While visiting Aunt Pat in Dallas recently, Peg explored some cheese shops and interviewed some cheese enthusiasts.
And, we celebrated a birthday!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Cedar Key, Dallas, and Birthdays
Spring is lovely in Cedar Key and along the Suwannee River and we have been taking full advantage of the nice, bug-free weather.
While visiting Aunt Pat in Dallas recently, Peg explored some cheese shops and interviewed some cheese enthusiasts.
And, we celebrated a birthday!
While visiting Aunt Pat in Dallas recently, Peg explored some cheese shops and interviewed some cheese enthusiasts.
And, we celebrated a birthday!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Kayaking
It was a picture perfect Florida day. The sun was bright. The temperature was in the high 50s and low 60s. No mosquitoes buzzed or bit. We went kayaking with a group from the Friends of the Lower Suwannee River Wildlife Refuge. We paddled on fresh and brackish, wide and narrow water in the Refuge. Great day.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Snow Birds in Cedar Key
We decided to pretend we are snow birds and spend a few weeks full-time in Cedar Key. It is a delightful change of pace and we are getting as much, or more, done on our cheese book project as we were at home. Of course, I have been falling behind on the project to re-paint the doors and windows onto the porch. Oh well….
Each day we have taken a longish walk around town. We tried to walk out on the island toward the Museum. But there is no leash law here and having loose dogs chasing after our leashed one wasn’t much fun. So we limit ourselves to downtown. Even if we walk from home to the far end of the island it is only 2 miles or so in either direction. Downtown, we meandered into a 2.5-mile route that takes in most streets, up one and down the next. It lets us note of the funky houses, and look for cool yard art.
We look at the ducks on the Gulf, visit the people fishing on the pier, chase all the feral cats … only one of us finds that very exciting … look at the sailboats, fishing boats, and kayaks going by, and watch the ospreys, skimmers, pelicans, and collared doves. Feral cats actually are about as exciting as Cedar Key gets, which is part of why we like it.
On Friday, I went on a Ranger led paddling trip to Atsena Otie, the closest island and only one with full public access. All the islands in the area are part of the Wildlife Refuge. It was a nice paddle over to Atsena Otie and back, and a pleasant walk on the island. The mosquitoes are not out yet. Saturday we’ll do another kayak trip on a couple of creeks with a Friends-of-the-Refuge group.
There is a yoga class in town now twice a week, so I have been going to it. And, last night we went to Tony’s Seafood because we’d gotten hungry for clam chowder and fried oysters, walking by the sign every day. Nice.
Judging by license plates, Cedar Key is full of real snow birds, not pretend ones like us…Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, Alaska, Washington, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana. Happily, unlike them, we are not here to escape from snow. It is nice to have the island quite full of people. When we walked today we noticed that most of the places have “no vacancy” signs out. We’ll post some photos showing what we’ve been doing over here.
Our house
Working on the cheese book
On the boardwalk to Cemetery Point Park, a stone's throw from our house.
At the water's edge when the tide is out.
In town, where one local in this red state is ready to "impeach Obama."
A more friendly local wishes us all good fishing
Funky houses and buildings
Jake meets new friends
The Gulf of Mexico, as seen across the bow of Peg's kayak. And,the kayaking group with the Ranger.
Birds we saw on our walks.
Each day we have taken a longish walk around town. We tried to walk out on the island toward the Museum. But there is no leash law here and having loose dogs chasing after our leashed one wasn’t much fun. So we limit ourselves to downtown. Even if we walk from home to the far end of the island it is only 2 miles or so in either direction. Downtown, we meandered into a 2.5-mile route that takes in most streets, up one and down the next. It lets us note of the funky houses, and look for cool yard art.
We look at the ducks on the Gulf, visit the people fishing on the pier, chase all the feral cats … only one of us finds that very exciting … look at the sailboats, fishing boats, and kayaks going by, and watch the ospreys, skimmers, pelicans, and collared doves. Feral cats actually are about as exciting as Cedar Key gets, which is part of why we like it.
On Friday, I went on a Ranger led paddling trip to Atsena Otie, the closest island and only one with full public access. All the islands in the area are part of the Wildlife Refuge. It was a nice paddle over to Atsena Otie and back, and a pleasant walk on the island. The mosquitoes are not out yet. Saturday we’ll do another kayak trip on a couple of creeks with a Friends-of-the-Refuge group.
There is a yoga class in town now twice a week, so I have been going to it. And, last night we went to Tony’s Seafood because we’d gotten hungry for clam chowder and fried oysters, walking by the sign every day. Nice.
Judging by license plates, Cedar Key is full of real snow birds, not pretend ones like us…Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, Alaska, Washington, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana. Happily, unlike them, we are not here to escape from snow. It is nice to have the island quite full of people. When we walked today we noticed that most of the places have “no vacancy” signs out. We’ll post some photos showing what we’ve been doing over here.
Our house
Working on the cheese book
On the boardwalk to Cemetery Point Park, a stone's throw from our house.
At the water's edge when the tide is out.
In town, where one local in this red state is ready to "impeach Obama."
A more friendly local wishes us all good fishing
Funky houses and buildings
Jake meets new friends
The Gulf of Mexico, as seen across the bow of Peg's kayak. And,the kayaking group with the Ranger.
Birds we saw on our walks.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Inauguration Day
We thought we’d go to Washington for the Inauguration. We bought tickets to take the Virginia Rail Express from Fredericksburg, near Pam’s house, to Union Station. Knowing that we would not be able to be close enough to see the swearing in platform, we figured that just being there with all the other Americans would be the real experience anyway. Meg, Pam and James, and Russ and I all planned to go.
But as the time drew closer and it became clear that the temperature would be far below Florida standards, we reconsidered. In the end, we chose to be able to see the ceremony and hear the Inaugural address, over being there to swell the crowd.
Russ and I went to a gathering here in Gainesville to watch with a mini-crowd. But the feed was via the web, and the site went down at the critical point. So, having had a great potluck lunch, we joined all the others in rushing home to watch on TV. We didn’t stop watching all day. No regrets. What a wonderful day.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year
The day everyone flew home after our Family Christmas, we started a renovation project. We replaced the old sliding glass doors in the living room and master bedroom with French doors and got new windows in the living room to match the new doors. At one point during the week between our first and our second Christmas celebrations, we had a whole in the living room wall that was 7’ x 12’. Good thing it is warm in Florida in December! We like the new look.
We had a quieter second Christmas celebration. We took a little walk and cooked a great lamb roast. Our tree and decorations made the house look pretty. We were happy that the holiday stretched out for so long.
To start the New Year, we went to San Felasco Park and walked the 4.8-mile trail. It was a perfect cool day. The sun shone on the long leaf pines and the Spanish moss in the wonderful way that makes them iridescent. Of course wee ate collard greens and black-eyed peas for good luck. And, we started thinking that we may return to Spain and hike another section of the Camino. Time to start training again.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
ARNOVA, Thanksgiving, Family Christmas
I attended the ARNOVA meeting a few weeks ago in Philadelphia. 
I have been going to the annual meetings of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action for decades, every since I started in university fund raising and teaching. This year I even participated in the Friday Night Bash and, as you see in the photo, won a NoBell Prize for my spoof on non-theory. My little Liberty Bell award is now hanging on our Christmas tree. In was a cold, lovely few days in the City of Brotherly Love. I skipped some sessions and walked to Independence Hall in the snow one afternoon.
Thanksgiving has come and gone.
We smoked a turkey in the backyard in Gainesville, hiked on our favorite trail, and spent a few days in Cedar Key. There was certainly no snow. It was warm and sunny.
Last weekend we began our Christmas celebration. Meg, Pam, and Pam’s friend James came for four days. We trimmed the tree, hiked in the woods, visited Micanopy, had a wine and cheese tasting session on the porch, ate smoked salmon, smoked pork roast, tamales, and fig cake, and generally just laughed and talked lots. It is very nice to have Christmas start early and last for two weeks instead of a day or two.
I have been going to the annual meetings of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action for decades, every since I started in university fund raising and teaching. This year I even participated in the Friday Night Bash and, as you see in the photo, won a NoBell Prize for my spoof on non-theory. My little Liberty Bell award is now hanging on our Christmas tree. In was a cold, lovely few days in the City of Brotherly Love. I skipped some sessions and walked to Independence Hall in the snow one afternoon.
Thanksgiving has come and gone.
We smoked a turkey in the backyard in Gainesville, hiked on our favorite trail, and spent a few days in Cedar Key. There was certainly no snow. It was warm and sunny.
Last weekend we began our Christmas celebration. Meg, Pam, and Pam’s friend James came for four days. We trimmed the tree, hiked in the woods, visited Micanopy, had a wine and cheese tasting session on the porch, ate smoked salmon, smoked pork roast, tamales, and fig cake, and generally just laughed and talked lots. It is very nice to have Christmas start early and last for two weeks instead of a day or two.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Cedar Key Weekend and Novel Writing in November
Cedar Key was particularly lovely this weekend. The weather was coming down from a high of 87 degrees on Thursday, on its way to a low of 32 degrees tonight. The breezes were strong and balmy. No special events brought crowds to town, so it was just the few lucky wanderers who stumble upon the place when they are on their way someplace else, have a bit of extra time, and a lot of curiosity.
We saw a wood stork on the wooden driveway that stretches from the causeway to the house on the little island just before you get in town. A magnificent bird like that deserves to look regal. It did. The osprey that likes the tree near our house was there when we arrived.
Later we sat on our breezeway. Tortilla chips, salsa and cold beer at hand, we listened to the Florida football game on the radio. We don’t have television there. In fact the radio comes in only with aluminum foil on the antenna, and the antenna touching the screen door…but it worked fine for a game with a score of 56 to 6.
After the game and dinner, we took Jake for a stroll downtown and on Dock Street. We tried to get him to walk in the water at the city park beach, but he wanted to chase feral cats instead. The moon was big and made all the cats glow in the dark, I think.
It was a nice way to top off the week. Russ finished the first draft of his new novel. In the photos, he and Jake-the-Muse are working in his office at the computer. He is participating, again, in the National Novel Writing Month. Participants write a 50,000-word novel in November. He wrote his first one in 2006 and second one last November. It takes about a year after he has the draft to get them polished and published, but November seems to be the most fun part. Although he does get worn out from all that imagining and the other photos, he and Jake are resting in a yoga relaxation pose, trying to get their shoulders loose from all the typing. You can order the novels that are already out by going to his website www.lighthallbooks.com.
We saw a wood stork on the wooden driveway that stretches from the causeway to the house on the little island just before you get in town. A magnificent bird like that deserves to look regal. It did. The osprey that likes the tree near our house was there when we arrived.
Later we sat on our breezeway. Tortilla chips, salsa and cold beer at hand, we listened to the Florida football game on the radio. We don’t have television there. In fact the radio comes in only with aluminum foil on the antenna, and the antenna touching the screen door…but it worked fine for a game with a score of 56 to 6.
After the game and dinner, we took Jake for a stroll downtown and on Dock Street. We tried to get him to walk in the water at the city park beach, but he wanted to chase feral cats instead. The moon was big and made all the cats glow in the dark, I think.
It was a nice way to top off the week. Russ finished the first draft of his new novel. In the photos, he and Jake-the-Muse are working in his office at the computer. He is participating, again, in the National Novel Writing Month. Participants write a 50,000-word novel in November. He wrote his first one in 2006 and second one last November. It takes about a year after he has the draft to get them polished and published, but November seems to be the most fun part. Although he does get worn out from all that imagining and the other photos, he and Jake are resting in a yoga relaxation pose, trying to get their shoulders loose from all the typing. You can order the novels that are already out by going to his website www.lighthallbooks.com.
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