Saturday's Ride

In light of the zaniness that has gone on this week on GZ's blog, I thought I would bring this to your attention. It appears to be a tall tin man like object, holding something resembling -- perhaps a sword? -- being worshiped from a respectful distance by small, diamond shaped two legged creatures. Or ???? My grandchildren are both very good at science, I hear, based on their most recent grade reports. Perhaps they know. Is it an alien creature? There was no clue from it's surroundings. It stands on an open lot between Walgreen's and a Realty company. Other that that -- my last ride of the month was along the linear park next to the Peace River. It is the last part of the ride that I like. But there are few if any rides here that don't require riding through some boring or unpleasant areas at some point. The natural turn around for this ride is here, at TT's favorite store.

The wind was starting to pick up, with thunderstorms forecast for tonight and tomorrow. So far the sky was blue and the sun was warm, but the harbor waters were beginning to get a little choppy as I sat and pondered the view. I've been neglecting OSLO's preference for videos for the last several days, so I offer up this one. Tomorrow is the first of March, again -- and then just about one more week until we return to the frozen tundra.

Waterways

Water, water everywhere. This pelican chased away a few of the sea gulls and spent a couple of hours hanging out on the boat lift. I took a late ride today. I apparently pulled a muscle yesterday while biking with TT during gale force winds -- so today's ride was short. Which was okay, given that I haven't started chasing mileage goals yet this year -- or even set any.

This photo was taken from the Edgewater bridge over Spring Lake waterway -- a precarious position for a bike. The road is too narrow and the traffic too fast and too heavy. This couple was headed back towards the canoe/kayak staging area at Sunrise Park. It's a nice setting, once you're past the traffic noise, and as long as you don't mind sharing the waterway with the occasional alligator.

Sunset Stroll

After one final supper at Olympia, TT and I walked over to Sunrise Park to view the setting sun from a different angle than off my dock. We wandered over towards the tennis courts and watched a young couple hit some balls around. Behind the courts is this tree which I think has an interesting shape to it -- perhaps from the prevailing sea breezes. It looks a little like Puff the Magic Dragon to me.

The sunset was a little early, setting behind some trees across the channel. The red sun was a product of a fair amount of smoke in the sky from recent brush fires.

There was enough chill in the air that we needed sweatshirts, but not long pants. You know, Florida weather. (I'm getting nostalgic because we're leaving fairly soon.)

TT said I needed to document the rules for the canoe and kayak launching area. The park makes a very nice addition to the neighborhood. I wish it had been here when Opal was here -- she would have really enjoyed it, I think.

Cincinnati vs. Tampa Bay

Getting there was the hard part. We spent an hour stuck in traffic, inching along at a snail's pace. Once there, it was kinda fun in a throw back to childhood kind of way. Between innings there were contests, including one that featured girls from Hooters. Not sure what that had to do with baseball. During another contest someone was asked how many outs there were in an inning. He responded 'three' and got the tee shirt anyway.

We walked around the park before we left, watching some people catching some rays while watching some Rays catching some balls. Nice symmetry.

Monday Biking

Today was one of those days when the wind blew just from the one direction. Some days it feels like every direction I ride is into a headwind, but not today. I've taken a lot of photos of the boat launching site at the beach, and this is it again, but taken from a different location. It looks really different from here, for some reason.

This is where I took it from, a public pier in the park where boats can tie up. The skid marks on the boards look to me like someone very nearly rode their bicycle off the end of the dock.

I rode a loop through the sailboat neighborhood near the beach, and watched a couple of German guys take pictures of this bird for a while. One guy got too close and the bird -- I swear this is true -- projectile shat at him. Missed, fortunately. The bird might be a turkey vulture, I'm not sure.

Getting closer to the house I stopped for a photo of an orange tree, mostly because I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of fruit hanging on trees lately. So here's one, just to document that this is still Florida, and there are still orange trees here. (Closed circuit to OSLO: Lynne checked, and the garage door was closed.) 14.3 miles.

No Videos Today

I took a bike ride today, but no photos. All of these photos were taken yesterday.

My subject for the last few days, TT, has gone to spend a couple of days with his high school tennis coach. There was some talk of a clay court in an orange grove, which sounds pretty nice. This court is the new court at the new park near here -- the photo is from yesterday, but today looked pretty much the same.

TT was standing in front of the canoe/kayak launch site he mentioned in his blog post yesterday. Signs say there is a 15 minute time limit, no loitering. There are no bridges between there and the Gulf of Mexico. Not that canoes and kayaks need much clearance, but still -- a pretty nice spot.

The fishing pier is fairly small, and located right next to the launch site. It gets pretty regular usage -- I've seen quite a few fishermen there over the last few weeks. The squint on TT's face is to prove how bright the sun was.

For the last week or so I've been keeping an eye on this cactus which seems about to bloom. I've never actually seen a cactus in bloom, I don't think. Cacti are not native to Florida as far as I know but there are several of them thriving in an area just beyond the groomed portion of the park. It's been pretty dry and a lot of trees are not looking healthy. The cactus, on the other hand, looks right at home in these dry conditions. According to the SLO's and OSLO's blog, the weather at home is awful. As our time here grows shorter, I'm getting worried.

Yogi

The young ones (and yes, OSLO, this means you, too) found the earlier video by the Serious Monster to be very amusing. If you are that easy to entertain, then you might like this one, too.



This was taken at the park that was on TT's blog yesterday. We made ourselves some sandwiches and had a picnic lunch there today. The breeze was a little cool, but with the snow currently piling up in that place we call home, I'm not complaining. Just saying.

No Green Deals Here

The economic news is all grim, so we went looking for some free entertainment. Spring training practice is free and open to the public, so TT and I went over to watch a large group of young men clad in nice blue uniforms play a game that has been around for a long time. One I spent a lot of time watching as a kid. I think I may still know how to keep score, even. Those green deals on GZ's blog are troubling. Perhaps he should get himself a ticket on an airplane, and come down here and watch the boys of spring with us. Opening game is Wednesday, against Cincinnati.

Knackered

If the weather channel says there's a SW wind at 6, it seems like a bike ride should be a fine idea. Before we left, I checked the odometer on the Fuji League and discovered that I'd missed the 1,000 mile photo. This bike has been here for just a little over two years. It seemed awfully windy while we were out. So much so that we took a short cut back to the house to avoid a mile of headwind. The weather channel had updated while we were gone. It was now reporting winds of 22, gusting to 30. Jimi was a good sport, but mentioned that it seemed like a harder ride than he'd expected. Me too.

After eating some left over Greek salad and feta fish for lunch, we headed over to Punta Gorda for a parade in honor of the Tampa Rays, whose spring training home is Port Charlotte. Apparently Port Charlotte doesn't have a downtown area that is appropriate for a parade. It was probably the worst parade I have ever been to. And I've been to a lot of parades. Tulip Time does 3 pretty good parades every year, and Idlewood does a pretty good neighborhood parade on the 4th of July every year.

Still, every parade has a stirring moment or two. Marching military personnel always quiets the crowd, which is as it should be.

And fat chicks on recumbent bikes provided for a WTF moment. I have no idea why they were there. We eventually saw a few baseball players, none of whom we recognized. Maybe by next week I'll know more about the Tampa Rays than that they went from last place in '07 to the World Series in '08. I'll keep you posted.

The Serious Monster

I have no words to adequately describe this video.



He arrived in the dead of night -- really, the absolute dead of night. His pale skin has been exposed to the sunlight, and he did not shrink from it. What kind of creature is this, I ask? What kind?

Names

Another local business, with a totally jammin' name. And a recipe for Lillie's Cake, because my grandson needs it for a school project, and his Mom can't find the recipe. Maybe I never gave it to her.

Lillie's Cake

Cream 1/2 cup butter(that just means to mix it up with a mixer until it gets soft(from SB))
Add 2 cups sugar
Add 2 eggs, beat in well
Add 1/2 cup sour milk (use buttermilk, or put about 1 Tablespoon of vinegar in a half cup measuring cup, and fill it with milk, which gives you sour milk. (from SB)
Add 2 cups flour (measured before sifting)
Mix to paste:
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa (really, really heaping (from SB))
1/2 cup hot water (it needs to be pretty hot (from SB)) -- add to batter, then
Add 1/2 cup hot water (making 1 cup in all) to which 1 teaspoon soda is added.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla

Batter is thin, but that is as it should be.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes in a greased rectangular cake pan -- regular big size.

I use the frosting recipe (margarine, cocoa, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk) on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. Also, everywhere where cocoa is called for, I use half regular cocoa and half dark/sweet cocoa. It's good either way.

Birds and Water

It turned out to be quite a nice day here today. A cool front came through, getting rid of the sea fog and drying out the air. It was a little breezy, but the sun was shining. No complaints. My bike ride today started at Sunrise Park where I watched a little geezer tennis, then to the beach where I watched some black seagulls -- or whatever those birds are -- and finally along the Peace River linear park to the Highway 41 bridge.

The two photos above were taken from the linear park looking across the river towards Punta Gorda. Winds were gusting about 20 while I was out, and I noticed a lot of sailboats both at the beach and along the harbor.

I thought those birds were just going to sit there forever, then a boy helpfully threw a handful of sand at them, and I shot this video. Videos are more interesting when something moves in them, I've decided. About 15 miles.

Sea Fog

The local weather people are calling it sea fog. It's been hanging off the coast for a couple of days, moving in at night, then clearing out noonish of the following day. Fairly rare, they said. And today should be the last of it for a while. I've seen the same thing happen over Lake Michigan. We just call it 'fog over the lake.' The name of this store is spelled wrong, but it still reminds me of someone very sweet.

This photo is for Mr. MooHoo. I believe this qualifies as a panther sighting. Up until now, he was the only one who had seen an actual panther in the wild here.

And last, a video taken from the porch. (Sorry about the screen.) For OSLO who continues to insist that she enjoys these. A little slice of warm, she says.

Absolute

This is my other bike -- the Fuji Absolute. It was a birthday present from TOPWLH the year I turned 50. I rode 1,000 miles on it the first year I owned it, and then somewhere along the line lost track of its mileage. It was the first 'nice' bike I ever owned, and it has been here in Florida since late 1999. I have been through multiple computers on it, and a couple of dead batteries, making it hard to keep track of the mileage. The most recent computer I had on this bike was apparently too complicated for me, and every year -- yes, every year, I would accidentally reset the odometer when I was trying to reset the computer. So this year I bought a new computer for it -- a very simple 5 function computer, with only one button. I have ridden the bike twice since I installed the computer, including a ride to the beach today. I successfully reset the ride mileage indicator before today's ride -- pushed the button, then held it until the number on the display changed to zero. I also kept the instructions. Sigh. The bike has just recently (today) developed a squeak that is annoying, so some bicycle maintenance is called for. Beginning with lubing all of its moving parts. Fortunately I bought fresh lube this week. How about that -- a post about nothing but bike stuff. (OSLO -- check your email. Also, I sat on the porch for quite a while, waiting for something to move so I could do a video clip, and except for a couple of sea gulls, nothing happened. I will try to do better in the future.)

Fishing Spots

There was a distinct mist in the air as I headed out on a ride this morning, as well as some remnants of the early morning fog. I stopped at this fishing pier along West Spring Lake to watch some fishermen launch their boat then motor off. I even took a video of it, but it was too boring to show here, and I have pretty low standards in that regard. In spite of the fog and mist, it was a pretty nice ride. I was back on the road bike again today. I rode the hybrid yesterday, and it didn't seem to matter much from a comfort perspective. The sun eventually broke through around noon, about when I got another view of a fishing boat out my back door. This guy was in that same general spot for a while, but I didn't see him catch anything.

A note to OSLO -- I found a recipe for moussaka on foodnetwork.com. It looks like a big job -- nothing complicated, but time consuming. Maybe we'll make it when I get home. I'll have to make the big sacrifice and order moussaka at Olympia, and see if their version seems to have the same stuff in it as the recipe on the web.

Support Your Local Economy

Here's my theory. If there is a store or restaurant that you would really miss if it went out of business, and if you can spare the cash, spend some money there. Doesn't have to be a lot. Restaurants and bike shops are the two businesses that I would miss most if they went belly up. Well, other than gas stations and grocery stores and... hmmm, I guess it is a long list.

So yesterday I spent some money at the local bike shop that I like best -- it is in Punta Gorda -- and tonight we went to our favorite family run Greek/Italian restaurant. I think everyone who has visited us here has eaten there. OSLO especially likes their baklava.

Life's A Beach?

I found a new sign on my bike ride to the beach this morning. The plantings are across from the community pool, and the garden is really not very big. It all looks newly planted, but I like the idea of butterfly gardens. I then rode through the park area, and took this short video looking back towards the beach. For OSLO and the SLO's. It was nice to be out on my bike again. Apparently it is warm enough in Michigan today that I could have ridden there, if I had been at home. Though OSLO says that it is sloppy.

Still, I'm looking forward to my first ride of the year on the Ruby. I've been having some shoulder and neck muscle pain/spasms that may be related to my Florida road bike. So today I'm taking my front wheel from my Fuji Absolute, a hybrid bike, in to the bike shop for a new tube. A valve stem failure. I plan to ride it for a while and see if my neck and shoulder problems clear up. The handlebars on the Fuji League, my road bike, may be too narrow. Or it just may be another case of GOINFS.

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise this morning -- just before, actually. 7:45 am. It was 27 degrees outside. Sunset tonight, a little after 6:00. 72 degrees.

Amazing the difference a day can make. (I must say that I like them both, though.)

New Blogger

There is a new blogger in the blogosphere. She has posted three times in the last three days, all three of them with photos of her children. I would expect that trend to continue. There is a link to her blog on my sidebar. Or you could go to www.osloandslos.blogspot.com. The photo above was taken of OSLO and her Uncle TT this past October, at the top of the dune in Tunnel Park. I think it is a sweet photo, so I'm posting it here.

Eagle On Ice

This is the maximum amount of zoom that I can get out of my camera. It's not a great photo, but there were three of them soaring around, and it was very cool to watch.

January Summary

I'm not in Kansas any more. January bike rides are, for me, mostly about establishing a floor in my biking fitness. I was surprised just how low that level was this year, compared to last. It may have something to do with how cold and nasty it was here in November and December. Many fewer miles in '08 than in '07. If you read this regularly, you know that this year I rode some in January -- but not a lot, again compared to last year. My average ride was about 11 miles long. Oddly, about the length of a ride to the beach, with a few neighborhood loops thrown in. I manged to accumulate enough miles (over 100) for January to count as 'in season' -- though in my mind it clearly was not. Just three of eight years have had more miles in January, but it varies greatly depending on where I spend it. Obviously. Historically February has even fewer bike miles than January, with 5 years of the previous 7 failing to break the 100 mile mark. We'll have to wait and see how this one goes. In other news, a little lake effect snow today, but 40 is forecast for the weekend. It may melt some of the 108 inches of snow that Holland has had so far this season. 108 inches. That's 9 feet. Of snow. This season. And it isn't even a record. But it is in the top ten. (Speaking of beaches -- Lake Michigan is white as far as the eye can see. Usually you can see at least a sliver of blue near the horizon.)