Eight hours of driving yesterday brought my short trip to Florida to a close. It was good to see my mom, because at some point in time it will be the last time I see her. I have seen the future and all is not good (this is a general observation, not necessarily something specific to her).
Today’s post will have a couple of more photos than usual, not as many as I’d like because I didn’t take all that many and I didn’t get a chance to process most of the shots last night either. Also missing from the collection are any of my mother because she was too vain and didn’t want her photo taken because she hadn’t had her hair done in a while. True story.
Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.
In order to see I have to be willing to be seen.
To all who have helped me — Thanks.
In Many Ways Four Days Was An Eternity, In Others A Split-Second
I love my mother dearly, but the ideal visiting period is no more than three days. This is especially true when the weather doesn’t cooperate and my photographic opportunities tend toward zero and I am left sitting in the house watching television — I have to admit to becoming somewhat hooked on Monk but I think it’s mostly because of Traylor Howard.
Mornings in Florida were mostly overcast, which is good for cycling but notsomuch for photography, with rain storms rolling through mid-morning/afternoon. Once the rain would stop the weather would become hot and extremely humid. I know, this is actually normal for Florida summers, but it was disappointing regardless.
Mom and I got along well, until the topic turned to politics. Luckily, as things started to get heated the phone rang and the argument was abated.
When In Doubt, Find A Brewery
Long after I moved away from Florida the craft beer brewing movement began. As I drove around I saw that a section of road cleanup was sponsored by Dunedin Brewery. On Friday I needed to get out of the house for a while so I started my mission to find it — which was actually very close to my mom’s and not hard to find at all.
At the brewery I ordered up a sample platter of beer and consumed another pint of their finest. Since the brewery only sold their bottles cold and I was planning on transporting some ITP I sought out a local liquor store and stocked up with a case and a half of beer. I know that you know that it won’t go to waste. 😉
ITP Flickr Pics
In some ways it felt as if I had never left Atlanta
This is the Tampa Bay edition of Creative Loafing.
Let me remind you of Saturday’s cycling goal
This route is approximately twenty-five miles long.
Proof that I rode at least twenty-five miles on Saturday morning
This was at the turnaround.
Proof that the Red Rocket made it down to St Petersburg
That’s Tropicana Field in the background.
Proof that I get no more photogenic after an hour and twenty minutes of bike riding
I too am in front of Tropicana Field but my noggin obscures it, and I couldn’t figure out how to get my head and the background evenly exposed.
And finally, proof that I love my mother.
On Saturday night I passed up the opportunity to go to a baseball game and played bingo at the local VFW hall with my mom instead; bingo is my mother’s favorite hobby. I came close to winning two games but never did. I seriously think I was the youngest person, except for one woman perhaps, by at least twenty years.
Even Though I Am Not A Braves Fan I Will Miss Skip Caray
Like many my age the Harry and Skip Caray were voices associated with baseball. In the days before cable tv Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner (Mets announcers), and Phil Rizzuto (Yankees announcer) were my baseball voices, but since getting WGN and TBS I’ve watched more Cubs and Braves games than I can count.
Yesterday’s loss of Skip Caray, age 68, was another blow to my past and another reminder that we all need to live for today.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay but somewhat uneasy
Current Music – nothing, there has been a snafu with my music setup at work
Website Of The Day – Every time I try to do photography I learn that I have a lot to learn. Expect me to be visiting Short Courses a lot in the near future.
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday – cycling, 50 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 198 pounds (huh, all that riding and I still added weight)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 13 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4
August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Glad to have you back in town!!!! Paulie and Bingo…now that’s a hoot.
So Paulie, we ventured up to Fort Mountain State Park on Sunday to run the outside trail…the one the marathoners will have to run, but not the 12 milers. It is one tough trail. Plus we saw deer, a coyote and yes, even a bear on trail!!
When you drive up there in the fall, be sure to check out the Roadkill Cafe, Dirty Daves and …. how about this name for a salon “Curl Up and Dye.”
Paulie – welcome back! Do they have drinks available at the VFW during Bingo?
And – trivia question for everyone – (something I learned this past weekend) – do you know the difference between the VFW and the American Legion? And don’t say the name……
Sal – you are CRAZY to run that trail (says Allan, who has actually biked it, and told me I don’t ever really want to…. he knows me too well). How close were you to the bear?
Oooh, now I really need to start training for MMM12 as well as my cycling commitments. I’m sure I’ll not see any wildlife, they will be scared away by all of the fast runners. 🙂
Barb, you know that I didn’t even think to ask if they served alcohol. I could have had really cheap drinks! Here’s a funny story about the VFW….
So bingo starts at 6:30pm (6:00pm for the Early Bird games). Since I figured that I wouldn’t be hungry prior to this I asked if they served food. “Sandwiches, hot dogs, and hamburgers” my mother said. Excellent! I was looking forward to having someone make me a fresh hamburger. After ordering a hamburger I watched in horror as an old woman open a plastic bag containing a hamburger, bun and all, and put it into the microwave. It was edible but nowhere near what I was expecting.
Oh – and more training for Paulie – Muscle Mountain Mania is going to be back next April 18th. I’m going to rent a cabin this time, we can have tents around it, so we can maybe cook up some fresh trout from that trout farm near by.
Yup, parents can sometimes be best in small doses! I’m sure Mom may have been thinking the same thing! 😉
Good that you got out and rode around, mileage is good! I’ve been wheezing lately here in ATL… the pollution asthma = Gentri wants a beach house and clean air!
They accepted my offer on the “Paulie House” today! I’ll close before September!
Gentri – you selling a house, or just buying another one? What part of the ‘hood is this one in?
Gonna rent out my current digs in Kirkwood and the new house is WAY over on the West side in East Point…. (I’m about 1.5 miles or so from P8ssy Pilot) nice price however, and a full basement! The layout is almost exactly like Paulie’s place except the kitchen is a bit different, no deck (yet), basement not finished, etc. It’ll take some work but I’ll be doubling my footage, halving my mortgage and the full basement will rock hard…… mind you, I’ll be the only white guy around, but the area is nice! 🙂
Pics here: http://flickr.com/photos/82068747@N00/sets/72157606185454070/
And there is no swank orange vinyl bar in the basement. 🙂
Gentri, I see some sweat-equity swap days in our near future.
Sadly, there is no swank bar, but I am looking fwd to storage space and a shop!!!!
Yeah, that may have to happen Paulie. I’m gonna actually throw some money at this one from the get go however, so I’m hoping it will be ship-shape a lot faster than the 1st Ave house!
Gentri-
What is that number on Headland? Looks like one of the houses between Dodson and Bryant? Or is it closer to Delowe? My old stomping grounds- and the folks still live over on Ben Hill.
All those houses were well built, and the pics looks like it was well kept.
-FP
You called it Steve, 2637 Headland, 2nd house on NW side of Dobson!
It is pretty good shape with the exception of the kitchen floor… H2O IS the enemy of your house! It needs updated, obviously, but everything is solidly built, that’s for sure! New paint, sand the floors, HVAC are 1st order and then I am going to put a bachelor apt. in 1/3 of the basement. Should cover the mortgage almost with any luck, then off the races with the other issues!
Would you recommend and alarm over in that neck of the woods?
I would never recommend against an alarm. I think the neighborhood is fairly stable, but it is way too close to unstable parts.
Congratulations on a great buy!!
-FP