by Judy Handley | Nov 13, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 22, Year 11: From Little River to Boston
Date: Friday, November 13, 2015
Weather: Sunny and a Bit Cooler, High in the Low 70’s
Location: At Home with Sue and John Reed, Cambridge, MA
Our Friday the 13th started out great but it didn’t end on a very happy note. We started the day by returning our borrowed transportation to my nephew’s son Ryan. He lives with his grandparents, Bob Ginny Stout, so we had a nice visit with them and all of us went out to lunch at Pizzeli’s. Ryan then took us home and visited for a bit on Windbird. Mark spent his afternoon getting the boat ready to leave. Shutting the thru – hull valves was the biggest job, and I cleaned out the refrigerator and gave the food to dock neighbors, Beth and Bob Swaub. In the late afternoon Brian and Judy Thompson, friends from Charlotte, came to visit. We went out to dinner and then they took us to the airport. So far, so good. The flight to Boston was quick and easy and we got a cab to our destination in Cambridge. Everything had gone smoothly. But then I opened my computer to turn it on to write this log. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. We made sure it had power and Mark tried to get it going. Still nothing. I was frustrated beyond my limits. I am really lost without my computer. It is not even two years old and should not be having this problem. For the first time ever, Mark didn’t bring his computer, so I have no back-up. And the timing couldn’t be worse. When we get to Falmouth tomorrow we’ll take it into the shop and hope that they can fix the problem. More about this tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Feb 15, 2013 | Little River, SC, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 104, Year 8: Quiet Day
Date: Friday, February 15, 2013
Weather: Temperature in the mid-60’s, Overcast with Periods of Light Rain
Location: Home of Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, Florida
The weather remains overcast with light rain here and there, so it was a good day for observing backyard birds, going shopping, and having dinner out with family. The high temperature for the day has gone from 80 something to 60 something. It still feels warm to me, but it is decidedly cooler than it was a couple of days ago. The intermittent rain today made it difficult to do much of anything, so early in the day we watched the backyard birds. Today those were white ibis and red-bellied woodpeckers. The Sabal Palmettos or Cabbage Palms are the Florida state tree and they are everywhere. Some people call these palms overgrown weeds with many edible parts. Obviously the birds enjoy the fruit. There is a clump of these palms between Mary Ellen and Lee’s home and golf course and early this morning the white ibis were gathering there to hunt for grubs and mole crickets. The ibis travel in ‘packs’ and homeowners are very grateful for the job they are doing. When I went out to photograph them, I heard a very loud bird in the Cabbage Palm above me. I looked up and there was a Red-bellied Woodpecker. He was talking to another woodpecker in an adjacent tree and both were very loud. They love the fruit of the Cabbage Palm, so there are lots of them here. My brother-in-law Lee showed me an ad from the local paper indicating the problem these birds are causing down here. They love to peck away at the artificial foam facades on some of the very ornately decorated homes, so builders have to advertise that their facades are guaranteed against red-bellied woodpeckers. Go, woodpeckers!
Later in the morning, Mark and I went thrift store shopping with Mary Ellen and Jeanie, Mark’s two sisters. Mark and I bought so many things that we had to stop at the post office to get a Priority Box to send things home in. The thrift stores here have lots of very nice clothes, so we took advantage. We can’t exceed the 40 pound limit on our checked bag without paying a lot of money, so sending a few things by mail seemed like a good idea. Then tonight we went out to dinner with family. Tomorrow we get together with Mark’s brother Steve’s two daughters. His oldest, Stacey, has two children, and his youngest, Kristie, who is Justin’s age, has two little boys. We got to see all of Mary Ellen’s children and grandchildren last weekend and tomorrow we get to see everyone else. On Sunday we leave here and head back to the East Coast of Florida to visit with some of my family. And on Monday evening, we fly back home to Windbird. We’ve been so busy we haven’t even called to check to see how she is doing. I think we’ll do that in the morning. Our friend Lee Kaufman was going to check on the boat periodically, so we’ll give him a call.
by Judy Handley | Feb 14, 2013 | Little River, SC, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 103, Year 8: Valentine’s Day in Bonita
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013
Weather: Temperature Dropping, Overcast and Rainy
Location: Home of Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, Florida
Happy Valentine’s Day! It was another delightful day in south Florida, but late in the day we had a complete weather change. The 80 degree days and warm nights are gone for a few days and cooler days, chilly nights, and rain are here. But we continue to have a great time visiting with family.Mary Ellen, Lee, Mark, and I went for a long walk on the beach this morning between rains and this evening more family came over for dinner. We did a cooperative dinner with Mark providing and cooking the filet mignon, Mark’s sister Jeanie in charge of the corn-on-the-cob, Lee and ME in charge of the potatoes, and I was in charge of desserts.I made fruit flans and dark chocolate brownies. It was a fantastic dinner enjoyed by all.
We talked with Heather today and found out that Oliver and Jonah both have stomach flu and then we called Justin and Jo and found out that Justin also has a stomach flu. What a way to spend Valentine’s Day. We send our love and hope everyone is feeling better by the weekend.
by Judy Handley | Feb 13, 2013 | Little River, SC, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 102, Year 8: Day in the Everglades
Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Weather: Sunny, Windy, and Warm
Location: Home of Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, Florida
Today we toured the Everglades with Mary Ellen and Lee. We drove to Ochopee, just north of Everglades City, and chose Wooten’s Airboat Tours, Swamp Buggy Tours, and Animal Sanctuary as our tour destination. We did a quick search on the web this morning and found that there were many choices. Most were much more expensive than Wooten’s and some got better reviews, so we decided to drive south and choose a venue when we got there. We stopped at Wooten’s and found that we could do the airboat ride and the swamp buggy ride and see the animal sanctuary for $10 less than just doing an airboat ride at one of the other places, so Wooten’s was our choice. The animal sanctuary turned out to be a lot of fun. A young man named Gator John was feeding the alligators in an enclosed pond.He was full of personality and watching the feeding was “interesting” to say the least. There were so many large alligators but Gator John seemed to know what he was doing.After the feeding, we got to hold a baby alligator. Gator John banded the baby alligator’s snout so there was no fear of being bitten, but then he chose one person to hold Fred. Fred is about three years old and has been held by so many people that he doesn’t need his snout banded.We then went on the airboat ride with Matt as our tour guide. The airboats are very loud, but you wear headphones and that takes care of the loudness. It was a fun ride even though we only saw one alligator. We had seen so many in the pond that seeing more was just not a must. After the airboat ride, we went on a swamp buggy. This is a vehicle with BIG wheels that hold you high above the swamp grass. The swamp buggy guide was a woman who has lived in the Everglades all of her life and she had information on every plant we saw.We wished we had brought a tape recorder to record the many uses of the various plants.Unfortunately, none of us even had a piece of paper and a pencil to write things down.Maybe between the four of us we can remember a few of the things.
When we returned home, Mark and I went for a long walk and then swam in ME and Lee’s pool. The weather today was in the 80’s but as we learned from the guides at Wooten’s today, even the alligators know that a big change in the weather is coming. The strong winds today were blowing in a system that is going to cool things down considerably. And we have a 60 per cent chance of rain in the next couple of days. Mark and I plan to go to the beach in the morning for a long walk and then we’ll hunker down and continue work on the family history project as the temperature drops and the rain comes—if it does. In any case, we’ll continue to enjoy our time here.
by Judy Handley | Feb 12, 2013 | Little River, SC, Sailing Logs Year 8 |
Day 101, Year 8: Day in Bonita Springs
Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Weather: Sunny with High in the Mid 80’s F
Location: Home of Mary Ellen and Lee French, Bonita Springs, Florida
Today we spent a relaxed day here in Bonita Springs. Mark headed off early with Lee to a softball game.Lee plays for the Collier County Senior Softball Association. He plays all year, but January, February, and March is the competitive season. So today was a game and Mark really enjoyed watching.The players are 50 years and above, mostly 60 and above, and Lee thinks he is probably the oldest person on the team.Lee also plays on a traveling team where all the players are 70 and above. Just can’t believe these guys are still playing ball, but they really enjoy it.While Mark and Lee were on the ball field, Mary Ellen and Jeanie, both of Mark’s sisters, and I went luncheon fashion show hosted by St. Leo’s Catholic Church. There were about 350 women there and I think an enjoyable time was had by all.When we got home, Mark and I took a long walk and came home to have a swim in Lee and ME’s pool.Mark and I realized that we probably haven’t been in a swimming pool since we were at Rebak Marina in Malaysia.So we’ll hope to get in some more pool time tomorrow. It felt so good.Then tonight we went out to dinner with family which included Lee and ME, Mark’s sister Jeanie and her partner Tom, and Lee and ME’s son Danny and his partner Linda. It is just so nice to be able to spend time together.
I’ll end tonight’s log with a little reflection on the past. After sending the log last night, Mark and Lee were sitting around and started talking about their early years in Mattoon, Illinois where they both grew up. It was interesting to hear them talking about how much easier life seemed back then. Quickly the discussion went on to talk about listening to shows on the radio.There was no TV when they were very young. I am just enough younger to be a television baby, but many of the radio programs were also on TV in the early days—Our Miss Brooks, The Green Door, Sky King, The Inner Sanctum, The Lone Ranger, The Phantom, and on and on. Then they talked about going to the movies.Evidently Mattoon had four theaters back then.There was the Rickey, the Mattoon, the Time, and the Clark. When Mark was in grade school, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans came to the Rickey one Saturday morning to introduce one of their movies and it only cost nine cents to get in—and this was for a double feature and cartoons. Mark says it was a great way for parents to get rid of their kids! The conversation went on and Mark talked about watching the screen collapse at the Mattoon Skyway Drive-in Theater when a tornado ripped through one night when he was a teenager. The Drive-in opened in 1947 and that prompted Lee to mention Gill’s Drive Inn that opened in 1949 and is still open today. As I write this log tonight, Mark and Lee are reminiscing once again. I sure wish I had a good tape recorder to capture these discussions.
