Seeing All Sides: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Second Snow - January 2010

Guys On A Snowy Day I. Paul, Jake and Austin are staying here because we have wood heat and cook with gas in case the power goes out. Twelve inches of snow came down this time.

Guys On a Snowy Day II - L-R Paul, Walker, Jake, Austin.

The little house in the snowy woods on Butterrow Cove Road.

Walker catches dinner. We had Hossenfeffer which is supposed to be German for "sour rabbit stew"(okay, I know the spelling is wrong). Remember Bugs Bunny cartoons and the sherrif always saying "Hossenfeffer."? Well, I looked up the recipe and made it and it is GREAT!!! I think I'll make it with chicken sometime.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Sea Grapes & Susan Takes the Plunge

Sea grape (coccoloba uvifera)

Oh, did I neglect to mention that I jumped in the ocean the morning we were leaving. There wasn't a single soul in the water except me and that's saying a lot since the boardwalk was FULL of Canadians.

The Wild Life of Florida

Coral Gables. Erik showed us this shopping center that unfortunately was geared only towards the higher end shops. Few customer were to be seen but many people were using it for the great exercise space it was. It was, in essence, a strip mall done right (if there is such a thing). Very outdoorsy, lots of folige, open, airy. Two stories so it took up less space. Artfully covered stairs that were out in the open. Extremely well done.

We saw this little native as we were leaving. I've always had a soft spot for cameleons, perhaps because I feel I am one, of sorts. I even have a dried one on my dresser that was my grandmothers. She loved them too and had this shell of one pinned to her lamp.

This photo is fuzzy but I had to include it. My sister's husband, Tom, brought in the iguanna he'd found dead in their yard. It seems the cold weather either slows them to the point of not being able to move which is when they fall out of trees, or kills them outright. My sister said once she was out working in the yard when something hit her in the head. She looked around for a long time until she finally found a large iguanna that has gotten so cold, he'd fallen out of the tree above her.

LWB - Local, white bird.

More Florida in January

Son, Erik and I, find time for our annual mother and son photo. Erik really showed us a great time in Coral Gables, taking us to all his haunts. He even took us to Crandon Park where I LOVED to go as a child. Some of my best memories are of going to the zoo that used to be there. He walked our socks off on a nature trail at Bill Bagg's park (I think that's right) and took us out to a top notch all you can eat sushi place. We're only sorry we all didn't have more time to spend with him.

Franklin relaxing in our hotel in Coral Gables. We'd taken the tri-rail from my mom's and then caught a bus to the hotel. We brought much humor to the bus system that day. Everyone was helping us and one guy in particular took it as his mission to get us where we were going. We kept standing up, afraid we might miss our stop and he'd say, "Don't worry. I'll make sure you get where you need to go." Another guy kept doing his Suduko, smiliing at our gaffs and offering help once in awhile. The hillbillies go to South Florida...I forgot to add that at one point when Franklin was trying to tell Erik where our hotel was, he was out on a full-floor balcony of the hotel, climbing up onto the sidewalls to look out over, trying to spot Erik's car. I kept thinking: This is NOT Fairview! Someone is going to think he's plotting a terrorist attack, getting ready to jump, or casing the place. Luckily he went unnoticed.

Uncle David always did want to be a pirate. Or: Uncle David always was a nut of the largest kind.

This one's for brother, Kelly.

Florida In January - Ahhhhh

My sister Annie and I relax on the beach in Naples one evening. Annie and Tom found us a wonderful hotel with two bedrooms and a kitchen. That night, we kept waiting for a group of young men to get through drinking their beer and loudly socializing in the hot tub. After six hours, we decided to take the matter into our own hands. We decided to bring up all sorts of unseemly and ficticious ailments that one would not want to share a hot tub with - hemmeroids, boils, shingles, toe fungus and the like and hope they took the hint. They didn't. They moved to another corner of the small tub, never heard a word about our "ailments" and ignored us, except for one guy who eventually asked us about ourselves. Turns out they were from Minnesota and on a business trip while their wives and families were burried in snow back home. And turns out that at 6:30 the next morning, one of them was dressed in a suit and with briefcase in hand, was frantically looking all around the hottub for something - we surmise it may have been his wedding ring since there had been a group of young women in there with them initially.

Franklin, Annie & Tom wave hello on the boardwalk. On Sunday morning, just before we were about to head back to NC, they took us to a favorite boardwalk along the ocean. A wide, paved path, there is plenty of room for walkers, runners, bicycles, roller bladers, to view the ocean on one side and a myriad of little shops and resturaunts on the other. Breakfast is abundant, inexpensive and good and we even found a beautiful organic produce market.

Franklin & Tom at the Naples beach. The next day we went on the public peer. It was awesome but cold and windy. The water was crystal clear and no one was swimming.

My oldest son, Erik, shows Franklin and I around Coral Gables where he lives. Here we feast on a monster burrito at a little Mexican place he likes.

More First Snow Sledding

Kelly's wife, Shelly, takes a turn. She must have been on the slower tube. There was one over-inflated tube we called "Death". I took that one down first and screamed for someone to save me the whole way down. When that wasn't happening, I tried to roll out before hitting a metal pole, a feat which was accomplished just in time.

Franklin takes a run.

Susan, realizing she's going faster than she wants to be going.

Mark Clarke takes a spill.

My Brother's Family Comes for Christmas

Jeremy went down more times than anyone. He was fearless. The run was SO fast that day. The snow had glazed over. Walker and Jake were the first to go in plastic sleds and as soon as they got to the bottom they declared that NO ONE but them could go in those sleds. It was simply TOO fast.