It's a good life

it is saturday evening, and almost the first of June. Things pass so quickly. It has been a short week, and a short spring. We are on the edge of hurricane season here in southwest Florida. That is always a bother. When i worked in the private sector, it was just a matter of amusement. Now as an employee of the local municipality, as the Town's PIO, it's a bother. Let's hope for a very quiet season.

Last night my daughter and her boyfriend joined me for a friday nite supper. Lauren went to the market and bought 1 1/2 lbs. of red grouper. I fired up the grill and made mesquite grilled grouper sandwiches - with all the trimmings - lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle wedges - coleslaw and french fries. Yummmmy! It was nice to have dinner company, and it was a casual, pleasant evening. Lauren taught me how to use my new camera!

Here's La and bf Kev - trying out my new camera:

I spent today - Saturday - mindless and mundane. I did manage to whack some weeds that were growing up around my rose bushes, and I did manage to prune and water them. I accomplished this in the late evening, starting around 5:30 pm and finishing in the neighborhood of 7:30. I waited until it wasn't quite so hot and humid out, but didn't figure in the no-seeums. Gosh Darn It...they are the most annoying little insects going! I managed to do what I set out to do, hurrying in the last few minutes as my tolerance for the bugs had long run out.
I near ran inside - sweaty, dirty, itchy. I've been battling what suggests to be a bit of bronchitis - perhaps a carry-over from the flu I experienced last month. Being out doors in the humidity is beneficial to my lungs. I come inside to the A/C, and I cough. A steamy, long, hot shower was just what I craved - to relieve the irritation in my lungs, soothe my bitten, thorn-pricked, dirty irritated skin.
I picked some of the blooms from my frangipani, and placed them in a small container on the coffee table. I remembered some aroma therapy oil I had and pulled that out and swabbed my skin with the scent of bergamot. I read with careful attention, "Birds of Alaska" in preparation for my vacation. I'm 3/4ths through the book, "Two in the Far North". Chopin is on the stereo.
Gracie is on the couch, after several bouts of scratching at the door only to go out with only play in mind.
It's a good life.

Hush little baby don't say a word

About 3:30 this afternoon I realized I would be working late. Holiday weekends are wonderful, but they tend to shorten the work week, that reeks havoc on deadlines.

I got home shortly after 6:00 PM. The house looked as I had left it; no signs that Lauren had been by. That meant that Gracie was last out when I was last home.

I took Gracie out for business.

I put Gracie on the 20' lead that is now latched to the picnic table, since she tore down her zip line. She does best when I am out with her, even though I remind her that it is not all about - HER.

I spent a few minutes outside while Gracie was on the lead - I refreshed the water in the bird bath, splashed a bit on the bromeliads and orchids, and dumped and refilled Gracie's outside water dish.

Then I went back inside. While inside, I opened the mail, and busied myself with the home stuff after being at work all day. Gracie began to bark. She likes to bark at Phoebe and Dukie, the neighbor's cats. I sat listening to her bark, wondering how parenting could come into play. Finally, I'd had enough and went outside to bring her in.

I strolled outside, already giving Gracie my summation of why she was barking; the neigbor cats had her in a dither.

Then I saw the object of Gracie's attention. A young mockingbird was hobbling across the driveway.
OMG!!! It's a baby bird! I watched as it hobbled and tried its wings. I got Gracie's Tony the
Tiger bowl and filled it with water from the garden hose. I lightly stepped within a few feet of the young bird, and offered the water dish. As I approached, it retreated. I tossed some water in the air, and it opened its beek receptively, still retreating.

I backed off. Then I thought, " How can I help this bird?" Given the number of cats in this neighborhood I decided I should put it somewhere safe.

This baby bird is walking near dead center of the street. It flaps but cannot fly.

I put on my gardein gloves and approached the chick from behind. Each step forward I took, it took - and vice versa. Shortlty I managed to pick upt this youngling and approached the vacant lot.

Immediately, an adult mockingbird was on my back! Seconds later , another mockingbird was at my head. I dropped the chic, and ran. I stopped and looked up: "OK! " I shouted. "I left it alone! CRIMINY!!!

A full hour after this incident, the mockinbirds continued to chatter in the trees. Periodically, Gracie and I would check the garden for any bird action. Well after sundown, the mockingbirds were quiet.

Tonight's incident compels me to revist "To Kill a Mockingbird"

A Good Sunday

Today is much prettier than yesterday, as far as the color and clarity of the sky. I slept late and well. Most times, my first thought on waking is to take Gracie out before she does business inside. My second thought today was marveling at how good I felt. Last month I was hit with a flu bug that really kicked me down for sometime. (It was just enough ahead of the swine flu curve that I didn't associate the symptoms with pigs - but the symptoms were the same after the fact). This past Monday I woke with a stuffy head, eyes sore throat and a dry annoying cough. Today I still have the cough, but my head feels much clearer.

I spent an hour or better on the internet viewing various comments and reviews by consumers and consumer reports and tech mags (like PC World) on digital cameras. I'm rather certain what I'll buy, but want to see one other than online and hold it in my hand before I decide. I'll probably go in to Town this afternoon. (Seems a shame on a beautiful beach day like today!..but that's the dilemna I usually find myself in - hard to get anything done when it's always a beautiful beach day!).

After camera review, I took a new book and a glass of lemonade and Gracie and I sat out in the garden. The sun was hot, but it felt good. After a short while, however, the sweat was interfering with my reading so I moved to the shade. Then all the distractions came, chatty neighbors, cats teasing the dog, dog digging the chair leg so I'd calve in, and no see-ums. Ugh. We retreated back indoors.

I am reading "Two in the Far North" by Margaret Murie. The story begins in 1911 in Seattle. The author is nine years old. She and her mother are going by steam ship to join her father in Alaska. Daddy is Assistant US Attorney, and they are making their home in Fairbanks. I' m halfway through the book, and she is now in her early twenties, married to a biologist employed by the US Fish and Wildlife to study caribou in the arctic. Pretty cool stuff.

I've got two months before I leave for Fairbanks, "The High One" - Denali, and the Inside Passage. I'm pretty excited. I hope I don't get myself so worked up that when the adventure arrives it's anti-climatic. Is that possible?!

On with the day!

A Saturday Morning Walk

Gracie and I just returned from a nice long Saturday morning walk. Even before noon, it's hot and humid. I'm sitting here with a tall glass of fresh, homemade lemonade - nothing like it for quenching a thirst.

We crossed Estero at the Mango Street access - there's no crosswalk, so it's sort of a no-no, but the closest crosswalk is at the Chapel Street access, and there's a year-long litigation going on between the Town and the adjacent property owner, and I am staying as far away from that area as I can! When Gracie's nostrils fill with the salt air, she lunges and pulls me to the shore. I kick off my flip-flops and tuck them in the back of my shorts. The tide is strong, incoming, and high. The surf is kicked up and the water is turbid. The sky is partly cloudy and the humidity is high. There is a lot of beach activity, with all the parasail, jet-ski and umbrella and lounge chair vendors setting up in anticipation of a busy day.

We've had a lot of rain this past week, and the storms have kicked up the gulf. The shoreline has large deposits of shells turned up from the sea floor, that have not yet been bleached or broken. We pass a group of women in the "sanibel stoop" as it's been known, bent over with a shirt-sack full of sea shells. We strolled past the Lani Kai, a rare glimpse of its bare blue canvas chairs, which will be completely filled with bathing suit bodies before the day is through.

Passing in front of the Beach Pierside Grill, the tide is way up on the seawall, forcing us to walk knee deep to get up to the pier. We walked up to Times Square where merchants served breakfast al fresco and set up their outdoor displays of t-shirts and sand toys. Remembering an ad in the beach paper about a new building about to have a grand opening, I decided to walk down and check it out. The building is in the place of a favorite spot of mine; Dockside. Dockside had the BEST pizza and wings EVER. They have been around forever, and the building was falling down. So the owners tore it down and are replacing it with a type of "shopping village." They promise me they will have their famous pizza and wings. We'll see.

We paused at the fountain and gazebo at the back bay. Two public works guys who work for the Town were doing their rounds, and we chatted briefly. I noticed that the bay was far calmer than the gulf and momentarily thought I could take my kayak out in the bay. We returned home on the sidewalk. As we passed a paid parking lot, the attendant gave Gracie two milkbone cookies. (She would probably have prefered a drink of water!) As we walked in front of the DiamondHead Beach Resort, Gracie just laid down. In the shade, and panted.... and panted. Poor thing - I guess she was tuckered out. (This was a longer walk than we normally take). So I stood along the walk, while she rested.

We couldn't get in the house fast enough. Ahh. Air conditioning! Water! Gracie raced to her water dish and I juiced some lemons. I'd been thinking about a tall glass of fresh lemonade for the past thirty minutes or so!

I have a long list of things that I need to and want to accomplish today and tomorrow. I have the usual laundry, dishes, cleaning stuff, I have several new books (oh! That reminds me to get to the library before 1:00 today!) that I ordered from Amazon that arrived this week. My garden could use some attention (although the lillies are blooming! How delightful!). And somewhere in here and there I need to buy a camera.

Have a wonderful Saturday, and glorious weekend!

AK: Preliminary Plans

My dear friends who may read this and many subsequent posts will find many entries documenting my upcoming Alaskan vacation. I'll try not to bore you.

You've heard of the bucket list. I have had one, but not in the morbid sense. Ever since I can remember I 've had a few things on my radar that I want to accomplish in this lifetime. Visiting Alaska is one of them.
I am fascinated by the Eskimo, the Inuit, as well as the Russian culture. [ I visited USSR in March 1975]. In the seventies when I was doing everything but reading, I fervently read a book called "Going to Extremes." I watched National Geographic documentaries on Alaska. I loved many of the movies "Call of the Wild" or that great movie with Anthony Hopkins , "The Edge" I love this stuff!

I've booked the flight from Regional Southwest to Fairbanks.... a 13 or 14 hour flight. Next morning, train from Fairbanks to Denali. Normally, the train would take me to the park entrance to get the bus to the backcountry lodge. But because I will have extra luggage (because of a cruise we'll discuss in a bit!) I need to leave the extra luggage at the Denali Cabins, which seem to be 8 miles south from the train station at the park entrance. A sweet speaking young woman named Crystal told me that their courtesy van would take me from the train station to the Denali Cabins to store my extra luggage. A good thing.

Then I'll get on the Denali Backcountry Lodge motorcoach from the park entrance to the backcountry lodge: an estimated 6 hour trip. [ i'm sure that includes potty breaks and photo opps]. We should get to the lodge around 8 PM: there's still 4 more hours of daylight.

I have three nights at this lodge. How stinkin' awesome! Hiking, biking, fishing, sitting, reading...lots of way cool wilderness, no distractions time. Please visit: http://www.denalilodge.com/

Train to Anchorage: I have read that it is a picturesque delight! The Alaskan Railroad is said to be absolutely breathtaking. I'll roll into Achorage sometime Saturday evening, and stay at a comfortable hotel. I have booked a cruise departing the next day out of Seward: here's where there's a bit of a disconnect - at least for the present time.

Tomorrow I'll firm up some of my cruise arrangements -specifically the transfer from Anchorage to Seward.
I do still have to book flight from Vancouver to Fort Myers.
I've put in for the time off and the boss signed off!
I am so having the best summer vacation!!!

I DID IT!

Well, tonight I did it. I really did it. Tonight I booked my alaskan vacation. It's perfect. I fly in to Fairblanks, train to Denali, 3 nites at the Denali backcountry lodge, then train to Anchorage. That's how much I've booked at this point. And that's all good. I can figure out the shore excrusions within the next two months. Denali backcountry lodge is the biggy for me. I"m so very excited about that: so excited, that I booked 3 nights - mucho denaro - , but how great it will be to be deep in the heart of this great wilderness... to be so isolated, so secluded, so in touch with nature!
Still, the trip is in reasonable dollars. My airfare from Regional South West (RSW) to Fairbanks came in at $500. not bad, trip insurance included).
OH. End of July, early August. I'm putting in for 2 weeks. It's going to be so stinkin' awesome!!
Tonight I did it. I really did it!!
[MIchelle is doin' the HAPPY DANCE!!]

Work in Progress

I slipped into bed last night, early for me, with the intention to read. I found myself deep in sleep, when Gracie alerted me to someone at the door. I looked at my cell phone: it was 11:30 pm. Gracie ran to the door and I heard a key in the lock, and knew it was Lauren and bf coming home. I fell out of my room, half in my robe, and asked Lauren to take Gracie out. You come in and stir her up, you need to take her out, I said. I turned off my bed lamps and quickly fell back to sleep.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, Gracie reared up, alerted to some outside noise. I listened and paid attention, but didn't move (movement gives Gracie reason). She ran to the door, as the key was turned again. It was Lauren and Kevin, again, and it was 4:30 AM. I listened as they visited the kitchen and bathroom, and heard one of them take Gracie out. Good. I don't have to get up.
I woke feeling rested, in spite of the nite's disturbances. I made a conscious decision to make a conscious effort to make this a good day. I lay in bed half in and half out of consciousness, hitting the snooze on the alarm. I ran over the duties of the upcoming day. I had a list of "have to's"... and I absentmindedly priortized them as I lay in bed. I got up, showered, dressed and headed out to work.
The morning worked according to plan, systematically accomplishing the "to do's". I had an appointment with the boss right after lunch to go over my 2010 budget. It went WAY better than expected. Of course when we came to the travel and training line item, he said, "Good luck with that" and when I asked to add another position, he said, "how about we try, [this] first."
I was somewhat nervous/stressed about this budget session, but it went well. I had the ear of the boss in a way I'd not had in a year. He was sympathetic to my workload and lack of personnel. All in all, it went good.
I had some fresh strawberries that I cleaned last night, so I added a good shot of tequila with them in the blender, made some shrimp/jambalaya and watched jeopardy.
A good ending to a good day.