Existing In BFE

On Monday, January 24th, two St. Petersburg police officers were gunned down in      the line of duty. Police choppers flying the Missing Man formation right over our apartment on Friday.  Once they got to the funeral site, two peeled off.  (the building above is the one you saw on Saturday's post during the rain.) The Tampa Police department had to help with the instruction for the St. Pete funeral details because no one on the force knew how to do things, it had been that long since an officer fell in the line of duty.   With the folding of the flag, which was presented to the wives, no red will be visible, which symbolizes the blood of battle. One of the officers was in charge of Ace, a German Shepherd, part of the canine unit.  Ace will now be retired from active duty and placed in the service of the officer's family, his wife and three children.  Upon the caskets being placed in the hearses, a final salute f...

This past Tuesday, January 25th, was a fun one here in Florida.  The whole state was inundated by thunderstorms and tornado watches.  It arrived around 3:00 here and proceeded to rain buckets.  Good old-fashioned weather that is in short supply in these parts.  Believe it or not the sunny weather gets boring after awhile.  Finally, good stormy weather.  I loved it. A picture of downtown St. Petersburg. A video of the storm from my apartment.  Sorry about the screen.  That's the DMV straight ahead and the white building to the right contains many little companies.  Turn right there and you go to the local Publix grocery store.   

                                                          Kite flying... ...building sand castles wind surfing... ...with the ones you love looking for inspiration... ...finding love rollerblading family style... ...good reading fishing... ...cruising internet surfing... ...kayaking Beautiful day on January 9th and a chance to take a walk downtown.  At the Vinoy Park people big and small, old and young and everything in between were out enjoying a day off and the neatest place in town to while the time, play a guitar, fly a kite, play tennis, kayak, walk fido, read a book, and hold hands with your lover.  Not displayed here is a guy high on drugs who was acting weirdl...

Publix is a Florida-wide grocery market chain, much like Hy-Vee in Illinois. They are pretty savvy organization having bought out a lot of their competition, like Albertson's. They compete mostly with Sweetbay, but from my vantage point it's not much of a competition. It's like comparing Target and Walmart. Always there are bargains, mostly 1-for-1, which really equates to free food. Went over last night and these were just some of the items I saw. And notice its not just the slow moving items, or stuff no one wants. We're talking about veggies, ice cream, staples and even Dove chocolate. It's tough not to like Publix.

A few weeks ago there was a hit-and-run fatality down here. Here is the original story from the St. Pete Times and further down an editiorial from a Robert Barsanti regarding the same death. Two very good and well written stories. Take the time and read them. http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/hit-and-run-victim-was-quiet-and-dependable-co-workers-say/1124721 Neil Allen Smith died on September 18, 2010. He was biking back to his mobile home in Tampa from his dishwashing job at the Crab Shack. Somewhere along the highway, a white car swerved and clipped him. Neil crashed into lightpost, fell over, and never stood again. Three days later, he was dead. Murder has its own unequal arithmetic. You could die for a fortune, for a cause, for an eightball jacket, or for a momentary distraction felt by the driver sharing your lane. The variables are incomprehensible in the inhuman algebra that finally solves for X. So it must have been on that September night in Tampa. The drive...

Discovered a neat new park just down from the Pier and still on the waterfront. What a cool place. Everyone is doing their own thing and there is plenty of actvities people are engaged in.                                                     Martial arts training.                                        Sand volleyaball for the younger set.                                   ...

 This old guy seems to always be standing at this creek looking over the wire fence.  What is he doing and why here?  Is he thinking of the past, or not thinking of anything in particular.  Oh, and he reeks (in a good way) of cigar smoke.  It's like my grandfather's smell.   These pictures are of downtown St. Petersburg at 10:30 am.  Where is the traffic.  I've been to the Loop in Chicago and been to the heart of St. Louis.  They are teeming with buses, taxis, people marching on the sidewalks, the homeless, and beggars.  They are noisy and smelly.  Here, there is none of that except for the homeless.  It is a very non-threatening big city downtown.   You go under I-275 not far from the downtown area.  275 is Florida's main north-south interstate artery. Went to this arts fair the other weekend.  Neat stuff, very artsy-craftsy but very expensive, too. Saw this bike tethered to a street sign....

These sunset pictures get pretty tiresome for you, I'll bet, but they never get old for me. Each one changes every minute and bring new hues and colors and are breath-taking. Tonight was a walk on Sunset Beach and we saw a wedding picture taking turned bad, two preening people taking pictures of each other, and experimenting with night pics. (November 20) These two pretty people just couldn't get enough of each other.  They spent a long time taking pictures of each other.  He would flex and she'd snap, and then she would pose and he's return the favor. They missed the sunset picture they'd hoped for and overheard him say to her as we passed by, "I'm married to you and that's all that matters."  Aw, sweet.  Bet missing the picture won't be his first mistake in this union.  Now this is postcard-worthy.  I am a savant. It was a full moon and couldn't resist trying to get artsy pics with the moon and grass after the sun had set.