Gainesville

Sunday, Mary and Ryan left at o’dark hundred so we said goodbye the night before. Never long enough. Up at my usual 5:00, I did my morning rounds of make coffee, feed cat, exercise. Then fill bird feeders. No watering, because the sprinklers run Sunday mornings. At 6:45, after making my daily little drawing, I went to the grocery store to stock the larder for Grant. He will be on his own for the first time since his fall.

The drive began in heavy rain, which we desperately need, but couldn’t it wait just another hour? The northbound Turnpike was shut down 20 miles into my trip, so Google rerouted me through Mineola, sending me through a part of central Florida new to me. Back on the Turnpike, just as the rain stopped, I had to drive through a deep puddle in a construction area, which threw mud up on my freshly washed and now rained upon car. It has mud streaks all over. And of course, no more rain predicted for the week.

I’d made a PBJ to eat when I got to Sally’s. No time to waste, because we were signed up for a 2:00 tour of Century Tower on the UF campus. First part was sitting at the park at the base of the tower for a 25 minute concert by music student Michael Dixon (Tide-swept - Michael Dixon (b. 2003); Sonatine - Stefano Colletti (b. 1973); Sonata for Violin and Continuo - Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), arranged by Albert Gerken) which was very different than my idea of carillon music. Many fast trills and chords. Other excitement: just as we’d settled in our chairs to listen, the sprinklers came on. Old people can move fast when we want to.

Second part was climbing the 11 stories to see the carillon keyboard. I envisioned looking out and surveying the campus. No, it was a concrete square tube with a central staircase and slit windows carefully screened so no birds or bats could make their home in the 61-bell belfry. We couldn’t even see the bells. Still, interesting, and a cardio workout.

Monday, we met Sue and Daryl at Sweetwater Wetlands Park. Target bird: bobolink, which had been reported in area. None appeared while we were there. Purple martins filled the houses installed for them, marsh hares were all along the edges, a large alligator sunned close enough to make us walk on the far side of the path. In true birder fashion, we overstayed our time, and just barely made the 1 1/4 hour yoga class at the ElderCare building. This trip has turned into an exercise extravaganza.

Lunch and naps were thankfully next on the agenda.

Our mission Tuesday was to repot the orchid Sally had been given many years ago by her friend Ellen Clark, and which had laid back in the bushes for some time. I clipped and clipped off old dead areas while Sally pried parts out with a chisel. Exactly what genus and other details TBD when it flowers.

We ended up with enough pieces to pot 3 with nice growing tips in the freshly scrubbed original pot for Sally, 3 more pieces in a wooden basket for stepson Brian, a couple of other small pots, some for me to take home and pot and to share with my neighbor, and finally, about 10 other viable stems I laid in a newspaper lined large wire basket that Sally will take somewhere to give away. I also reported another little orchid, which I think is a dendrobium. 

Lunch, then time to head home to be ready for my watercolor class. Nap had to wait.