Seasonal Confusion

Getting used to the seasonal change (or lack thereof) will be a challenge. The sweaters and wool jackets have appeared suddenly in the stores, but it's difficult to take them seriously when the average temperature is still 89 degrees and holding.

Native Floridians look at the seasons much differently than those who are imports do. I found this out while talking to a lifetime resident of Dunedin, FL. I commented to her how strange it was to see the fall fashions out in force. After a quizzical look, she said, "Why? It's September already!" Ah, now I understand: Floridians judge the seasons by the calendar, while the rest of us know fall by the leaves changing color, the crispness in the air, and the cool temperatures at night.

Otherwise, we've spent several wonderful evenings on the Clearwater beach, watching the sunsets.

Pictures of Bandit, just because he's cute

Oh my, I am one of those sick people that forces their photographs of their dogs on unwitting friends. But to my defense, I just signed up for a Flickr account and I want to test it. So there. Enjoy all the fuzzy cuteness.

Hi ho, hi ho...

..it's off to the commute I go. It's now about 35-45 minutes travel time to get to work, depending on if I leave at 7:10 or 7:20. I hadn't seen the sun rise in quite some time before this, and the Florida sun strikes me as different. It's just so happy to be there, making the citrus crops grow and warming up the wet grass from the previous night's rain.

The positive part about the commute (besides developing a deep relationship with the brake pedal) is that I get to listen to long blocks of books on CD. Sarah Vowell is currently residing in the player, reading her book Assassination Vacation. Sarah is a guest on NPR's This American Life fairly frequently, but she is probably more well-known for her voice as Violet (I think, but it's too late at night to fact-check the name) in The Incredibles movie. Sarah has an oddly appealing, squeaky-girl voice that makes a funny juxtaposition with the topic of the book: her pilgrimmage to visit sites around the US that have to do with the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and Kennedy. It sounds morbid, but somehow Sarah strikes just the right balance between fascinating historical facts and quirky stories about her childhood and current paranoias (driving a car and heights, among others). While the print version is certainly worthwhile, take the time to listen to the audio. Also on audio is Sarah's The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I'm waiting for her other one, Pass the Cannoli, to be released, but I might not hold my breath.

Time for sleep. Those sunny mornings come early these days.

~m

Weird Things About Florida, Part I

1. Pink houses. They're all over the place...not to mention the ones accented in bright cheery teal. To a born and bred Midwesterner, this is taking some getting used to.

2. Rent-to-own wheel places. Yes, you can rent hubcabs with the potential to buy after a certain lease time. There are three of these stores on my way to work, so it's obviously quite the popular plan.

More later, I'm sure.

Blast off...

Hello Friends,

M and I headed over to the coast this morning. We packed up the Jeep with beach towels, waters, sunscreen, and of course Bandit. After a short commute we arrived at Honeymoon Island. Honeymoon Is. is a medium sized key about 15 miles due West from our place. It's known locally for it's free standing porch swings that are pre-positioned to take in the unobstructed view of the sunset. We haven't had a chance to view the sunset there yet but it's on the list.

Also on the list is to migrate over to the East coast to see a shuttle launch first hand. We were able to see the vapor trail from the launch this morning. It was amazing to see just how fast that thing is traveling as it rockets out of the Earth's gravitational grips.

This evening we're headed over to Ybor City (pronounced Eebor City). Ybor is located near the heart of Tampa and is known for it's Cuban-influenced restaurants, clubs, shops, and of course cigar stores.

Hope all is well with you. Our phone still isn't up and running (don't ask), but of course you can always email us to keep in touch.

Where the Wild Things Are

The wildlife of FL is certainly different from the midwest. It's been fun getting to know all the common wild things around us. Most prevalent (besides the "palmetto bugs", but we won't get into that) are the small lizards that dart around everywhere. They shoot across the sidewalk, cling to the sides of the house and climb up the lanai screen. The Florida variety of lizards aren't the push-ups Southwest lizards; they're smaller and lower to the ground, often with sleek brown racing stripes.

We've also spotted several egrets (close cousin to the regret, of course) fishing in the pond in our backyard. Egrets are enormous white birds with long orange beaks, and they look quite regal standing by the edge of the water.

Chiggers are common in the South, as my parents can vouch (they live on the big rock known as Arkansas). Warning: Don't click on the link if you're squimish about bug/human relations. You really can avoid chiggers if you never, ever go off of paved surfaces.

We haven't seen any alligators yet, although I am warily keeping an eye out when I walk Bandit. I don't want them emerging from the many large pools of water that surround our house and munching on our ankles.

For more info about the wildlife of Florida, go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's website. Or read one of Carl Hiaasen's books.

~mc

Need a box or two, or 50?

Hello all,

It's with much joy I'm writing this post from my own desk. Over the last 7 days we've laughed several times at the withdrawal symptoms we've gone through not having access to the web. It's surprising how quickly we become dependant on a technology only to realize that dependency once denied access to said indulgence. Fortunately the tremors and night sweats weren't too bad. I think we'd have simply lost it if we hadn't had access to the cell phone... How people moved before cell phones, e-mail, and the web is beyond me.

We've spent the last three days unpacking the house. At this point we're through about 3/4 of the boxes. The delivery day was this past Friday. Our moving truck arrived at 9:00 and pulled out at 2:15. Unfortunately it rained the whole time we were unloading. Outside of the rain, the unloading was fairly uneventful. Only a couple things were broken or scarred. Thankfully, Michelle's library cabinet made it without issue. That was the one piece I was most concerned with.

Friday afternoon and most of Saturday we were both a buzz with excitement and energy. It was kind of like Christmas morning but without the true surprise as to what was behind the clear packing tape and reams of packing paper. Friday night we called it quits around 7 and headed out for some hot wings with some friends from my office.

Friday didn't come off completely without a hitch. As the rain came down I realized mid storm that the roofers who had put on a new roof the day before didn't properly connect the downspout by the front door. Unfortunately, the waterfall from the roof didn't completely stay outside. Before I could get out there to correct the problem several gallons managed to get in between the wall and the dining room window. As the wet stuff found its way to the lowest point that turned out to be in the middle of the dinning room. So, as the unloading carried on, we realized that the front room really began to smell like wet carpet (or worse). Several phone calls later, one trip to the local Publix for a Rug Doctor rental, and finally a run to Home Depot for a carpet drying fan we've begun the drying process. Thankfully, this morning the carpet and pad were dry and the smell had all but gone.

Saturday of course had a bump or two. Thinking we had passed the half-way point last night we decided to take a walk up to the local strip mall for a frozen yogurt treat at the TCBY. With Bandit leading the charge we forged our way through the swamp err'... I mean subdivision. Things were going fine until we headed back home. We made it about 2 blocks and Bandit put on the brakes. He simply stopped walking. At first we thought he was just tired, so we slowed down and waited for him. That didn't work. He had given up. It must have just been too hot for him. (it was 9:00 at night mind you) So thinking something was really wrong, I ran the mile or so back to the house to get the truck. Michelle stayed with Bandit. When I returned to where I left them, they weren't there. Fortunately, I caught them in the corner of my eye a block and a half further back down the trail. (Closer to the TCBY). Backing up to where they were I thought Michelle had just walked him in circles until I returned. As she loaded him in the cab it became apparent that wasn't the case. His harness was on sideways and Michelle looked like she had seen a ghost. Apparently right after I took off running, Bandit decided he really didn't want to go any further and started to pull on his leash, backwards. In doing so he managed to slip out of his harness. According to Michelle, he then made a 180 and took off running at full tilt straight back toward the 6 lane main drag. Darting into traffic, stopping one car, and about to run into more, a fellow walker saw what was going on and called to him. Being the people lover he is, he ran right to him. Thankfully he was able to grab his scruff and hold him until Michelle could catch up. All this in the 3:45 min it takes me to run a mile.. Riiight.. ok it was probably more like 8 minutes. Anyway, thankfully we got him back unharmed.

Needless to say getting back to the mundane unpacking routine today has been a nice change of pace given the roller coaster of events from the last couple days.

This evening we're headed out to check out a new church. Hopefully it's a connection the first time around. We've only been away from Christ Community and we both already miss it.

I'll cut this one off here for now. We need to get ready to head out.

Hope you all have a great labor day weekend.
Your friend,
J