Magic Week

 

I’ve been out of the blog-o-sphere, but with good reason. We just wrapped up a week of pure joy; the grandtwins finally made it down here to visit. Their visit neither began nor ended auspiciously, what with the THREE HOUR delay of their flights, both coming and going. Breeze Airline appears to be anything but. I’m beginning to wonder if the company owns more than one plane. Can you imagine a three hour delay while traveling with four-year-old twins? But somehow everyone soldiered on and the time here with us was magical.

          The girls appear to exist on nothing but pasta and fruit (consumed during the visit: 2 cantaloupes, 3 clementines, three boxes of strawberries, 2 mangoes, 2 peaches, 2 packs of blackberries, 1 of blueberries, 2 cups of honeydew & watermelon, and grapes), but they’re healthy and happy, so who cares?

          And to truly amaze you – the TV was never turned on once for the entire visit. We read books, colored, and made necklaces, but the majority of time not spent at the pool, beach, or touring was taken up with elaborate imaginary scenarios the girls played with each other.

          The first four years were an uphill climb for their mom and dad, but I think they’re hitting the sweet spot now. Next goal? For everyone to sleep through the night.

Floridaland

 

Love the weather, despise the politics. At the end of February, WFLA-TV, out of Tampa, reported -

Today

 

Our day began at the Venice airport, which sounds much grander than it is, since it really only serves a small group of planes for those with the wherewithal for rental or even ownership.

Roll Tide!

          I wasn’t sure if John at The AC Is On was serious, but his comment asking about a possible connection between red tide and U. of Alabama’s Crimson Tide team sent me down the rabbit hole of the internet.

          No, John, no connection, but here for your reading enjoyment is the story behind Alabama’s team name (The following is from 2016 on the University of Alabama’s website) and to anyone who’s ever encountered the South’s red clay, it makes perfect sense.

How the Crimson Tide Got its Name

In early newspaper accounts of Alabama football, the team was simply listed as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White" after the school colors.The first nickname to become popular and used by headline writers was the "Thin Red Line." The nickname was used until 1906.

The name "Crimson Tide" is supposed to have first been used by Hugh Roberts, former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. He used "Crimson Tide" in describing an Alabama-Auburn game played in Birmingham in 1907, the last football contest between the two schools until 1948 when the series was resumed. The game was played in a sea of mud and Auburn was a heavy favorite to win.

But, evidently, the "Thin Red Line" played a great game in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6-6 tie, thus gaining the name "Crimson Tide." Zipp Newman, former sports editor of the Birmingham News, probably popularized the name more than any other writer.

 

Incoming Tide

     We decided last night to treat ourselves to dinner out, with the emphasis on the out portion of that statement.

Planting Ideas

 

Now that I’ve achieved the heady title of building rep here in our tropical world, I’ve got myself embroiled in a Project.

Construction Crime

 

The heartbreak of the earthquake in Turkey brought back memories of a friend from our days as an Army family.

Year of the Tissue

 

I’ve gotten behind at keeping you up to date on events in the pre-school universe.

Sunset to Stars

Friendly New World

So often when we’re working, much of our social life is connected to that job, either through get togethers after hours, or just the interaction during the day.

Muffins to Marketing

Someone posted a picture of one of these on Facebook recently, with a “Do you still have this?” query.

Storm to Sunset

 

          We were relatively lucky here in Venice not to have sustained the kind of damage some towns suffered from Hurricane Ian. Still, even though we got here several months afterwards, signs of its visit are with us.

Langley Annex

   I coulda been a spy!

Adventures in Plumbing

I’ve been way too lazy lately as far as blogging goes, but pretty industrious otherwise.

Blues Stars

Apple - Falling - Tree

Have you ever seen those insurance commercials on how not to become your parents?

Birthday, Books, Bikes, and Boobs

 

Sitting in Judgement

We had our big social event of the week last night, a wine tasting.

Elbowed Out

When we first began coming to Florida, a friend had been kind enough to invite me to play in her complex’s golf league.

Cooler than expected

The weather gods, busy wreaking havoc in California, have apparently found a moment to glance our way over here in Florida. 

Tripping

        Two weeks later, we feel settled in here in Florida. Our trek from the North went well to the most part, at least with no dramatic weather events.

    We left as planned, on Jan 1, when we figured everyone would still be hungover and in bed long enough for us to get through the busy northern chain of New York and New Jersey, with our luck possibly holding through Baltimore and D.C. We forgot, however, that the next day everyone would be out and about at the end of this three-day weekend, either enjoying a day off from work or coming home from it.

        Thus, route 95 through South Carolina set us back hours – hours! Bumper to bumper for miles and miles, basically ¾’s of the state. The instant we crossed the border into Georgia it all melted away. The reason? In S.C., route 95 is only two lanes and in Georgia it’s three, sometimes four. I think there’s a lesson here for state road planners.

        Knowing we’d never make to our hotel until 9:00, we pulled off and had some dinner and suddenly everything felt much better.

        Nothing like a big plate of shrimp and grits with collard greens to tell you you’ve hit the South.