. The tree served as a gathering place for the townsfolk to discuss the issues of the day and also as the "hanging tree". Kind of an all occasion tree.
Not too many famous folks have come out of Mulberry but we do claim a fella named John V. Atanassoff who has been declared as the inventor of the digital computer which is a pretty big deal because without the digital computer Al Gore could not have proclaimed himself as the "Father of the Internet". We also claim Bob Murphy who had a good bit of success on both the PGA and Sr. PGA Tour before becoming a golf commentator for CBS for a number of years and Wogan Badcock, Sr. who developed a large chain of furniture stores that can be found across Florida and several other southern states. Mulberry proudly proclaims itself as the "Phosphate Capital of the World". Phosphate is a mineral used in agriculture and various industries. Being the "Phosphate Capital of the World" however had a downside to it because it also meant the production of an extraordinary amount of dust and released a bunch of toxic stuff into the air and water which probably played a big role in my losing my hair at an early age.
http://www.themulberrypress.com
Although Mulberry wasn't exactly the cultural, intellectual or entertainment center of the universe it was a great place to grow up during a simpler day and age. There is one thing that I personally would rank us near the top at back in those days and that was giving each other nicknames. Some of these nicknames were descriptive in nature while others I have no earthly idea how we came up with them but we did. Most have faded into the past as time has marched on but some have endured the test of time and are still in use today. I'm not going to reveal the actual name of the person but rest assured there is a real person from Mulberry behind every one of them. If you're from Mulberry and I left you off the list it wasn't intentional, e-mail me yours or others you remember and I'll add them to the blog.
Kent.Tucker0731@gmail.com
Here we go:
Armadillo Duke
"E" or Big E
Stew Beef
Chick
Worm
Skeeter
Roundman
Tool
Possum
Sputnik
Bo
Crape Myrtle
Pig Turd
Buckwheat
Stymie
Gut
Baldy
Stinky Pete
Stringbean
Tater Rake
Preacher
Rap
and probably the best worst nickname of them all; Ugly.
As I said earlier, some of the nicknames were descriptive but I'm not going to pass judgment. The crazy thing I remember about Ugly was that even some of the teachers called him by his nickname. I don't know what happened to Ugly but I hope he's had a nice life.
Mine, Turtlehead Tucker to Jimmy Motsinger who named my best friend Armadillo Duke but mostly I was known as "Tuck" by most of my buddies. Not terribly creative but with the last name of Tucker it could have been worse!
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Random Ramblings from a Randomly Rambling Brain
Being retired I've figured out that I don't have to maintain that laser focus concentration that was required while I was working. I'll pause here for a minute to let my former colleagues back at THH stop laughing and regain their composure...............
So here's a few random ramblings since my last post:
Yesterday afternoon when we went to the beach there were two manatees mating in the shallow water. Watching two 800+ pound animals that are mostly blubber mate, now there's a spectator sport for you!
Florida squirrels are very different than Texas Squirrels. Once or twice a week we enjoy taking NaNa on a picnic to Coquina Beach. We always get the same table and are quickly joined by what I'm pretty sure is the same squirrel. He comes right up and eats right out of my hand, with a strong preference for pistachios, potato chips or grapes. He's a wimpy little Florida squirrel no bigger than a rat. I wouldn't let a Texas squirrel get within three feet of my hand for fear of losing a finger, my whole hand or arm.
Why is it that I consistently lose to NaNa in rummy, checkers and even scrabble? I mean seriously, she's kicking my tail on a daily basis in all of the above. I had her whipped in checkers last night got a little too cocky and she lulled me right into a death trap. I don't dare play her in Rook since that's her specialty. Rook is especially tough since I have to have a partner which is somewhat hard to find around these parts other than Beth who will show pity on me and be my partner occasionally.
A special shout out to my sister in law Debbie and her daughter Kimberly (aka Fish) for the great anti-gravity chair that they got me for retirement. I'm trying really hard to reposition myself every 30 minutes or so even though it's advertised as "anti-gravity" it's so comfortable and I'm spending so much time in it I don't won't to get bed sores.
An extra special shout out to my Sweet Sarah. Her Texas Tech Red Raiders just eliminated my Gators from the College World Series. Not really sure why we decided to leave our bats back in Gainesville but we did. A favorite quote of my dad's when his beloved Atlanta Braves would hit poorly was "We couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle". Sounds dangerous to me but accurately describes our hitting efforts. Oh well, as Ron Washington the great former manager of the Texas Rangers used to say; "that's the way baseball go". I'm pulling for the Red Raiders now!
Speaking of "the chair". I let NaNa sit in it for what I thought was a few minutes today. I won't make that mistake again. She refused to get out until it was time to leave.
So here's a few random ramblings since my last post:
Yesterday afternoon when we went to the beach there were two manatees mating in the shallow water. Watching two 800+ pound animals that are mostly blubber mate, now there's a spectator sport for you!
Florida squirrels are very different than Texas Squirrels. Once or twice a week we enjoy taking NaNa on a picnic to Coquina Beach. We always get the same table and are quickly joined by what I'm pretty sure is the same squirrel. He comes right up and eats right out of my hand, with a strong preference for pistachios, potato chips or grapes. He's a wimpy little Florida squirrel no bigger than a rat. I wouldn't let a Texas squirrel get within three feet of my hand for fear of losing a finger, my whole hand or arm.
Why is it that I consistently lose to NaNa in rummy, checkers and even scrabble? I mean seriously, she's kicking my tail on a daily basis in all of the above. I had her whipped in checkers last night got a little too cocky and she lulled me right into a death trap. I don't dare play her in Rook since that's her specialty. Rook is especially tough since I have to have a partner which is somewhat hard to find around these parts other than Beth who will show pity on me and be my partner occasionally.
A special shout out to my sister in law Debbie and her daughter Kimberly (aka Fish) for the great anti-gravity chair that they got me for retirement. I'm trying really hard to reposition myself every 30 minutes or so even though it's advertised as "anti-gravity" it's so comfortable and I'm spending so much time in it I don't won't to get bed sores.
An extra special shout out to my Sweet Sarah. Her Texas Tech Red Raiders just eliminated my Gators from the College World Series. Not really sure why we decided to leave our bats back in Gainesville but we did. A favorite quote of my dad's when his beloved Atlanta Braves would hit poorly was "We couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle". Sounds dangerous to me but accurately describes our hitting efforts. Oh well, as Ron Washington the great former manager of the Texas Rangers used to say; "that's the way baseball go". I'm pulling for the Red Raiders now!
Speaking of "the chair". I let NaNa sit in it for what I thought was a few minutes today. I won't make that mistake again. She refused to get out until it was time to leave.
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| Loving this chair |
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| A little morning paddleboarding in the canal! |
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| My squirrel buddy with his potato chip |
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| The only way I could get her out of the chair was to tell her it was time to leave!
BREAKING NEWS! I whipped NaNa in checkers a few minutes ago, Maybe I took her off her game by letting her sit in my chair!
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Monday, June 20, 2016
Oh Canada............and New York too!
Sorry for the delay since the last blog but when you pack for a weeks cruise in a backpack it doesn't leave much room for bringing along a laptop.
I wanted to first of all say Thank You to everyone who is following our journeys on this blog. Since I started this goofy thing there have been close to 2,500 page views. Don't worry, the only stats that are available are the number of page views so I don't have any record of who you are and can't sell your e-mail addresses to some African Prince who has discovered that their government owes you a billion dollars which they will gladly pay if you just give them your social security and bank account numbers.
Now about our most recent adventure:
We flew to NY last Saturday (6/11) arriving late in the afternoon, The older I get the less I like crowds and as you well know NY tends to be a little crowded and busy. In spite of that NY is a fun city to visit. If you've never been I would encourage you to give it a try sometime. Also, I would encourage you to see the mid town/Times Square area and then get out of that sea of humanity as quickly as possible. Of course while you're in Times Square you'll want to check out the nearly naked painted ladies, what a freak show!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/topless-performers-times-square-gallery-1.2331134?pmSlide=1.2331131
If you're a walker like Beth and I there are some amazing areas to explore on foot such as Central Park and the upper East and West Side along the park. We had a great walk Sunday morning in and around Central Park covering about 9 miles before getting on the ship.
The cruise was a six nights with three stops, Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. John's, New Brunswick and Portland, Maine. The high temperatures in Halifax and St. John's were in the low 50's which was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Florida. Below are a few highlights:
Halifax
We partnered up with a very nice family from Hickory, North Carolina and did a tour out to "Peggy's Cove" which according to whoever keeps track of interesting facts such as this has the most photographed lighthouse in North America. Not wanting them to lose that honor we took pictures of it ourselves and you will see one or two of them below. We also had some amazing lobster at a really neat little lobster place right on the water. The only regret we had about the lobster was that we ordered a small one and after one bite we were sad that we hadn't gone with a two or three pounder instead, it was amazing. I'm not a huge lobster fan but if I lived in that area I'd be a regular.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g635951-d2252615-i113458309-Ryer_Lobsters-Indian_Harbour_Halifax_Region_Nova_Scotia.html
The ride out and back we were entertained by Doug the cab driver who according to him has been driving a cab for 48 years. He was also one of the best "conspiracy theory" people that I've ever met and living in Texas for 23 years I've ran across some good ones. He shared with us the virtues of cannabis oil as something that can pretty much cure everything but that it's being held under wraps by the government and big pharmaceutical companies. I'm looking for the incidence of death and disease in Colorado to be dropping rapidly in the near future.
St. John's
The main attraction here was the Bay of Fundy which is known for having the greatest variances between high tide and low tide (averaging 26 feet). If you're not a water person that may not mean much but it's a whole bunch of water flowing in and out twice a day. A typical tide variance here on AMI is 2-3 feet.
We went to an area called "Reversing Rapids" which is about a half mile wide and all of that water moves through this relatively small area creating Class V rapids going one direction on the outgoing tide and the other direction on the incoming tide. It may sound about as exciting as watching paint dry but to actually watch it was pretty amazing.
http://www.bayoffundy.com
Portland, Maine
This was a very cool city. We passed some amazing houses along the rocky coast line both coming into and leaving the port. Folks up there either have some big time money or some big time debt, I'm leaning that they have a bunch of money.
The ship docked pretty much in downtown and there was a very neat area called "Old Portland" right off the ship. It was cobblestone streets, buildings that were 100+ years of age with shops, pubs, restaurants, etc. Fun to roam around but if they were depending on us to bolster their economy they were probably disappointed although the donuts at the Holy Donut were spectacular.
https://theholydonut.com/
In the afternoon we took a short ferry ride over to Peaks Island, rented bikes and rode around the entire island. Don't be too impressed the ride around the island was less than five miles. It was a great ride with some amazing ocean views.
http://peaksislandmaine.net/Peaks.shtml
After a relaxing day at sea on Friday we arrived back in NY early Saturday morning. Our flight wasn't until late afternoon so once again we took off exploring more of the city on foot. There is an amazing walk called the High Line which is actually an old elevated railroad track that has been converted to a walking path that is about 1.5 miles long. We had walked it before but it was in the winter and a little nippy, this offered a totally different view with tons of flowers in bloom and leaves on all the trees. If you get to NY you should really check it out.
http://www.thehighline.org/
After walking the High Line we walked the lower west side along the Hudson River all the way from mid-town to Battery Park. Again, an incredible place to explore if you get a chance.
Back to Anna Maria Island late Saturday night with great memories of this part of our perpetual journey.
In closing, it was a great Father's Day yesterday and I hope all of you who are Father's had a great one as well.
Happy Father's Day to both of my Dad's. Some of you know this story but others may not so here it is in a nutshell. My "biological dad" passed away in an accident two months before I was born. I've heard many stories about him over the years and wish I would have had the privilege of knowing him. Most stories are about what a great athlete he was so I'm looking forward to playing catch with him sometime down the line because I'm pretty certain there is baseball in heaven.
Out of that tragedy came an incredible dad who was as kind, gentle, loving and supportive as any person who has ever roamed the planet who also gifted my older brother (Gerald) and I with another cool brother and sister! I feel so blessed.
I wanted to first of all say Thank You to everyone who is following our journeys on this blog. Since I started this goofy thing there have been close to 2,500 page views. Don't worry, the only stats that are available are the number of page views so I don't have any record of who you are and can't sell your e-mail addresses to some African Prince who has discovered that their government owes you a billion dollars which they will gladly pay if you just give them your social security and bank account numbers.
Now about our most recent adventure:
We flew to NY last Saturday (6/11) arriving late in the afternoon, The older I get the less I like crowds and as you well know NY tends to be a little crowded and busy. In spite of that NY is a fun city to visit. If you've never been I would encourage you to give it a try sometime. Also, I would encourage you to see the mid town/Times Square area and then get out of that sea of humanity as quickly as possible. Of course while you're in Times Square you'll want to check out the nearly naked painted ladies, what a freak show!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/topless-performers-times-square-gallery-1.2331134?pmSlide=1.2331131
If you're a walker like Beth and I there are some amazing areas to explore on foot such as Central Park and the upper East and West Side along the park. We had a great walk Sunday morning in and around Central Park covering about 9 miles before getting on the ship.
The cruise was a six nights with three stops, Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. John's, New Brunswick and Portland, Maine. The high temperatures in Halifax and St. John's were in the low 50's which was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Florida. Below are a few highlights:
Halifax
We partnered up with a very nice family from Hickory, North Carolina and did a tour out to "Peggy's Cove" which according to whoever keeps track of interesting facts such as this has the most photographed lighthouse in North America. Not wanting them to lose that honor we took pictures of it ourselves and you will see one or two of them below. We also had some amazing lobster at a really neat little lobster place right on the water. The only regret we had about the lobster was that we ordered a small one and after one bite we were sad that we hadn't gone with a two or three pounder instead, it was amazing. I'm not a huge lobster fan but if I lived in that area I'd be a regular.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g635951-d2252615-i113458309-Ryer_Lobsters-Indian_Harbour_Halifax_Region_Nova_Scotia.html
The ride out and back we were entertained by Doug the cab driver who according to him has been driving a cab for 48 years. He was also one of the best "conspiracy theory" people that I've ever met and living in Texas for 23 years I've ran across some good ones. He shared with us the virtues of cannabis oil as something that can pretty much cure everything but that it's being held under wraps by the government and big pharmaceutical companies. I'm looking for the incidence of death and disease in Colorado to be dropping rapidly in the near future.
St. John's
The main attraction here was the Bay of Fundy which is known for having the greatest variances between high tide and low tide (averaging 26 feet). If you're not a water person that may not mean much but it's a whole bunch of water flowing in and out twice a day. A typical tide variance here on AMI is 2-3 feet.
We went to an area called "Reversing Rapids" which is about a half mile wide and all of that water moves through this relatively small area creating Class V rapids going one direction on the outgoing tide and the other direction on the incoming tide. It may sound about as exciting as watching paint dry but to actually watch it was pretty amazing.
http://www.bayoffundy.com
Portland, Maine
This was a very cool city. We passed some amazing houses along the rocky coast line both coming into and leaving the port. Folks up there either have some big time money or some big time debt, I'm leaning that they have a bunch of money.
The ship docked pretty much in downtown and there was a very neat area called "Old Portland" right off the ship. It was cobblestone streets, buildings that were 100+ years of age with shops, pubs, restaurants, etc. Fun to roam around but if they were depending on us to bolster their economy they were probably disappointed although the donuts at the Holy Donut were spectacular.
https://theholydonut.com/
In the afternoon we took a short ferry ride over to Peaks Island, rented bikes and rode around the entire island. Don't be too impressed the ride around the island was less than five miles. It was a great ride with some amazing ocean views.
http://peaksislandmaine.net/Peaks.shtml
After a relaxing day at sea on Friday we arrived back in NY early Saturday morning. Our flight wasn't until late afternoon so once again we took off exploring more of the city on foot. There is an amazing walk called the High Line which is actually an old elevated railroad track that has been converted to a walking path that is about 1.5 miles long. We had walked it before but it was in the winter and a little nippy, this offered a totally different view with tons of flowers in bloom and leaves on all the trees. If you get to NY you should really check it out.
http://www.thehighline.org/
After walking the High Line we walked the lower west side along the Hudson River all the way from mid-town to Battery Park. Again, an incredible place to explore if you get a chance.
Back to Anna Maria Island late Saturday night with great memories of this part of our perpetual journey.
In closing, it was a great Father's Day yesterday and I hope all of you who are Father's had a great one as well.
Happy Father's Day to both of my Dad's. Some of you know this story but others may not so here it is in a nutshell. My "biological dad" passed away in an accident two months before I was born. I've heard many stories about him over the years and wish I would have had the privilege of knowing him. Most stories are about what a great athlete he was so I'm looking forward to playing catch with him sometime down the line because I'm pretty certain there is baseball in heaven.
Out of that tragedy came an incredible dad who was as kind, gentle, loving and supportive as any person who has ever roamed the planet who also gifted my older brother (Gerald) and I with another cool brother and sister! I feel so blessed.
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| Central Park-Looking across the Reservoir to the Upper West Side |
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| Peggy's Cove-Halifax |
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| The Light House at Peggy's Cove |
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| Peggy's Cove |
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| On the drive back to Halifax from Peggy's Cove |
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| Lobster Pots |
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| Reversing Rapids-Bay of Fundy (The Pictures Don't Do it Justice) |
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| Peaks Island |
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| This is actually a piece of "art" on the High Line...... |
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| The Idiots on the Ship |
Friday, June 10, 2016
The Idiots are on the move!
The past three weeks we've enjoyed Anna Maria Island (AMI) but now it's time to take a week off.
We were planning to fly to New Hampshire and drive into Canada spending a couple of nights in Magog, Quebec City and Montreal, however we had a last minute change of plans. Beth has an unbelievable talent to uncover amazing travel deals. As my former best friend at work Tammy Collier used to say "it seems like they usually end up paying you guys to go on these trips".
I'm not sure if we've ever actually been paid but we've done some crazy and amazing things often times at the last minute because the deals were too good to pass up. There was the time Beth and some friends and family flew roundtrip from Florida to New York six times in a week to earn a bunch of travel certificates for anywhere in the world that American Airlines flew. We then used the certificates to go to Hawaii and Italy. I'd gladly share with you some of her secrets but I don't know how she does it, I just enjoy what she comes up with.
The "offer we couldn't refuse" this time is a cruise from New York that leaves Sunday and returns the following Saturday. It goes to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Saint John, New Brunswick and Portland, Maine. Interesting ports, none of which I have been to but that Beth has visited on one of her famous "old lady trips" with her mom and sisters. So thanks to the great cancellation policies that Southwest Airlines offers we cancelled the New Hampshire flight and rebooked for New York and will be heading up in the morning. If you ever choose to become a "traveling idiot" yourself and you are going to travel domestically I would encourage you to strongly consider looking at Southwest. As I stated, their cancellation polices are great, they don't charge for bags although you should never pack so much you have to check a bag and they are actually friendly and act as if you are not an interruption to their day. By the way for this trip we are each packing in about a half a back pack. We could probably fit everything into one backpack but I'm afraid it might be too heavy for Beth to lug around New York.
Current weather conditions in Halifax: 57 degrees
Current weather conditions on AMI 85 degrees combined with about 100% humidity thanks to the storm from earlier this week to create a "feels like" temperature of 95! The cooler temperatures are going to feel great plus I just can't do anything with my hair in this heat and humidity!
We were planning to fly to New Hampshire and drive into Canada spending a couple of nights in Magog, Quebec City and Montreal, however we had a last minute change of plans. Beth has an unbelievable talent to uncover amazing travel deals. As my former best friend at work Tammy Collier used to say "it seems like they usually end up paying you guys to go on these trips".
I'm not sure if we've ever actually been paid but we've done some crazy and amazing things often times at the last minute because the deals were too good to pass up. There was the time Beth and some friends and family flew roundtrip from Florida to New York six times in a week to earn a bunch of travel certificates for anywhere in the world that American Airlines flew. We then used the certificates to go to Hawaii and Italy. I'd gladly share with you some of her secrets but I don't know how she does it, I just enjoy what she comes up with.
The "offer we couldn't refuse" this time is a cruise from New York that leaves Sunday and returns the following Saturday. It goes to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Saint John, New Brunswick and Portland, Maine. Interesting ports, none of which I have been to but that Beth has visited on one of her famous "old lady trips" with her mom and sisters. So thanks to the great cancellation policies that Southwest Airlines offers we cancelled the New Hampshire flight and rebooked for New York and will be heading up in the morning. If you ever choose to become a "traveling idiot" yourself and you are going to travel domestically I would encourage you to strongly consider looking at Southwest. As I stated, their cancellation polices are great, they don't charge for bags although you should never pack so much you have to check a bag and they are actually friendly and act as if you are not an interruption to their day. By the way for this trip we are each packing in about a half a back pack. We could probably fit everything into one backpack but I'm afraid it might be too heavy for Beth to lug around New York.
Current weather conditions in Halifax: 57 degrees
Current weather conditions on AMI 85 degrees combined with about 100% humidity thanks to the storm from earlier this week to create a "feels like" temperature of 95! The cooler temperatures are going to feel great plus I just can't do anything with my hair in this heat and humidity!
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| Beth is packed and ready to go! Julia and Roxanne check out the luggage tag! |
Punta Gorda
Yesterday I took a day off from letting Nana (who you have probably figured out by now is Beth's mother) beat me in scrabble, checkers and/or rummy to visit some old friends in Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda is about a two hour drive from Anna Maria Island and it's a place that will always be special for me for a couple of reasons. Ben and Sarah were both born during the seven years that we lived there and it's where I started what turned into a 30+ year career with Adventist Health System. Although we lived across the Peace River in Port Charlotte the hospital and many of my memories were of Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda is located at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor. It has always been quite scenic because of the harbor although the town itself was kind of old and tired looking when we lived there. Ironically one of the most devastating things to ever hit that area (Hurricane Charlie) was something that changed the direction of the city for the better.
Many of these memories were of times spent as a member of the Punta Gorda Kiwanis Club. The club still meets every Thursday at noon so I had the opportunity to attend yesterdays meeting and catch up with some old friends who still live there and remain active members.
So many of these individuals who served as mentors and friends to us have passed away now but they left behind a tremendous legacy in the community and with many of us. I am eternally grateful to them and hope that in some small way I have followed their lead and paid it forward.
Punta Gorda is about a two hour drive from Anna Maria Island and it's a place that will always be special for me for a couple of reasons. Ben and Sarah were both born during the seven years that we lived there and it's where I started what turned into a 30+ year career with Adventist Health System. Although we lived across the Peace River in Port Charlotte the hospital and many of my memories were of Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda is located at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor. It has always been quite scenic because of the harbor although the town itself was kind of old and tired looking when we lived there. Ironically one of the most devastating things to ever hit that area (Hurricane Charlie) was something that changed the direction of the city for the better.
It has become a very interesting and vibrant small community that has been recognized numerous times as one of the best small cities in America. If you're ever in the area check it out, it now has a great waterfront area with parks, restaurants, shops and water related activities.
At the time I lived there and was a member there were about 100 of us, mostly men but women were also becoming members and we were certainly better for having them. Probably about half of the group were retired and the other half was mainly made up of young bucks and buckettes (remember it was a long time ago) like myself. The retirees in the club came from very diverse backgrounds, most of whom had been leaders in their respective professions and all of whom were committed to making Punta Gorda a great community and having fun while doing it. The work and support we provided the community was awesome and the meetings were so funny because they were so politically incorrect that you just didn't want to miss one because there was no telling what might happen. Unfortunately we live in a different world of having to be so politically correct today, well except for Donald who has the magical ability to take it to a whole new level of incorrectness on a daily basis but that's really more of a topic for the political bloggers.
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| All in a Day's Work -Part 1 |
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| All in a Days Work- Part 2 |
Monday, June 6, 2016
Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season (Started June 1)
OK, so it's not a Hurricane but it is a tropical storm!
As the great Jimmy would croon in the song by the same title as this post "the wind is blowing harder now, 50 knots or there about"........it's been that type of day today. Heavy rain on and off, strong winds and a super high high tide around 1:00 this afternoon.
Obviously not any beach time today other than riding around the island risking my life and limb to capture a few pictures and videos. So what happens on a rainy day at the beach:
Great breakfast with Stoneground Grits from Logan's Turnpike Mill in Blairsville, Ga.
A little continued helping around the house.
Homemade pizza and dessert pizza for lunch.
Getting pounded by Beth and Nana in Scrabble.
Recovering from the scrabble pounding with a nice nap on a rainy day.
Writing this blog while watching the Paul Finebaum show (If you're an SEC fan you know who I'm talking about!)
Can't judge the day by the weather!
As the great Jimmy would croon in the song by the same title as this post "the wind is blowing harder now, 50 knots or there about"........it's been that type of day today. Heavy rain on and off, strong winds and a super high high tide around 1:00 this afternoon.
Obviously not any beach time today other than riding around the island risking my life and limb to capture a few pictures and videos. So what happens on a rainy day at the beach:
Great breakfast with Stoneground Grits from Logan's Turnpike Mill in Blairsville, Ga.
A little continued helping around the house.
Homemade pizza and dessert pizza for lunch.
Getting pounded by Beth and Nana in Scrabble.
Recovering from the scrabble pounding with a nice nap on a rainy day.
Writing this blog while watching the Paul Finebaum show (If you're an SEC fan you know who I'm talking about!)
Can't judge the day by the weather!
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| Surf's Up! |
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| Canal at High Tide |
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| Across the canal-water completely covering the dock |
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| Street Flooding |
Friday, June 3, 2016
We're going to be ROMEO's!
This past Tuesday night I had the honor of attending my middle brother's (Cecil) retirement party. For the past 18 years Cecil had been the pro-shop manager at the Bartow Golf Course. Now if you've never had the opportunity to visit the Bartow Golf Course you are really missing out! There is quite a collection of characters that hang out there telling tall tales, consuming frosty adult beverages and occasionally even playing golf. The beauty of observing it as a semi-outsider/semi-insider is how much fun they have, often at each others expense but the love that they also have for each other. They're the definition of "friends".
My older brother Gerald retired last year after approximately 40 years of service to the Polk County School board mostly at Bartow Middle School where he was legendary as a tough no nonsense disciplinarian with a heart of gold. It's always fun to go around Bartow and observe the relationship he has with former students. They love and respect him so much.
They have lived close to one another through the years and have the battle scars to prove it. I've enjoyed the time I have had with them when I have been in town, at Gator football games, the College Baseball World Series, a bunch of Daytona 500's and family gatherings over the years.
Now that all three of us are retired and I will be more "local" more often than I have been in the past I'm looking forward to many more exploits.
As a matter of fact, the three of us will be getting together for lunch or dinner every now and then and will be ROMEO's!
My older brother Gerald retired last year after approximately 40 years of service to the Polk County School board mostly at Bartow Middle School where he was legendary as a tough no nonsense disciplinarian with a heart of gold. It's always fun to go around Bartow and observe the relationship he has with former students. They love and respect him so much.
They have lived close to one another through the years and have the battle scars to prove it. I've enjoyed the time I have had with them when I have been in town, at Gator football games, the College Baseball World Series, a bunch of Daytona 500's and family gatherings over the years.
Now that all three of us are retired and I will be more "local" more often than I have been in the past I'm looking forward to many more exploits.
As a matter of fact, the three of us will be getting together for lunch or dinner every now and then and will be ROMEO's!
Retired Old Men Eating Out
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| Guess who is the youngest! |
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