12 Oakdale

If only I could afford it, I’ve found my new art for our big dining room wall: a piece by Mark Messersmith. I had dragged Grant to the Orlando Museum of Art to see the exhibit of forged Jean-Michelle Basquiat pieces. Of course, OMA and the guys that found these pieces in a storage shed swear that these are all originals and worth gazillions. (In 1982, Basquiat became the highest priced American artist, when a piece of his sold for $110 million.) The FBI is looking into their claim. Anywho, as my father’s friend Jack used to say, we went to OMA and just outside the Basquiat exhibit were two Messeesmith pieces. My kind of Florida art.  We were over on the east side so I could tell my tale of aches and pains once again to my ortho guy and his current resident. After much poking and “does this hurt” “yes, it does”, he’s decided I have a high hamstring strain which takes 3+ months to heal, so no surprise I still hurt. Plus I’m old, which means it likely will take even longer. My hands, ...

The only gun I’ve ever owned was a short barreled shot gun Steve and I had when we lived aboard our sailboat. Knowing that drug runners were getting more aggressive, our plan, if ever needing one, was to blow a big hole in the other guy’s boat, preferably at the waterline. We were not going for finesse. I gave the gun to Patty and Mike during my divorce. I feared Stephanie getting hurt more than our being set on by any burglars.  However, I have remained a supporter of the right of Americans to bear arms, unfettered, with the belief that we citizens would use that right responsibility. No more. We aren’t capable of it. Once again, a young man bought guns legally, then used them to mow down 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers. While he did this, the local Texas police dithered. I am not pointing a finger at the cops. The gunman had a plan; the officials could only react to his chaos. That is a recipe for failure. The Republicans are saying it was mental illness, the Democra...

Our second trip to visit Spaulding and Molly. We were able to sandwich ourselves into their hectic schedules since I knew this weekend they wouldn’t be doing long distance training runs. Their marathon is next weekend; this would be taper week.  Because our living area is on the basement level, and the rest of the house is up a flight of stairs, I was extremely cognizant of making as few trips up and down as possible. No random runs up or down for a forgotten item. Actually, no runs at all. Each stair was a right foot, then left foot process. Would that there were handrails.  We mostly hung out at home. Saturday, Spaulding and Grant made beer on Saturday while Mollie had to go into work to lead a training session for math teachers. Later, the three of them worked on the terraced backyard, getting the drip system configured for the vegetables Molly planted. Granddog Emma and I supervised.  I also identified, with the help of the Merlin sound app, spotted towhees, western c...

The beginning of our third year in central Florida. I’m sure it’s mostly due to still hurting from lifting too much, however, I’m beginning to feel old, I’m sleeping more, and tiring sooner. There certainly isn’t a spring in my step. But I’m not ill, I just hurt. Goals for this year? Definitely, feeling good, even if it means going to the doctor again. I’ve gotten back to exercising with our personal trainer Denny and hadn’t lost as much core strength as I feared. Kristen at PT assigned me some exercises and stretches to get my butt muscles stronger without damaging them. This too shall pass. Just not as fast as I’d like. I can’t work as long in the garden, but that gives me the opportunity to learn to pace myself. Two vegetable beds have their summer crop of okra, cow peas, and sunflowers. The other beds will have cover crop of hemp, or may be just some mulch. The two wild bunnies seem to have eaten all the new corn shoots. I enjoy watching them so I don’t begrudge them this round....

The dawn chorus of sandhill cranes clattering, competing with my bedmates’ snoring (Grant), purring (Annie), and chirping (Gracie), plus a couple of wrens and cardinals singing woke me on the last day of our second year here in Central Florida. It is still cool enough at night for us to keep the bedroom patio door open to let in the fresh air and the bird calls.  It’s also Mother’s Day, so Grant will be up soon to start the charcoal to bbq ribs, which Stephanie requested. She, Clara, and Kyle are coming for lunch, bringing ice cream and cake. Grant also made salt potatoes and his green beans. I did nothing other than putting the tablecloth on the lanai table. Perfect. (The picture was taken at Clara’s softball game. Even though Steph and I talked about taking pictures on Mother’s Day when we were all gussied up, we didn’t. Sigh.) Even though I miss my Fort Lauderdale family and friends, I think we are adjusting to this new area.We still haven’t joined a UU congregation, made any de...

Our newspaper wrote about Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa and mentioned it was impossible to get a reservation. Challenge accepted. For the next couple of months, Open Table reservations app only had tables after 10:30 PM, but I figured out the process and since we were in no hurry, signed in as soon as reservations opened the next day. Done: A 6:30 table for two on May 3rd.  We hadn’t been to Florida Aquarium in years, so the itinerary was to drive over in the morning, look at the fish, check into our hotel for a rest, then overindulge ourselves at dinner. Mission accomplished. I was amused by the ID tags on some of the aquarium’s residents. I noticed toenail covers on the 6 baby alligators, each one with a different color. The 2 huge gators didn’t have any, so either the trainers can tell them apart, or there isn’t any enthusiasm for trying to put them on. Crabs had various combinations of colored wire ties on a leg, which I would think would interfere with molting, but I guess greate...