Political Rally & Barbeque

It was billed as "Red, White & Barbeque" and held in a large aircraft hanger at Sarasota International Airport. It was to be the last Sarasota event for the U.S. Senate candidate, the candidate for Governor, and several other "down ticket" offices. I had yet to hear any of these candidates speak, with the exception of the female Attorney General candidate. So often, one has to plunk down big bucks for such an opportunity to get up close, but this day I did not.

Best of all, this event was FREE, and they threw in good food and a band too. Ya gotta love that! So, I arrived in time to park close enough, and managed to eat my fill before the buses started rolling in. Campaign buses are amazing these days, with the fancy graphics and all of the technology inside. Candidates arrive fresh, make their now well rehearsed speech, press the flesh until their handlers spirit them away, and they're off. At the event today, the candidate for Governor arrived first, introduced his family (Republicans are very family oriented) and his mother, then stepped away to shake hands. Enter the bus for the Senate candidate, who also brought his family along (and of course his mother - his father had died during the campaign). His speech was dynamic, but he's clearly a rising star in the party. During the speech, another bus rolled in, this time with the Agriculture Commission and the Chief Financial Officer candidate. The polls say these guys are well ahead of their Democrat competition.

The race for Governor is uncertain as to who wins. The assumed candidate, the present Attorney General and past Congressman Bill McCullom was defeated by a conservative business man in the primary - McCullom figured it was "his turn" and didn't take his competitor seriously. This is a year in Florida, as it is across the nation, where "expected winners" find themselves on the outside looking in. The conventional wisdom says the Democrat probably will win in a close race. We'll all know in 72 hours.

The race for the Senate is also interesting, with the current Republican candidate pictured above expected to win - after chasing the current Republican Governor out of the party and into a battle with the Democrat to see who could capture enough votes on the left and center to win. Watch this Marco Rubio guy - he's going places, and I expect him to start as the next Senator from Florida.

Oh, the Attorney General candidate - well, it's allegedly a closer race than the others "down the ticket" but I expect Pam Bondi to prevail. She is a really great person and has been one of the talking heads on CNN and Fox News when discussing the immigration issues we see across this land. I voted for her in the primary, after meeting her at a small soiree and being impressed by her intellect (OK, I admit, she's also a babe).

So, it was a great party - a good band, great speeches to fire up the troops, and two kinds of ice tea. I took my tea sweet, as is the Southern tradition. Republicans now serve tea at all functions, we're just a veritable tea party and are riding the wave to recapture the Republic in 2010.

Window Blind Man's Bluff

You'll recall the pictures of the bird outside my window, shot from the inside. The other morning, when nothing much was moving, I took my camera and walked across Harbourside drive and took a picture of my office window (on the right) and my wife's kitchen windows (on the left). I also took a shot from Winding Oaks, looking past the driveway and to the left would be my other windows. This house has LOTS of windows.

Next week, we'll see a bit less from the inside, when we install blinds in the living room and master bedroom. That's probably a good thing - the sunlight would eventually bleach out furniture from that one set of windows. And we need blinds in the bedroom, if only to blot out that pesky streetlight that shines directly into my wife's eyes at night. Mind you, on MY side of the bed, I am not bothered at all because my side has a wall with dresser against it, so no problem. Of course I offered to switch sides of the bed.........as you can imagine that went nowhere after 39 years of marriage. I'm convinced women are creatures of habit and will not change for love nor money. Men are like tomcats - they'll sleep wherever they fall down. Might be from having a career traveling and spending nights in strange beds too often.

So, my wife's solution so far has been to take wrapping paper and tape it to the windows. Now, that's tacky but it did turn out temporarily effective. It also brought about a search for a blind person to come and measure the openings for a more elegant and permanent solution. We got a phone call the other day, and the blinds are now ready to be installed. That's a good thing, after all. When I write yet another check, I'll know I'm that much closer to having completed the new house.

I wasn't all that impressed with the blind guy, but his dog was pretty damn good with the tape measure.

My New Pool - Part 1

When we bought our new house, we were promised a pool, which very conveniently was located behind our home but maintained by the homeowners association. However, the pool was closed because it had a crack in its bottom. Now, nobody wants a crack in their bottom (although perhaps plumbers may view this comment differently), so the pool had to be replaced. We knew this going into the purchase contract, and negotiated an escrow amount from the sellers to help pay for the expected cost. The "guesstimate" was from three to five thousand per resident, which multiplied by 50 some homeowners, would mean "no more than $250,000" in cost was expected.

The picture on the left was taken AFTER the old pool had been removed, and fresh fill had been brought in for compacting. After compacting, they'd dig a fresh hole for where the new pool would go. The water showing is the adjacent pond. The picture on the right shows what happened when they dug down a little further...., and then discovered even more debris when the operator thought he had hit bottom at 7 feet, only to discover a second selection of trees and bushes at 15 feet. Hopefully the game plan does not include digging a hole to China. The picture on the right is self explanatory - yucky!

They had suspected that the pool had been built on fill, but not organic debris, and in the big dig now going on, found it to be not one, but several layers of organic debris. Fortunately, no dinosaur bones, but plenty of native palms and other trees, which the original developer had apparently cut down when building the homes and from fill from the adjoining pond. There was also discovered the old pool's gas line, which interestingly had not been shut down and the meter removed. Can you say "Kaboom!"? Fortunately, after many phone calls, the gas line (for the pool heater) was shut down and the meter removed.

Meanwhile, the Homeowners Association has asked our residents if they want to add a four person hot tub/spa to the project, for ONLY an additional $35,000 bucks. I have voted no, since I regard these as just giant Petri dishes in search of infectious germs. This pool project was expected to be finished by Christmas, but maybe I should have asked "which year?". So, this blog entry is labeled Part 1 for a reason, there WILL be a part 2, probably a part 3 and hopefully a conclusion. Fortunately, we still own a condo at Cedars Tennis Resort, with a Jr. Olympic sized pool ideal for lap swimming. And of course, there's always the beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Ain't Florida grand?

Window on the World

Sometimes you go to the shot, and sometimes the shot comes to you. The other day, my wife was in the kitchen and glanced out the window and there it was, a great white heron.

I quickly grabbed my camera and took several pictures of this magnificent bird, who had alighted upon the hedge that screens our home from the road outside. The bird seemed oblivious to our presence on the other side of the windows, where we could see it from both the kitchen and my new "man cave" which also faced north.

In my prior "window on the world" at the tennis resort condo, I had converted the second bedroom into an office, where I faced a courtyard and had an oblique view of the Inter-coastal Waterway and Sarasota Bay. No water views in the new place, but our new neighborhood earns its name, Winding Oaks. This area, built in 1988, was carved out of an area where many live oak trees (that's the name of the species, as opposed to dead oaks) were incorporated into the landscaping plan surrounding the homes. Live oaks are native to this area, as are great white herons. I am now native to this area, and living on the corner where my windows face north and west gives me one great view of what's coming and who's going. I've achieved nirvana if you rank neighborhood busybody as a goal.

My boy and his dog

For most of her doggy days, Sassy the Labrador/chow mix was a land locked canine. She came into my son's life in north St. Louis County, where she was part of a menagerie of three dogs, one adult cat, two kittens, and two ferrets. We won't count water bugs in the basement of this house. There was also a wife, with two children, so the house was pretty full, and this poor dog was most likely in competition for space, food, and probably air.

After fourteen months of a marriage nobody thought would last, except for the groom of course, she packed up her kids, and one dog, and moved in with husband number four. J.B. was left holding the bag, and it was full of kittens. There was also a bag full of ferrets. He found somebody who wanted the ferrets - so that bag was never dropped off a bridge. He took the kittens back to the adoption agency where they had come from, nominally to play with the daughter's adult cat. That "left behind" cat also found a new home. My son found a home for his American Eskimo dog, knowing he couldn't keep the house on one income, and rentals never allow more than one dog.

Sassy, the landlocked Labrador, would move with her master from St. Louis to Indianapolis, where she would live with his grandmother and hide up in his room during the day. He ultimately moved in with his step-cousin, and Sassy got a doggie friend named Arnie to spend her day alongside - plus a fenced yard in which to frolic. But it wasn't until the cousin was facing marriage that J.B. knew this housing arrangement couldn't last. So, he packed up the Jeep and moved again - this time to Florida. He'll soon be in an apartment of his own, living perhaps ten miles from our place, and ten miles (if that) from his new restaurant. But before he moved, he had use of our island condo, with the Sarasota Bay just 50 yards away.

Sassy the Labrador discovered her "inner Lab" and she loves to run on the tidal flat behind the condos and chase the seabirds. Labrador retrievers love water - and the world loves a lover. Sassy is no longer sharing space with a menagerie, she's got the world as her oyster, and she likes Florida as much as her master and his parents.

Ice Cream Sunday

A week ago, on a Sunday afternoon, my friend Bob and I went in search of a car show. Bob had read about a two day show, assuming it was a Saturday/Sunday event, and I allowed as how I could meet him after church on Sunday and we'd drive up to the top of Anna Maria Island to see the show. Only one problem - the show was part of a town celebration which went on Friday night, and all day Saturday.

We were a day late, and ultimately several dollars short. Bob, who is known affectionately as Bobby to many where he works, is the Maintenance Supervisor at Cedars East Condo Association. This is his fifth year, and I can honestly say he loves his job. He came to Florida with less than $200 in his pocket, traveling from New York City. He grew up in Queens, and has great stories of living in New York, where he did every job imaginable, from mover (carrying stuff up four or five flights of stairs) to diamond cutter. Bob has more girl friends than I can count, and yet has successfully avoided marriage in 30 years of dating - assuming he started at age 16. Knowing Bob, probably his youth was far more exciting than my own, if half the stories are true. He is the only 46 year old teenager I know, but he's great to hang with, if only for the stories and his take on life.

Bob now lives in Bradenton, and my son (who is 33 and recently moved to Sarasota/Bradenton) will soon move into the same apartment complex as Bob. Bob will help him move, which is to say Bob will do most of the heavy lifting based on experience. J.B. however brings a dimension to Bob's life - that of computer savvy with experience selling stuff on line. Bob has experience with falling into free furniture whenever one of the 92 owners updates his condo and needs somebody to haul off the old stuff. Bob hauls it to another garage (very few live at Cedars, and somebody is always wanting to get rid of old stuff that is still very serviceable) where he then proceeds to sell it. Now he will add Internet sales to his repertoire, thanks to my son.

So, back to the story - Bob had never really spent any time at all on Anna Maria, and from a prior blog entry you'll recall my writing about lunch at the City Pier, followed by ice cream at Two Scoops. I bought lunch, Bob paid for dessert, and we killed a Sunday afternoon, topped with a sundae. Life on an island is always an adventure, and its best shared with friends. C'mon down, the waters fine!

Slow but Steady

In the last several weeks, our new home has slowly been sorting itself out, from a mix of new furniture, old furniture, and many boxes coming off the truck a fortnight ago. I have captured a shot on behalf of one of our remodeling team, who was so pleased with his work that he wanted to show his wife the final product. I owe most of this to his work as inspired by my wife's ideas. She envisioned it, he made it happen.

This picture shows the living area, with dining off to the left, where a window overlooks plantings separating the north side of the property from the road. The new fireplace is at the far end. While there was a fireplace there, the old tile (brown) was just one of five different tile colors in the house. We replaced it with a stone that tied into the granite hearth. The wood floor replaced a shiny white tile (2nd color) and runs throughout the living spaces. We kept tile in the bathrooms, but it is no longer pink (which HAD to go!). There were two additional colors of tile, one in the showers, another in the laundry room. All old tile is gone, and the color palette is now reduced and coordinated.

The picture also reveals a new ceiling fan, and a new chandelier - with the fan being only one of five in the house. Our tastes have become more contemporary as we've aged, and while this house is "less Florida" it still reflects the Florida lifestyle with lots of light coming through those sliding glass doors which open onto a screened lanai. While it can be hot and sticky some months, we enjoy the countervailing cool months coming up, when you can open up the house to nature and the occasional guest (who looks a lot like that insurance spokes-gecko) who sneak onto the lanai from time to time. Oh well, it's Florida.

I'll post other shots as soon as we finish up a room, or in the case of the new kitchen, I will take some nice shots to share.

Beach View High Rise - New Price

Prices continued to fall on the Florida Sun Coast, but with interest rates at a historic low, deals were getting done and a Realtor was once again able to have a double latte at the Beach Cafe on Anna Maria Island. After grabbing a lunch with my buddy Bob, I showed him a place where he could take his girlfriend to watch the sun set, and get an "all you can eat Pancake" breakfast if he got her up early the next morning. Bob, who works on Longboat, had never really taken the time to explore our northern neighbor island, Anna Maria. Anna Maria is one island, but with three distinct towns. And each of those towns has a distinct personality.


At the top of the island is the City of Anna Maria - they have their own Mayor, but police service is contracted out to the Manatee County Sheriff. The entire island is served by a West Manatee Fire District. Anna Maria, the city, is very residential and arguably the "high end" real estate on the island.

The middle of the island is Holmes Beach. Holmes Beach has the Manatee County Library branch and a quite impressive City Hall in it's main business district. It is solidly middle class and sports lots of visitor facilities along the shoreline, and decent marina space along the Inter-coastal Waterway which separates the island from mainland Manatee County. Holmes Beach also has three gas stations, and all are ten cents a gallon below the solitary station on Longboat Key.

The south end of the island is Bradenton Beach. Like Holmes Beach, it has its own Mayor and Police Chief (and minimal police forces). Bradenton Beach's business district is along Bridge Street, where there is no longer a bridge. The bridge is somewhat north of Bridge Street, where Cortez Avenue comes from the mainland. The fishing village of Cortez is at the land side of the bridge, and they have a great Fishing Festival every year, plus a small fishing fleet embarks from there each morning. The far south end of Bradenton Beach is Coquina State Park, where the holidays find crowded beaches and the occasional Hispanic gang fight and shooting gallery. Don't worry - nobody dies, as the gangs haven't learned to shoot straight. The presence of this large park attracting the weekend swimmers, sun bathers and gang bangers give this town a distinctly working class tourist appeal.

So, in order to leave Lucky Longboat (called that because we've not had a hurricane impact us for some eighty years), we must either go north to the Cortez Bridge on Anna Maria, or go south to reach the mainland via City Island, St. Armand's Circle on Lido Key, then Bird Key, and finally the high bridge into Sarasota. Isolation has its disadvantages living on Longboat "behind the gates", but our new home here is lovely and on one blessed level - no more stairs to climb. However, if I wanted to climb stairs, that property pictured above would be my first choice. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to look like a buff 20 something lifeguard. In my dreams, and only in my dreams.

Drove my Chevy to the Levee

OK, that's not a levee at all, but the north end of Anna Maria Island, where the City Pier extends 678 feet, and the wharf at the end juts another 58 feet into Tampa Bay. But that is my Chevy, and on a Sunday afternoon a great place to park and walk on this historic structure, built in 1911 and 1912. The pier was created to serve ships coming down from St. Petersburg and Tampa, and it has withstood hurricanes and lesser storms in 1918, 1935, 1974 and 1988, always being restored to its rustic look.

On this Sunday, I was taking time away from reorganizing all my stuff at the new house, and a buddy of mine thought there was a car show on Pine Street in the town of Anna Maria. There was, but it was Friday night and Saturday - nonetheless we did the road trip all the way up Anna Maria from Longboat and took in the sights.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant, watched any number of folks catching Amberjack off the wharf, and ended up grabbing an ice cream cone across the street at the Two Scoops shop. There's a poem posted on a sign near the beginning of the pier - it reads "Beneath the Roof of this City Pier is the Place to Sit with Shrimp and Beer, While Lightening in the Distance Plays and Thunder Rumbles Across the Bays". That about says it all............well, except explaining that one surreptitious shot of the hot blonde with fishing pole. Use your imagination there.

A doggone sad day

The picture of my dear Millie wearing a Christmas scarf, which was inscribed "fleas navidad", is a favorite. But as of September 26th, all I have now are memories of this extraordinary beagle and best friend. It took some time to even write about her, and tears well up in the eyes as I compose this eulogy. The smaller picture was taken on her last day, and my son took it at my request.

Millie had contracted a fast growing cancer sometime this past summer,up in Missouri, and we had taken her to our family vet twice for x-rays. We knew she'd not survive, and chemo therapy or surgery would not defeat the cancer, only extend her perhaps weeks, and that would only be to make us feel better as the dog worsened. She made the last trip south in the car, but clearly she was not her old self. Calling her "old" may have been the wrong word, as she was only eleven years and one month when her time came, about five years short of my prior beagles. She was my best girl, because after I retired she was with me always....a constant companion. My daughter brought her into my life one year after losing my prior beagle, when Caitlin was still in high school. A black & white photo, shot by Caitlin for a photography class, sits in my new den. Her "Executive Beagle" name tag/picture ID from my old job, taken prior to 2003, sits in my top desk drawer. There are reminders of this dear friend elsewhere, and her image is seared into my brain. She may be gone from this life, but she'll live with me forever.

My son went with me to the vet on the island, who looked at the x-rays taken up north and concurred it would be best for all to end her life with peace and dignity. J.B. sent me out of the room, and held her quietly as the vet gave her something to relax her and make her drowsy, before administering the final shot. I was a mess that day, and probably days thereafter - hence no recent blogging.

Yesterday, or maybe it was the day before, I took her three dog beds (all in good condition and laundered) to donate to a friend who works with no-kill shelters and rescue organizations. Millie had a Missouri bed, a Florida bed, and a Corvette traveling bed. Hopefully, three dogs who've not had the love we gave Millie will enjoy this gift, and I know I feel better having done so.

Hopefully, this blog will be somewhat cathartic, and I can move on and start writing as there is much to tell, of happier note and times. God Bless Millie the Beagle, she is now with Schautzie, Cassie, Fancy, and Lucky - I have five wonderful bitches waiting for me in heaven. All dogs do go to heaven, after all.