New Year's Eve

The younger generation went to Gasparilla Island a couple of days ago -- it's one of my favorite spots on the Gulf Coast, and one where I've spent time with probably everyone who has ever visited us in Florida.  Here are a few of the photos that they texted us from there:

Today the photos were from one of our favorite walks along the Peace River, from the banyan tree to Fisherman's Village.

Then just before sunset this evening, there were two more -- one of Jake, the domesticated blue heron who hangs out next door, and a bit of a sunset over our next door neighbors dock.  Thanks, family, for the vicarious trip to Florida.

May the new year bring you peace and joy. That's it for this year.

Small Family Vacations in Southwest Florida

It is their plan to make their Grandfather and I feel like we are there with them in spirit.  Today their touring began with Pine Island, a large relatively undeveloped island south of Charlotte Harbor.  This was taken from the island, looking back towards the harbor.  The college girl said it was nice, though.  And peaceful.

From there they headed south to Ft. Myers beach, a much more popular tourist area.

She said she didn't think it was possible to have so many DQ's in one place.  Florida and ice cream apparently go together pretty well.

Taken later, on the beach, waiting for the sun to set.  I have several photos, it's hard to choose which ones to put here.  This is a bit before sunset.

Writing messages in beach sand is a family tradition that goes way back.  This one says "Hi Guys, Love Nikki & TJ"

We got these last few pictures as we were eating our comfort food (JB calls it chicken a la king), and watching ice pellets bounce off our windows.

We followed along all day, recieving regular text message updates with photos attached.  We were obviously there, too.  In spirit.  And here's a "late" edit:  Totally Jammin' sent me some additional photos after their supper in Ft. Myers Beach, where he had to translate something on the menu in French for his Mom.  (I am sure that was fun.)

OSLO in front of poinsettias in the shape of a Christmas tree. It would make a nice card -- Seasons Greetings from the Michigan Family.

Almost as Much Fun as Being There?

I was greeted by this vision of loveliness this morning, attached to a text message from the College Girl.

Ah, Flor-Ida through their eyes.  It was a busy texting morning, as we tried to trouble shoot problems with the Wi-Fi there -- I don't know how, but it did get straightened out.  A bit later I got another photo stream from Totally Jammin' and the College Girl.  I had asked for photos from Sunrise Park, and they remembered that I'd asked.  Here's what they sent:

Three selfies and the tennis court.  I do like the sky there this morning -- we had rain and 37 degrees.  It looks pretty warm where they are.  More text messages ensued -- this time from OSLO who was trying to trouble shoot a cable problem with the living room TV.  And more photos attached to text messages from the grands.  This time from the banyan tree along the Peace River in Punta Gorda.  More selfies, mostly.

These photos absolutely cheered me up.  Sunshine and warm breezes, banyan trees and benches, waterways and palm trees.

Substitutions

Looking back over my 70+ years, or even just over the 50+ years that JB and I have been together,  Christmas traditions have varied a lot.  It pays to be flexible, it seems.  In recent years late Decembers have been spent in Florida, just the two of us, often with our daughter and grandchildren arriving for a visit a day or two after the holiday.  I often used some time on what was always a very quiet Christmas day to take a bike ride -- sometimes to the beach, and last year to Ollie's Pond Park.  This year I took a Christmas Eve walk to Tunnel Park.


Christmas Day I took advantage of the late start to winter by taking a short bike ride -- 41 degrees with a light north wind.  A December bike ride, in Michigan.

Then there is that other thing -- about my daughter and my grandchildren often visiting us in Florida a day or two after Christmas.

Well, that worked out differently, too.  The College Girl and Totally Jammin' had lunch today in Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda (along with OSLO and her fiance).  Harpoon Harry's, if I remember correctly.  Here they are, fresh off the plane, with the Peace River in the background.  Their tickets were purchased "before."  We hope they have a great time, relaxing in the warm sunshine.

102

"She is still remembered, and her memory treasured."  Jim Miller, December 21, 2014

Remembering, and remarking upon, our Mother's birthday was something my brother Jim did every year.  This is one of the photos that he published on her 100th birthday, when he posted a long tribute and history.  Jim put the date at 1947, which seems about right.  Lillie and her four children -- Baby Gene on her lap, Sylvia and Tom sitting barefoot on the step, and Jimmy standing behind them.  Taken at the Anderson farm.

The Day before Winter

Our little family had our holiday gift exchange today.  OSLO and her fiance were here, as well as the Grands.  JB and I made it a group of six.  JB's gift was a new chair, delivered a couple of weeks early.  He's become quite fond of it.  The Jive Turkey chair now rests next to the fireplace and the chair of desolation left with the people who delivered the new chair.  The new chair of power is an actual power chair, with a cord that plugs into the wall.

Since it was an afternoon event, OSLO and I chose a simple Sunday brunch type of menu -- I ordered a quiche and a half dozen pigs from a local eatery -- both were excellent.  I purchased some shrimp for the Grands who love shrimp but who don't love quiche and pigs, and there was some fresh pineapple on the side.   We had fun, exchanged gifts, and spent some quality family time together.  We did our best.

Bright Spot

TotallyJammin' and I picked up supper at Ottawa Beach Inn tonight.  Talking to this young man is always entertaining.  We sure do enjoy having him around.  The  College Girl stayed on campus this weekend to study for her final exams coming up this week, and we missed having her here.  TJ and I Facetimed with her late this evening, and she was working hard.  Fog and rain have settled in here for the weekend, and it feels like winters we had back in the early 80's.  So far, anyway.

Wrapping up Tram 2002

November ends today, I'm told.  I believe I promised to try to finish this story during NaBloPoMo.  At several points during the day today when I couldn't get the scanner and my computer to cooperate with each other, I nearly threw in the towel -- a fitting metaphor for the ride itself.  So here's the wrap up of day 5 of our first TRAM.

Day 5.  River Falls to Lake Elmo  40 miles

40 miles to go sounded like a piece of cake when we left River Falls on Friday.  We just had to ride the miles.  The first photo I have is of GZ and Santini at the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, about to cross from Wisconsin to Minnesota.  It was likely the first rest stop.

The high point of the ride that day, in a literal sense, was probably the town of Afton, MN.  (Afton Alps Ski Area is near there, for example.)  I believe that was the location of the second rest area, mostly because I have a photo of the four guys on our team standing in front of a sign that says "Afton City Hall." We were all back in our team shirts for our final day on our bikes.

The four brothers.  I love this photo.  We all rode together that day, and stopped to regroup outside of Lake Elmo.  Jim isn't in this photo (below), so it's a safe bet that he took it.

This next photo is team Santini e Fratelli crossing the finish line in Lake Elmo.  317 miles in 5 days.

GZ is there, hidden behind LH -- you can just see his helmet over her shoulder.   He dreamed this up and convinced the rest of us to do it, it wouldn't have happened otherwise.  To paraphrase the Pster, "without Gino, there is no biking."

317 miles is a long way.  Anyone who doesn't think so, hasn't done it lately.  I was ready for a little sit down, myself.  And I believe that sloppy joe's were provided (see photo below) before we loaded up our bikes, thanked our support teams, and headed for home.

This is the last photo in my little photo book from this epic family adventure.  They, our faithful staff, were never even close to woefully inadequate, and you can't ask for more than that. Looking back has been fun, though a little emotional at times. I'm glad I did my part to help preserve the story and the photos.  Carry on.

Penultimate November Day

Weather permitting, our tradition has been to walk to Tunnel Park on Thanksgiving weekend. The COTU hadn't been to the top of the dune since the platform was finished and the benches installed, plus they make good models for a blog photo. They are both wearing their winter coats, but no gloves or head coverings.  They're young, so I'm saying upper 30's?

Their Mom arrived for a visit in mid afternoon, fresh from doing some Christmas shopping.  She got some good bargains, but the rest of us stayed away from any contact with the retail crowds.  They have all since returned to their regular lives and our house is now ridiculously quiet. December looms.

Lemonade

The Grands climbed into the attic today and pulled out some things I haven't seen for a few years. We've decided to do a little bit of decorating this year for the Yule season.  I even ordered an outdoor Christmas arrangement from our landscaping person.

Christmas in Florida has always been pretty quiet, and I've never done much/any  decorating there.  We will not be there this year, and here I have been accumulating this kind of thing for 50 years or so.  The Advent Calendar is pretty old -- 30ish years, though the Nutcrackers are of a more recent vintage.  The attic is full of stuff that brought smiles of recognition to my Grandchildrens' faces.  We think we're going to have some fun with this.

Leftover Friday

8:00 am and the Physical Therapist, Amy, arrives.  Both she and JB are early risers.  She says he's making progress, and that she'll be back next Monday at 8:00 am.  JB and I load ourselves and Ruby 3.0 into the truck and head for the lab for yet another blood draw.  We're home by mid morning, and I'm already tuckered out.  I should have taken a walk, but I opt for a nap.  Later Oslo and the COTU arrive, bearing gifts of left over Thanksgiving feast from the other Grandmother.  JB tires pretty easily, but we manage a family portrait of sorts before the younger generations leave.  They'll be back tomorrow, with their positive energy.

The other Grandmother's leftovers make a tasty dinner-- there are walnuts in the cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving 2015

It was not your typical Thanksgiving.  I took a walk around the neighborhood in the drizzle this morning, returning before the nurse's visit around 11:00.  OSLO called before she and the COTU left for their holiday dinner with the other Grandmother.  Then while JB napped I took another walk to Tunnel Park, hoping for some bloggable photos.  I'm sharing the best of the bunch.

I think "Dismal" works as a title for this one.  This evening my family called from Minnesota, reminding me that they love me, they're sorry and they forgive me.  That really does cover it all.  I loved it. Thank you.  It was good to hear your voices.  

The COTU Skyped with me this evening -- here TJ realizes I'm taking a photo of my computer with my phone and he's giving a "thumbs up" sign.   They'll be visiting us this weekend, and are likely to show up here again before BEDFAMM is over.  (Blog Every Day For A Month Month). 

The Bianchi Advantage goes to Cross Country Cycle

I could almost write this post by putting a link up to Gino's post from yesterday.  I haven't taken a bike ride in two full weeks, and expected the season to be over by now.  This past weekend's snow didn't help, life has been complicated, and my bicycling fitness level....sub par.

My major bicycling goal for the year was to ride more miles than I rode last year, and that happened a while back.  I also had a specific, pretty low round number in mind.  As of this morning I was 65 miles short of that goal.  In an ordinary year, I'd count on December miles in Florida to make up that deficit, but this has definitely not been an ordinary year, and we won't be in Florida in December.  There's a winter bike sitting in my garage, one that I don't mind if it gets covered in road salt and grit.  Plus I have the gear.  So while JB napped this afternoon, I took a bike ride.  I did not expect to find snow and ice, but there were a few patches of it on the bike path on James.

The bike shop was my turn around point.  I needed a new battery for my bicycle computer, and Laura was willing to sell me one.  I bought two pair of bike socks so she didn't charge me for installing the battery and setting up the computer with wheel and tire size.  So that's done.  I was overdressed for the temperatures -- upper 40's with a brisk breeze.  It was only 15 miles round trip, but it was a hard ride, especially toward the end. Rain moves in again tomorrow.

Yesterday I blogged about my camera....

One of the things I plan to do is to tell Jim's stories. I haven't figured out just how that all works out yet, but here's an odd coincidence. Yesterday I blogged about my camera, and a year ago today Jim blogged about his. And mine, as it turns out. So here is one of Jim's stories. It's a small one, but Jim deemed it worthy of telling once, and I repeat it here.

 "Sometime last weekend my new walk-around camera turned up missing. I searched all over the house thinking I had left it in the pocket of my parka. It wasn't to be found. I've only had it since February 6th of this year, but it takes pretty good pictures if I point it in the right direction. I like that camera. It's a lot like the one that Santini has been using, except mine is the silver body and not quite as fancy. I was beginning to think that I'd have to go buy another one just like it at Best Buy. Or maybe the gods were telling me to use my SLR camera more. But I had a couple of candidates for places it may have fallen out of my parka pocket. Fort Snelling and Wooddale, the places I play tennis. Today I visited Fort Snelling and their lost and found department. They had a lot of stuff - shirts, gloves, socks, and a fine assortment of water bottles - but no camera.

I drove to Wooddale and checked into an almost deserted facility. I asked the woman at the desk if I could check the lost and found. She asked what I was looking for and I described my hand-held camera. She had it at the desk. The lost is found. So I walked outside, lighthearted and took this next photo. It was getting ready to snow and there was a dark looking sky, but the day was much brighter than when I went into the building. "

I didn't transport his photo over to my blog, but you can click on the link above if you want to see it.

Speaking of sky, I took two walks today -- both of them to Tunnel Park.  The first one was via the streets, on the second one I walked up the beach.

The first two are from the morning walk.  In the spirit of this week, I am grateful that I live where these views are a part of my daily life.  If that's not nice, what is?