Sunday Afternoon

We took an early morning beach walk at low tide, stopping to examine the occasional tidal pool when we got to the rocks.

Just a lazy afternoon watching the boats arrive from the mainland. The weather calmed down yesterday and by 2:00 pm the crossing boats started to arrive. The dead give-a-ways are the stern mounted American or Canadian flags and the required yellow quarantine flag attached to a mast stay. The significance of the yellow is to acknowledge the ship has not cleared customs upon entering the country and only the captain may step ashore to clear crew and boat.

A couple examples:

Heavy weather

The past couple days have been cloudy and windy; however, checking the weather report at home showed huge downpours, high winds and a few tornadoes. Combine that with Freeport temperatures 10 to 15 degrees higher than home makes us happy to be here.

 The seriousness of the coming weather was heralded by the commercial fishing boats coming into the bay and the lack of pleasure boat traffic leaving the bay. Even the ferry quit running yesterday afternoon. I am glad we were not waiting at ferry dock on the other side of the bay.

After a couple bus rides to the grocery store we were feeling fairly confident about getting around, then a bus we were on took off down a different road. We looked at each other and shrugged since we had already discussed just riding the bus to look around as we have done in several countries. A few blocks later the bus dropped off a woman at an intersection and returned to the regular route. The next deviation from the route caused us to question another passenger on how the system worked. You get on at bus stop, tell the driver your destination and if it is not far off the route and you have spoken politely he will take you there.

 From our patio, palms bowing to the wind.

Looking south down the channel with rough seas breaking on red channel marker.

Freeport, Grand Bahamas

We have once again escaped the cold climes of Florida and headed south. It is about 10 degrees warmer which makes De Anne 100% happier. 

We have a nice little corner unit, ground floor condo at the end of Bell Channel. 

Last night the lack of food drove us out into the streets. Lucky for us a cab driver with a few folks already aboard stopped and asked us if we wanted to go to the fish fry. We had heard about the famous Wednesday fish fry on the beach, so needed little encouragement. I hate fish, but because ribs and chicken were offered too I was inclined to board the cab. The beach huts reminded us of Ecuador. The  food and music was good and the entertainment was watching an elderly man fry fish in a huge cast iron pot over a wood fire.

We solved the food crisis today with a ferry ride, walk and a bus ride. The buses here are vans with "public transportation" written on the side. When you get in you hand the driver $1.25 and tell him where you want to get off. Island food is expensive! A Whole Foods in the USA would be cheaper. As an example - a one pound box of Meullers pasta is $3.29. This may be an excellent time to start a diet. At least rum is cheap.

De Anne on the porch at happy hour.

Our porch view.

End of Summer

What better way to celebrate the first day of not needing air conditioning than installing a new AC unit, and no better way to get it off the truck and onto the roof in one move than a great big crane.

There have been a few parties of late. One was with the neighbors from both sides held on the patio of the end-unit neighbor. Note next-door neighbor Susan is wearing her no-see-um proof mesh body suit.

Next is an un-authorized picture of De Anne in her 'horsey" costume at the neighborhood Halloween party.

Next posting will be from the Bahamas.......

When Mother Nature strikes

The hurricane has missed us by 200 miles, but the we did get a bit of storm surge. It is great to live so close to the water until we are too close. Yesterday the high tide and surge combined to cover our walkway. Today the high tide is forecast to be higher. We will have to wait to see if any surge combines with the tide.

De Anne returning from a visit with the neighbors:

Henry, our Great Blue Heron, still visits for snacks. De Anne has forbidden me giving him any more shrimp, claiming that I am taking food out of her mouth. She won't touch hotdogs so Henry has learned to adapt his diet. I do cut them in half and dice them so he won't choke, although I suspect I am engaging in anthropomorphism.

Note the empty patio - cleared for the storm.

Mega-death

Red tide has come to Longboat Key bringing fish kills on an epic scale. The stench of the red tide coupled with the smell of rotting fish makes the beach uninhabitable.

While not actually injurious to people - a tickle can develop quickly in the back of the throat. Our little marina was safe for awhile until the normal tides and wind sent the red tide around the passes and into Sarasota Bay. It is now literally at our door. Lucky for us the afternoon sea breeze moves most of the dead fish out of our marina leaving happy hour on the patio still possible.

 A small sample of red tide:

In the bay: (click to enlarge)

I used the dock hose to push a few bodies out into the channel. When our next door neighbor came out to see what we were doing De Anne, in a display of macabre humor, told our neighbor we were staging dead fish races as we cheered the bloated corpses floating away. You gotta have fun sometimes and yes, liquor was involved.

Virginia Beach

Our son and daughter-in-law are on a two week cruise vacation in the Caribbean. Don't ask why a Navy Officer thinks two weeks at sea is a vacation.

They have left behind, in our care, a 13 year-old cat, a 2 year-old dog (Transylvania hound) and 7 month old baby.

De Anne and I have divided the duties. She takes care of the baby and I take care of the animals. Perhaps not an even division of labor, but I have no complaints.

Of course our first grandchild - Logan, is exceptionally beautiful and lots of fun 23 and a half hours a day. The last half hour of the evening, when he is tired (and De Anne is too) is the slightly rough spot of the day. The first day of our solo experience coincided with Logan discovering how to crawl rapidly. He races across the floor, bypassing a few hundred toys for the real prize - the dog chew toy. When thwarted from that endeavor his next goal is tipping over the cat's food and water bowl.

As much fun as this is we do occasionally miss our island and beach sunsets.

Key wildlife

Although Longboat Key is a prime tourist destination wildlife abounds. The turtle nesting season is in full swing and while some turtles show bad judgement in creating nests where high tides will destroy the eggs others go right up to the dunes and give the baby turtles the best chance to hatch.

 Good turtle mothers placed their nests properly:

At the south end of the island a nesting pair of osprey have disdainfully avoided the public housing units specifically erected for osprey and used the first stoplight pole on the island. At least you can tell what street they live on.

De Anne biked to Coquina Beach this morning and had a wildlife encounter that was not appreciated. One of the resident squirrels, in a fit of perversion, chewed a hole in her bike seat while she was strolling the beach.

The best part of the week was a visit from Connie and Jim that had been put off a year due to  hurricane Irma. Alberto tried to interfere with this visit, but could not muster the strength.

Fleet week

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale held Fleet Week this week. Our son took a few days off to visit us, but first gave us a tour of his ship (USS Kerasarge) before the daily public tour started. Note in the picture below the empty dock.

On the main hanger deck with the aircraft elevator up:

Out on the flight deck two of the ship's helicopters were set up. I was even invited to sit in the pilot's seat, but declined due to the contortions required to enter and the tiny seat. Definitely a space for a young, limber, skinny person.  

Fifty cal. machine gun..... I want one!

Tristan spent a couple hours running his elderly Father and youngish Mother up and down ramps and stairs (more like ladders). It was great to see where our son works: however, also very good to get away from the real world and back to our cloistered island.

Deserted island

Spring break is over and most of the snow birds have flown north again. Our island almost seems empty and we love having it to ourselves.

Beach shot - no one else - just my toes:

De Anne alone in the bay:

At Coquina Beach looking across Longboat Pass (OK there is someone else on the beach and a couple crabbers on the boat, but I don't feel crowded):

This week I have gone up to a mile on my bike without passing anyone on the sidewalk. Longboat Key has extra wide sidewalks and bikes can use the sidewalk provided they are equipped with a bell and don't exceed 10 mph.

Alpha bird

We are settled on Longboat Key and enjoying our marina-front villa. At least "villa" is the term used in the mobile home park to distinguish our fixed condos from the mobile homes.

These mobile homes look just like the ones in Martinsville, Indiana and sell for the same price as the Indiana ones plus $100,000 to $130,000 more because it is Longboat Key.

 We have met our immediate neighbors and they are a fine group, except for Henry. He is a great blue heron and is the alpha bird in the marina. He occasionally clears the pelicans and cormorants off the docks for no other apparent reason than he can.

 Henry got tangled in fishing line last week and had a hook stuck in his wing. The marine biologists from Mote Marine came out and freed him. I took pity on him and (disregarding neighbor advice) fed him a couple shrimp. Even though I fed him down the dock, he figured out where I live and stands outside our door waiting for me. A new chore for me is hosing down the sidewalk.

Henry waiting:

When Henry lets his guard down others will beg from De Anne:

Legacy Trail

The circus no longer winters in Sarasota, so the rail spur for the circus was turned into a biking and walking trail.

 A combination of the return of great weather, biking a lovely nature trail, and avoiding 85 year-old drivers on busy Siesta Key is irresistible to us.

 The trail includes shelters with bike repair stations sporting all necessary tools attached to a post by cables.

There is one hazard to watch for..... common in most of Florida.

Fleeing St. Croix

We are back on the safe island of Siesta Key, having fled from St, Croix.

Two nights ago, at 4:30 in the morning a druggie psycho kicked in our condo door, De Anne and I were able to escape out the back door and several neighbors joined us. He had already tried to break in to a condo several doors down and they had called the police who arrived moments after he invaded our unit.

The long term residents all said that the only crime in the complex in the past 8 years was one car break in. That was small comfort for us and after a sleepless night we decided St. Croix was not fun anymore so we left.

Warm weather, beautiful reef snorkeling, and lovely island beaches only work when you feel safe.

Hello is not OK

We got our first taste of St. Croix public transportation. Modern, small buses that cost one dollar per ride unless you have the discount (free) card. De Anne and I were the only people without the card. 

Everyone got on the bus with a cheery "Good morning!" and received the same in return. Having done our homework we knew this would happen. Answering back "Hi" is rude and "Hello" is not OK. This works the same with retail clerks too.

The perpetual tropical climate creates the need to announce yourself when nearing an open front door - therefore call out "Inside". No answer is always presumed to be proof no one is home; however, should someone answer "outside" that is your invitation to enter.

 In the big city of Christiansted, the tourist area is quite similar to Key West - right down to the wild chickens. A couple cocks fighting over a styrofoam cup:

Still a few lines hanging low in the street:

One unanticipated and undesirable result of our bus trip was the cold I contracted. A few days of rest and sunshine should make it better.

Old and new

Signs of the hurricane line each road. While the much beloved linemen are putting up new lines at a rapid pace the removal of the old is being put off to another day.

 The norm along every street:

 The black fence in the background is around our condo complex. Until today it was lying on the ground and quite easy to step over. We will now have to use the pass code gate like normal people. 

Sitting around the pool yesterday chatting with some long-term residents, we learned the tap water in all the units was from cisterns fed from the roof gutters. Everyone was impressed we were still alive. We did find out that the pool water, oddly enough, comes from a clean, treated source - so I will be sneaking out each night to fill a couple pitchers from the pool shower.

Far enough south

Leaving the cold 48 states behind we finally got far enough south. I almost needed a jacket in Miami on Friday morning.

On St. Croix evidence of storm damage is still visible; but life is close to normal. A few hours after our arrival the power went out. We were at the restaurant next door to our condo, Cheeseburger in Paradise, but since the grill was gas powered, and the beer still cold we were able to tough out the half hour power outage.

Yesterday our first beach walk about a quarter-mile away.

A picture of De Anne - as usual - not waiting for me:

Happy wife so life is good!

Death, distruction, & new arrivals

Although we have heard about manatees hit by power boats it is sad when it happens in front of your home. De Anne had to call in a manatee injured in Blind Pass. The Sarasota Police promptly responded and biologists from Mote Aquarium joined in a failed rescue attempt.

One police officer shed his gun belt, vest, and shirt for a closer look.

On Siesta Beach a Catalina sailboat went aground in high winds. If you are going to go aground it might as well be on the 2017 best beach in America, and a short walk from many bars and restaurants.

A New year's trip to Virginia Beach to visit the newest family member Robert Logan White.

Tomorrow we flee the cold weather of south Florida to spend a month in St. Croix Virgin Islands. We expect no sympathy from our northern friends for what we call cold down here.