Water

Editor's note: Tomorrow's theme is 'paths and passages.' The Auckland blog has a nice photo. OSLO like photos and videos of liquid water. The photo above is of the Peace River. The linear park on the Port Charlotte side of the river is nearly finished, and it is pretty nice. Taken at low tide, obviously. Looking towards Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda.

This video is of the north end of East Spring Lake, taken from the dock behind the house. Yesterday's video at sunset was of the south end of the same lake. It is still windy today and temperatures won't get above 50 something, but the sun is shining. A pretty nice day.

Sunset -- No Singing

See the comments on yesterday's post if you think the title is strange.




No bike ride today -- it rained until after noon.

Late edit: For BB -- a photo captured from the video. Technology rules.

Atlantus Waterway Bridge

There's a strong south-west wind keeping a cold front from sliding down the peninsula. Delaying it is more accurate -- it is supposed to arrive tomorrow, dropping temperatures 20 degrees or more. Today was likely the last day in January for a longish ride in short sleeves, so I rode out to the Myakka River backwater neighborhood. It was too sunny, too windy and too hard, but I expect no sympathy from anyone reading this who is dealing with freezing temperatures, snow, blowing wind and no sun for weeks at a time.



I expect that everyone (except for maybe OSLO and the SLO's) is tired of these videos by now. They've been an interesting experiment, though. The picture quality is terrible, but the addition of sound and movement gives the blog another dimension. (14 miles, or so.)

Dry and Windy

This is the dry season here, and water restrictions are being enforced for the first time that I can remember. The lawns are uniformly brown and dry all over town. Today's videos are an attempt to show both that it was a windy day today -- this first short video of palm fronds in the wind, along a canal behind a church parking lot --


And that it is quite dry. I tried taking another video from my bike, along a street near the house where I ride quite often. I don't know what kind of flowering shrubs these are. Red and purple.


In spite of how this last one looks, I did not ride my bike off the road or into the bush.

Fisherman's Village

We had supper at the Fish Market in Punta Gorda last night. Scallops and zucchini. Sunset here is after 6:00 pm this time of year. It was warm enough for people to be walking around in their shirt sleeves. I rode a few 'junk miles' today, turning around at the beach. (Yes, again.) There was a water aerobics class going on at the pool when I went by, for old people. It occurred to me -- after I made the mental note that all of the people in the pool were 'old' -- that they were probably about my age. Sigh.

Has it been a century, already?

I don't have any photos from January 26, 1909. 100 years ago today. This one was taken about 30 years later. In my vague memories of him as a young man, he looks a lot like this. A web site claims that these are some of the headlines from the New York Times on that date. "Taft With Party Sails for Panama; President-Elect Takes Board of Engineers to Inspect Isthmian Canal Work; Two Cruisers in Service; Started on Journey with Good Wishes of Mayor and People of Charleston." Ten years after he was born the League of Nations was founded. 100 years is a long, long time. Happy 100th Birthday, Dad.

A View from the Other Side

It was a nice day for a bike ride. I took my camera with me -- but apparently forgot that I had it with me, since I didn't take any photos until I was about a mile from the house on the return trip. This is the view of the house from the other side of the waterway. (No videos today -- sorry, OSLO and SLO's.) There are some streets that are both easier and safer to ride on Sundays, because the traffic is a lot lighter. Both Edgewater and Highway 41 fall into this category for me. So instead of going to the beach again, I rode out into the Myakka River backwater neighborhood. This ride requires that I spend a short time on each of those two streets/highways. It ended up being a little further than I had ridden up until now, but my back felt better and I felt up to a shorter version of the usual route through that area. I misjudged the distances involved and missed the best views by cutting it too short, then ended up having to add a loop on my way back to avoid having taken a ride measuring between 12.75 and 14.25 miles. I can be superstitious, and I like to allow for measurement error. Interesting that rational and irrational thought can co-exist in my brain, simultaneously.

Old People at the Beach

The Karate Kids video cammed with us this morning -- they were doing a karate demonstration at the Community Center this afternoon with their karate class. It was part of the local annual Winter Festival. They've certainly had a lot of winter where they live. Their Mom -- OSLO, as she is known here -- regularly asserts that she likes these video clips. So here is another one. I rode my bike to the beach again, and there seemed to be some sort of bocce ball tournament going on. There was food and music -- and spectators. Another local event. Gotta love small towns.



I tried taking another video while riding down a path at the beach on my bike. Unsuccessful as experiments go -- it turned out to look very shaky. In other news, the whole back pain thing seems to be escalating -- I may have to forego bike riding for a while. Bummer.

They are Everywhere

It warmed up finally -- mid to upper 60's. The winds calmed down to nearly, well -- calm. My back is giving me trouble again, but a few Ibu seemed to make a big difference. I rode slowly and carefully to the beach, again. I walked around the end of the point and watched a big catamaran motor into the waterway behind the beach, and watched a guy get set up to do some fishing. It was a beautiful day -- the sky was so blue it almost hurt to look at it. The beach sand had been groomed, and there were only a few birds there to disturb it. They were not intimidated by my presence, as you can see.

Seagulls are vermin, of course. It seemed unlikely that the ones lined up on the boat lift on the dock were the same ones I saw at the beach. But they did seem to be everywhere today.

Sunrise Park

It surprises me every year just how hard it is to acquire any level of biking fitness. After several weeks off the bike, everything seems to hurt when I ride any distance at all. So much so that I wonder why I bother? Today was no exception -- I waited until it had 'warmed up' to 50 degrees, and the wind had subsided into the mid teens. It was still too dang hard. And by the time I gave up and got back to the house, the trip mileage on the bike was still in the single digits. So I took a spin through Sunrise Park before heading to the barn. This is a canoe/kayak launching site. Possibly a boat launching site in the future, but they tend to pave those around here as the sand is of a very fine variety. I've seen lots of cars stuck in sand just barely off the roads, so I wouldn't want to back a boat and trailer in here. That bridge in the center of the picture below is on Edgewater.

This was taken on the fishing pier. The park is open until 9 pm, but the fishing pier is open 24/7. Since the pier is inside the park, I wonder how that works?

The park also has a pair of tennis courts, and bathroom facilities. The whole thing has an unfinished look to it, and more parking space than seems reasonable given the limited amount of activities available. It does look a lot different than it did last year, as you can see here. Temperatures are forecast to return to normal later this week after a heavy frost/freeze tonight, so maybe I'll have some longer rides to report. But this is the best I seem to be able to do for the moment.

A Version of Winter

56 doesn't sound cold if you live in Michigan, I know. And it really isn't, even in mid afternoon. The temperature has been dropping all day long, and there are frost and freeze warnings up for inland locations for the next two nights. Snow was briefly forecast for areas north of Tampa, but later reports said that it is too dry -- not enough moisture for snow. If Lake Michigan provides enough moisture for tons and tons of snow, you'd think that the Gulf of Mexico would be a big enough supply, wouldn't you? Two days in a row now with strong gusty winds. I rode briefly yesterday, but not today. Just a short ride around the local neighborhoods -- hardly far enough to work off a single piece of cake.

For the SLO's. This is what is left of the cake I made for your Grandpa's birthday. As you can see, we have made a pretty decent dent in it. I will admit to getting tired of Lillie's cake, though Grandpa thinks he is tough enough to eat a few more pieces yet.

Scenes from the Beach

When the weather cooperates, I traditionally take a bike ride to the beach on Sundays while I am here. The weather today was mid 60ish and sunny, so I went in search of some beach scenes for my darling daughter and her two adorable children. For some reason, they seem to like being tortured by videos of warmth and sunshine. This first one shows up as a black screen to me, but it works when I click on the play arrow.



The second one is longer, but no more exciting. The issue I have with videos is that it seems to take forever for Blogger to upload them. They are still a novelty, though. So sorta fun.


P.S. Anyone watching the Tour Down Under? Day 1 was a sprinter's day, and so far Lance hasn't fallen off his bike.

Sunset

Hibiscus

No ride to report today. Is it too soon for a rest day? I took a photo of the hibiscus at our front door, because it is such a treat to look outside and see green, and flowers.

I also took a short video of the back porch, one of the favorite places in this house of the SLO's -- and OSLO too, for that matter. I am still learning how to take video clips with my digital camera, edit the start and stop -- or in and out -- and save them. Then try to find them so I can post them to my blog. Learning new stuff is a good thing for old brains, and I'm enjoying this for the moment. The high temperature today was 60. The weather people forecast good conditions for a nice sunset, but it isn't looking promising. Very overcast. Still no snow, though.

By Request

Oslo commented that she and the SLO's enjoy these short videos, so here are a couple more. I took them both at Spring Lake Park, about 3.5 miles into a ride that I call the Rock Creek loop. In its most basic form, it is about a 10 mile ride, much of it along two waterways -- West Spring Lake and Rock Creek. I took the basic route today, having retained next to no biking fitness from the 2008 season.




The sign says, "Caution, Alligator Habitat." I was cautious. However, this is Florida, and any place where there is water there can be alligators. The locals claimed that it was cool today -- mid 60's. It seemed just fine to me.

Fuji League

It was 72 when I left, with a south wind at 14, gusting to 19. It didn't warm up much -- 72 felt fine -- and the wind freshened to 20, gusts to 24. Still..... I checked out the new pocket park first. It has two tennis courts, a short walking path, a fishing pier and a kayak launching spot. Not very big, but right at the end of the street. I talked to a fisherman for a minute -- he said yesterday the fish were walking right on top of the water, and he couldn't catch a thing. I took the standard route to the beach from there, through the neighborhoods to highway 41 to catch the bridge crossing the waterway on the access road. Then back through the neighborhoods, crossing Edgewater at the light on Harbor. I rode a few of the side streets, and everything looks much the same as the last time I rode that way. Not many people were hanging out at the beach, today. Too cloudy and windy, I'd guess. The sea grape tree was my turn around spot where I took the video, above. A bit over 10 miles, which seemed just about right for my first ride out of here. The Fuji doesn't seem real comfortable at this point -- I expect I'll adapt, or ride my other bike. It does feel good to be back on my bike.

What I Did On My Christmas Vacation

These are just a few of the photos I took in Orlando last week. OSLO was on her 6th visit -- including her honeymoon -- and she still loves the place. Both of the Centers of the Universe had been there before, the girl twice, but neither remembered it. (Note to self: Don't take grandchildren under the age of five to Disney World. They won't remember any of it.) Their other grandmother been there once before, several years ago. I think her favorite park on this trip was Epcot. There is a new ride there called Soarin' that was pronounced to be fun. She also liked the Illuminations fireworks there. They were even better than I had remembered.

The girl in the mouse ears was not with us. This was taken at Animal Kingdom. It was just my second time through that park -- maybe third. We started early in the day and left when it started to get hot. Yes, hot. 80 degrees on two different days.

TOPWLH (he pronounces that acronym 'top wheel') came down with a bad cold mid week, and spent most of the rest of the week trying to get well enough to make the trip home. He's better, but still has a pretty serious cough. Except for the 56 degree drop in temperature from Orlando to Grand Rapids on the return trip, I'd have to say that it was a successful vacation.

Fat Tires

New Year's Eve afternoon I ran across some bicycles, or something similar. Single speed, coaster brakes, tractor saddle, swoopy handlebars, and low pressure fat tires. Not a bike I would normally choose to ride. Naturally, I rented one and took a bike ride. Which means that December turned out to be a non-zero mileage month, if only barely. Thereby maintaining a string of non-zero mileage months that stretches all the way back to January of 2004.On January 2nd I also took more or less the same bike for another 45 minute ride, insuring that January of 2009 will also be a non-zero mileage month. Little things sometimes make me happy.

I did spend some time doing some of the more traditional activities. We are now home, I am very tired, but will post a few high points of the trip in a day or two.

Christmas, Continued

Christmas morning the SLO's opened their gifts from Santa Claus and emptied their stockings. Apparently they had been good this year, as I did not see a single lump of coal. Soon enough we packed up more gifts for the extended family and set out on roads that were sheet ice to join the other side of their family for Christmas dinner. Totally Jammin' loves that whole 'bunny ears' thing, especially when he can do it to his Uncle Jeff. The bowl in Jeff's lap has fresh roasted peanuts in it, a Friedgen family Christmas tradition. The girl COTU loves those peanuts, as does her cousin Leslie. And Jeff. The other Grandma passed out gifts from the big pile under the tree. I got a New Zealand calendar from Julie -- TOPWLH had brought her some New Zealand Cadbury chocolate as part of her gift, so it was a fair exchange.

There were twelve of us around the table for turkey and ham with all the trimmings. Ted's family continues to be a source of tremendous support for OSLO and the SLO's. Ted, of course, was both present in spirit and greatly missed in the flesh. Elvis and I headed for home by mid afternoon, though the family gathering continued until 8 or so that evening. The holiday went about as well as could have been expected.