Skip to main content

Second Half Summer Tour 2017



I will be heading back to Northlandia this afternoon.  As always, posts may be spotty in the next few days so be prepared.  

I've now had the Cabin for 3 1/2 years and it has certainly been a treasure emotionally, if not financially.  Reality has set in and I missed my permanent escape from Florida once the grand-kidlings entered the world.  They are now as enmeshed in my existence as air itself.  But man does not live by kids alone.  He needs his diversions, namely a Yamaha Stratoliner that provides wind therapy, and a Dodge Custom 880 that embodies all that was at one time impossible.  He needs a beer or Bloody Mary with friends, acquaintances or even alone if the atmosphere is smothered with comradeship.  He needs a dark sky with twinkling stars and a gentle midnight breeze that rustles anything it touches.  He needs to relearn the value of conversations peppered with thoughtfulness, insight, humor and a dollop of plain old silliness.

Upon entering the Cabin I will plug in the lighted palm tree and it will stay on until the day I leave.  After that I will charge the battery to the camera.  So begins another holiday in Northlandia.  (Queue rousing music.)  But, as always, nothing is as bad or as great as we imagine; while all looks rosy there will be a creeping reverse Stockholm Syndrome angst.  The kids, of course, will be there when I return, but, what is it about our natures that as soon as we escape a place we soon begin to miss it.     

To list the things I want to do  seems at this point redundant.  Time is short and I seem to have fashioned an enviable ability to extract the best of two worlds.  It surprises even me when I think of the duality I have created.  For as long as it lasts I will endeavor to enjoy all the people and the adventures each world offers.  Life is short.  Squeeze it like a goddamn lemon.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...

Philippe Park and The Tocobaga Indian Mound

About ten miles or so north of Bedlam is a place called Safety Harbor.  Its the place that has the 300-500 year old oak that the city tried to kill I featured a couple weeks ago on BFE .  They have a pretty nice park that has some interesting history, too.  Count  Philippe landed here and introduced the pineapple and cigar making to the Tampa Bay area. Today, however, I want to mention something else about this area, besides the really nice scenery.  Phillipe Park was also the home of the Tocobaga Indians.  The Tocobaga occupied the Tampa Bay area from around 600 A.D. to the 1600's.   This is a fairly common view of old stately moss-laden oaks down here.   This shot was taken atop the only Tocobaga Indian mound in the area.  This exact spot is home not only to the Tocobaga until they died out, but then to Count Phillipi who settled the area after the Tocobaga died out.   The place is full of oak and ...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...