A Windy Day at Honeymoon Island

Today I had hope for sun. But again, as we know, hope is not a plan.

I pretty much knew that the morning was going to be gray and cloudy, so I headed out to Honeymoon Island State Park. I took the loop drive around the park and headed to the nature center. Did you know that they have rattlesnakes in Florida? I really always thought of those as western desert creatures, but there are signs at the entrance of the park that warn of the rattlesnakes. I'm wondering if they are truly native. I guess I should have asked at the nature center.

I was pretty much alone in the park today. Not many people there, and those who were there were disappointed. I originally had hopes of renting a bike and riding the 5 mile loop, but when I got out of my car and was pelted with sand, I realized that would not be a good idea. The waves were crashing in and the beach was empty, except for a few people who were trying to surf. Not a good day to be near that sand. It stung as it continually crashed against my skin. I watched for a while at a distance, but a soon gave up and headed for some lunch and a quiet place to read.

Still gray and cloudy at 2:00, so I did what I know...headed to find a movie theater. I saw "Moneyball" starring Brad Pitt. I always loved baseball when I was younger, but at some point, the game became uninteresting. Maybe it is this story of "Moneyball" that did it, where the players were instructed to do whatever it takes statistically to get on base. Always take the first pitch, go with the odds to get a walk, etc. Maybe this was what "slowed the game" as everyone describes it. It was a good movie. I wonder if the system is still working.

And then the sun started to peak out around 6:00. I am hoping for a sunny day tomorrow, but the forecast says 73 degrees is the high. We'll see. I need to make the most of my last full day.

Winter and the CMA

Today's rainy day was spent at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Have you seen the movie Dolphin Tale? If not, you should!

Winter is the resident dolphin who lost her tail because she was caught in the line of a crab trap. She was fitted with a prosthetic tail, but doesn't wear it all the time. In the movie, there was part of the story line that gave the impression that if she did not wear the tail, she would eventually damage her spine and die, but since she did not have the tail on when I was there, or anytime I have looked on the web cam, I don't think it is a medical necessity.

There are 3 other dolphins that live there, Hope, Nicholas, and Panama. And there are many other animals as well. There was a whole pool of stingrays, that you were allowed to feed. I fed one and shared my other fish with a little boy standing next to me so that he could feed a stingray as well. It is a funny sensation, feeding the stingray. You hold the fish between your two fingers and the stingray kind of swims over your hand and sucks it up through their mouth which is on the bottom of their body. It is a weird feeling.

Fighting through the Clouds

According to last weekend's forecast, today was supposed to be my best day in the Florida sun. I guess the tropical storm brewing in the Gulf didn't watch this weekend's news. It has been cloudy all day and rain is expected tomorrow.

I did some shopping, went out for a great lunch, and still went for a swim in the afternoon. I think I still got a little sun, but maybe not the good kind.

I went shopping at a couple of my favorite Florida stores, Ross and Bealls Outlet. I did pick up several items for me, and a lot for my nieces baby who will be born in March. They know it is a boy, and I am very excited. I usually know how to connect with boys, probably because I was the little girl who played with matchbox cars in the dirt. I'm excited for his arrival, and so is Trevor.

For lunch, I dined at Casa Tina in Dunedin, Florida. Dunedin is a local artist community, somewhat like a beachy Nashville or Broad Ripple. They have a lot of artists galleries, cool restaurants, you can rent bikes, buy crystals, or walk along the Pinellas Trail. Casa Tina has the best Mexican food I've ever had. I ate there once in June, and have been thinking about their enchiladas ever since. The waitress says it is because they make their tortillas fresh on site. Whatever it is, it is good. I'll have a hard time staying away from there the rest of the week.

Tomorrow is scheduled for rain. I plan on going to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where the movie "Dolphin Tale" was filmed. I still have hope for sun. But, as we all know, hope is not a plan.

Sibling Similarities

One time, my niece Tonya said to me, "I hate going to the store with you. You are just like my Dad. There's always somebody you know and you talk forever."

It is true, I am a talker. I've recently gotten the same feedback from Trevor when we made a "quick stop" at the local Kroger and ran into a childhood neighbor. We were there a long time.

I think my brothers Bob and Keith and I have that in common. We can strike up a conversation with just about anyone. I'm in Florida now and was very glad that I was able to overlap the dates of my trip to spend the weekend with my brother Bob. When I was driving from the airport to meet him we spoke on the phone and arranged to meet at a local restaurant / bar. When I arrived, Bob had already made friends with the people sitting around him and knew where they were from, why they were in Florida, etc. I think we were raised to be friendly; we had good role models for that in my Mom and Dad.

I suppose as we get older, it is comforting to see these similarities between me and my siblings. Yesterday when we were walking through a town after dinner, I had stopped for a minute, but when I caught up with Bob he was talking to a couple of local people who were walking a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever. This past summer, Keith made fun of me when the McDonald's lady in Gatlinburg, Tennessee brought me a book on native plants. (We had been talking while I did my morning work sessions for Big Red, and I had asked her about some plants I had seen). But really, Keith has no room to make fun, because I think the funnel cake guy in Gatlinburg knows him by name.

My brother Bob and I have similar handwriting. Even though he is a lefty and I am right-handed, we have the same printing. Sometimes, I will see something that I wrote and for a split second think that Bob wrote it. He says that he's noticed the same thing.

And today, Bob and I found one more thing that we have in common. We were both swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and I commented that I should have taken my contacts out, as I'm wearing my last pair. Bob said, "What is your prescription?" And of course, his prescription is exactly the same as mine. In both eyes. I don't know if that is rare or not, but it seems like it would be to me. He left me one of his spare pairs of contacts just in case the Gulf swallows mine up this week.

I am so thankful for my siblings, especially my two brothers. I once had read that your siblings will be the people who know you for the longest time in your life and that it is a very special friendship that develops because of that. I am very fortunate to get to spend time with my brothers and their families and I am grateful for everything we share.

Raising a Renaissance Man

Not many people know that one of my favorite movies of all time is Renaissance Man. Danny DeVito, Marky Mark Wahlberg, Stacey Dash. I remember the first time I saw it was on "Hoosier Cinema 7" the IU Movie Channel (given its name by my friend Scott). The thing about the IU Movie Channel is that often the same movie would be on several times in a row, and I think I watched it 3 times in one night. I am a sucker for a story of how teachers can make connections with students and totally change their lives forever. Mainly, because I think I always hope to be one of those people that can make a difference.

In one of the scenes from the movie, Danny DeVito the teacher is talking to one of his students who had been a star athlete and had never had anyone expect him to do well in school. The student didn't want his son to play sports and have the same expectations. DeVito told him about Leon Battista Alberti, a renaissance man that was a scholar, painter, philosopher, priest, poet, and as it turns out, a good athlete.

One of my intentions as a good aunt, is to have Trevor experience a lot of different things, so that maybe he will be a modern Renaissance Man. We do attend and participate in a lot of sporting events, basketball, baseball, football, racing, but also swimming and golf. We go to museums, we cook, grow flowers, go to musicals, we make our own board games, and we read together. And this Christmas, I taught Trevor how to sew on my sewing machine. I don't know of many 9 year old boys who have had that experience, but he did great! There were a few bumps at first and a few mess-ups, but when I said "Drive it like you drive your go-kart" something seemed to click. He made 22 pillow cases as gifts for Christmas this year. He was so proud as everyone opened their gifts.

Trevor said he enjoyed his sewing project, and he said "it would be a good thing to do if you were bored". While I don't think that he will be a tailor, I'm just glad that he accomplished such a big project and did something that not many boys do. And, when he is raising his own sons, I think he'll make sure they get these kind of experiences too.

This is my Mom holding up the pillow case Trevor made for her. Notice the jigsaw puzzle fabric.

A Good Rain

We're in the middle (or hopefully at the end) of a drought in the Indianapolis area. This summer has been hot, the hottest in about 25 years. And on top of that, there has been very little rain in the last month or so. My yard is brown, my flowers died in August, and my allergies have been really bad, I think just because I am all dried out.

Several times over the last month, the dry conditions here have made me think about the most refreshing rain that I have ever experienced. Sometime in the mid-1980's I worked at the Fresh Air Fund camps in Fishkill, NY. I can't remember the exact summer when this happened, as I worked there for several years. I was in a leadership position, because my task for the day during orientation was training all the new counselors how to make a craft with their campers.

The heat of the summer was incredible. Different than what we're experiencing now, as I'd qualify this summer in Indiana as a "dry heat". The Hudson River Valley was more like the normal Indiana hot, humid summer, with the air so thick that you never actually feel dry. My day of orientation consisted of teaching 6 groups of counselors how to make candles, followed by an overnight camp out to teach them what to do when they are sleeping out.

Candle making is a hot mess. You have to keep a fire going during the whole time to melt your wax. I am a good fire builder and that is probably why I got that job for the day. Standing in front of a roaring fire all day in 90 degree heat can dry you out. Maybe that was my first experience with dehydration.

After the full day in front of the fire, everyone packed up to go on our overnight camp out, which included cooking our dinner outside. Since this was a "teaching" camp out, I was assigned to teach everyone how to build a fire to cook their dinner. So, the next couple of hours were spent right by the fire again. At this point, I was dirty and sweaty, and definitely had that camp fire smell.

While the sun was still up, but after we had eaten our dinner, we were surprised to hear thunder. Quickly everyone packed up and headed back to camp. I stayed for a little while to make sure the fire was out then headed back myself. Just as I got to the meadow, the rain poured down. It was a hard soaking rain that seemed like it was coming down in buckets. But it felt so good. I just let it soak into my skin. The camp van drove by and offered me a ride, but I said no. The rain felt too good. And when I got back to my cabin, I just sat outside letting it soak in some more. I didn't think I'd ever get enough.

I will always remember that rain and how it made me feel that day.

How do you choose your work shoes?

I found the image above by googling "hot pink stripper heels". Hmmm....and what inspired to perform the search was a woman at work wearing these shoes. She had on a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans, and these hot pink stripper heels. Really? What was she thinking?

I work at a place that actually has posters in the winter that tell you to wear sensible shoes. They have a picture of boots with a heel and one of those red circles with a slash through it. I have always bragged about that to other women, saying that my place of employment doesn't expect me to break my neck walking around all day. I mean, if I had to concentrate so much on walking, how would I ever be able to write. And, just how would I ever get steel toe caps over these babies?

When I was on the parking shuttle this evening, I saw the same woman clip clopping across the parking lot in these shoes. They were like a neon beacon highlighting her feet. I just don't get it.