Strange Brew

The weather here is just as weird as at home, predictability wise. We were going to drive over to the west coast (of Fla) Saturday to see some old friends of mine that I haven't seen in...well, that math is beyond me at the moment, but it looked like it would be a wet drive if not dangerously,  at the least, unscenically.  We cancelled and now it looks like it might have been a bit beautiful. Next time!

View from the open ended hallway of the apt. looking to the Intercoastal
or southwest, as you direction obsessed types would put it.

Now the grey clouds of yesterday, the steady rain/sprinkle that was supposed to continue today is now all sort of sunshine, watery grey/blue skies instead of pure grey and lots of rain. There are lots of chirpy birds too. Which I can hear really well because ALL OF THE WINDOWS ARE OPEN! and it's cooler with the breeze than if there was a/c on. Zowie. In June. With low humidity. In Florida. I think I could be tripping. Will check the coffee.

Before that happened today, rewind to yesterday after dinner when we did take a walk to the beach, which was deeply covered in seaweed. I guess the Coast Guard was checking it out too. That was a BIG chopper! There was also a guy out stand up paddle boarding. With it blowing 25 knots. Against the current. And a parasailer too. I tried to take video but it wasn't happening, so just use your vivid imaginations.

Yes, Jonny, I see it. Thanks.

The one nasty thing, well, beside slogging through a lot of wet seaweed but by then it was sprinkling again, so who cared?, was some really serious trash. Not the cool trash of a storm washed beach, like awesome shells, driftwood, strange creatures, but the plastic trash of throwaway societies, including boaters out there who really believe that if you are 20 miles offshore and trash your regular trash it will never be seen again. Uh, not true. Really. Of course, that made me the bane of any delivery crew I was ever with. Oh well. Trash schlepping got added to my (incredibly distinguished) resume.

A decapitated honorific icon for a small animal tribe somewhere unknown. I imagine the revolution wasn't pretty.
All those tapes? Turtle nests!!! 

Have a take it to the top Thursday. Be something untoppable.

Summer Solstice 2012

You still have time to plan your Summer Solstice celebration, which occurs at 7:09 p.m. AST/EDT this evening. It's a little late to get the t-shirt, so go creative on your own or you can dance naked (which is, by certain celebrants called skyclad - a word that sounds lovely and much better than naked), a rite of the summer solstice in more than a few places. Just be kind to your neighbors if you choose this option.

A couple of evenings ago we were on one of our beach to Intercoastal walks. On the intercaostal side, there was a lot of sargassum seaweed floating by with the current. My brother says, 'Look! It's a sargassum fish!' Really? Really? I had never heard of such a fish and also am always aware of the fact that any opportunity to one-up each other in a gotcha joke could be at work here.

But there it was! A fish about 5 inches long, that looked exactly like the sargassum seaweed. I tried to get a photo but even if it had stayed out from the sargasso, I don't think I could have done it justice.

This is exactly what it looked like.
(no credit available)

Apparently the sargassum fish, one of the triggerfish family, is seriously aggressive, using its brilliant camo to fool the fish feeding on the rich feast on the bottom side of the seaweed. It will eat fish as big as itself, in a snaky gulping way and there are videos you can watch to see that. If you like.

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Today is the first day we aren't moving things from place to place and I'm not complaining. It is also the first day it has rained, and as everyone on Culebra knows, rain has become almost as rare a sight as a sargassum fish.  So I've been doing rain contemplation about things I like in America.

1. Incredible food markets with so much variety it's a little overwhelming
2. Good roads that don't hurt vehicles or the people inside of them  (and sidewalks where I don't have to watch every step)
3. Antique and thrift shops run by Hassidic Jews who are funny (and pretty cute too)
4. Inexpensive sushi and wine - what needs explaining?

Things I don't like about this part of America are:

1. Too many people, going too fast
2. WAAAAAY too many cars
3. Too many gigantic buildings

Just the too much of everything. Which is, of course, why I live on Culebra and why it is fun to go away to come back.

But Pompano Beach is a pretty cool spot, with little pockets of old Florida (which isn't that old) around and lots and lots of water with good beaches. People are really friendly and open, for the most part; it doesn't feel like a city place that way. But I'm not on any hugging terms. Yet.

An open lot between condos and hotels, filled with beach plants and a few Australian pines.
Yes, they do still exist. For now.

Have a 'Wow! It's the longest day of the year!' Wednesday. Do something with the wealth of time.

This post is brought to you by Joseph

In the land of supposedly super connectivity, there was no connecting until a few minutes ago (blog speak for it happened then but I'm posting it when...ever) when Joseph, one of AT & T's gods, came and wired my brother's new world. Which is a great new world, I'll add here, with the beach a two minute walk to the left and the Intercoastal a two minute walk to the right. More on that, much more than you probably want to know, later.




We've had a swirling whirl of moving, organizing, swimming, eating, drinking and a lot of laughing. That works.

Farewell for now, PR! Culebra looked so beautiful as we flew away, but I'd left my camera in my backpack. 

The important things first. Leave airport, find sushi place. Eat. Drink sake.

And then, the beach.

Hillsborough Inlet...just a little walk down that away

My brother, King of his new world.

The wind this morning was howling.

Have a wonder full Wednesday. Do something wunexpected.