Thursday, October 24, 2024
Visions of Vacations Past
I spent Tuesday morning writing 32 e-mails to the parents of students who still have summer books checked out (all of which were due on Sept. 6). Yesterday a bunch of them came back, and I expect more today -- writing to parents is often pretty effective. One mother told me her 9th Grade son just doesn't seem to understand the difference between going to a library and going to a bookstore!
Still, I'm surprised how many books are still lingering out there. I feel like I say this every year, but this really does seem like my worst year for getting books back. I hope I can get all this cleared up by the end of the month.
Today I'm going in slightly late because I have another round of blood tests at the hospital. The doctor is checking my cholesterol levels again, among some other basic functions. Yay.
Yesterday I randomly discovered that the little resort on Sanibel Island, Fla., where my family stayed in 1979 was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022. Here's what it looks like as of August -- just a couple of cleared oceanfront lots. Right before the storm, it looked like this. We stayed in that front cabin on the left behind the trees, as I recall. (Or at least a cabin in that location. After 40-plus years, who knows if it was the same building.)
The place was called Mitchell's Sand Castles and I wrote about it before, though I didn't name it. I'm sorry to see that it's gone.
Also, my brother wrote me the other day that the Sun n' Sea Resort on Longboat Key, another set of old-fashioned beach cabins where we stayed a few times, was recently demolished. I think plain ol' "progress," rather than a hurricane, did it in. Here's an article about the property sale that led to its demolition, including some photos of the old cabins.
Beach resorts just don't look like that anymore, and it's sad.
Also yesterday, I randomly got an e-mail from a photo site called Shutterfly telling me to buy something with my uploaded pictures -- a calendar, a mug, a blanket -- or they would be "archived." (Or something like that.) This was a surprise to me because I didn't recall having a Shutterfly account. When I looked at it I found it full of pictures of my friend Liz (in the middle above), most of which were not mine. I think I must have set it up in advance of her 50th birthday in 2019, and her friends uploaded many of the pictures, and maybe we had them printed into a book or something -- and then we forgot about it.
Anyway, I downloaded the picture above, showing me, Liz and her friend Jessica at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, back in 2006. Since I spent so much time showing you IguaƧu Falls this summer, and I blogged my trip with Dave to Niagara Falls in 2011, I figured you might like a glimpse of Victoria Falls as well! (I actually blogged from there too, but I didn't say much. That was back in my days of minimalist blog posts.) I have other photos from Vic Falls but I don't think I have this one. Or maybe I do. Maybe it's mine. I have no idea.
(Top photos: Autumnal scenes on my walk to and from work.)
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I liked the picture with the rocking horse, I wonder what the story is behind it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know! It's set out with the trash in front of an empty and seemingly abandoned house.
DeleteThat waterfall is looking so gorgeous. These books hardly come back to the owner
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how difficult it is to get these books back!
DeleteIt appears there is a reasonable amount of water at the falls, something which has been very much lacking of late. Sometimes something forgotten from your internet past will pop up, especially if you've been online for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThey were certainly impressive to me at the time!
DeleteAs for the overdue books, "WANTED" posters plastered all over the school with photos might help as physical torture seems to be frowned upon these days.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sadly, emotional abuse is no longer an option. :)
DeleteThe overdue books would drive me crazy. I actually think I have a shutterfly account myself that I never use. Your post reminded me of that.
ReplyDeleteYou should take a look at it and see what's there!
DeleteI hope Victoria falls has been renamed since independence.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd go mad trying to get books back, bad enough when it's one of your own, but multiples would be crazy making.
I'm not aware that the name has changed, surprisingly, though I'm sure the Africans had a name for it before the white guys showed up.
DeleteThose beach cabins look sweet and cozy, but a monolithic complex makes more money and people want luxury these days. Sad; I'd have stayed at the cabins.
ReplyDeleteWe loved the cabins, but you know, we made the switch to condos in 1980 and I must say, from a comfort standpoint, they were pretty nice.
DeleteSometimes the state of modern parenting makes me shake my head and wonder the direction we are headed in. When our kids check out library books, they always keep them in one place in our home until they are read and returned, that way they don't get lost. I can always check and see if they have a library book and when it is due back, even if they aren't around. This is exactly what my parents did for me as a child too.
ReplyDeleteI too get emails every so often from Shutterfly with random memory photos. But I have at least three or four projects going on their site right now, waiting to be finished up and printed off during one of their 80% off sales.
That is an unusually organized method for handling library books, believe me! But bravo to you for taking care of them! You'd be surprised what people do -- they pack them into boxes that go into storage units; they donate them to charity; they leave them in overseas hotels; you name it and I've heard it.
DeleteFor once I've also been somewhere that you've been on your travels! Victoria Falls/a> was lovely. I went with my mother & grandmother who had come to visit me in Zambia (what a trek for those two ladies!).
ReplyDeleteSeriously I need to figure out how to close an html tag. Ha!
DeleteHa! Well, as long as the link works, that's the important thing. I love your old photos and I linked back to your post in my subsequent post, as I'm sure you've seen.
DeleteMy library charges the patron the cost of the book when it is not returned after a certain date. I think that is what you should do for the ones that are still out from summer. They have had long enough. Send the parents a bill so you can replace the missing books.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you keep track of all of the photos you take, Steve!
In the past our finance department has been reluctant to bill parents for missing books. I suppose they don't want to be seen as nickel-and-diming them. Besides, I really want the kids to take responsibility, even if their parents find the book for them and put it in their book bag.
DeleteFor me and my family, it was Sea Cove Cottages in Vero Beach. Oh, how I loved those beach vacations with all my cousins and grandparents, aunts and uncles. A sort of heaven for a child. Of course they are long gone. We were lucky that we were able to enjoy Florida when it was still relatively funky and far simpler.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. I think you and I both got to experience a special Florida that is long gone.
DeleteHopefully making the parents responsible for returning the library books subsequently forces the parents to teach their children to return the books when they are due.
ReplyDeleteI love beachfront property but not at or below sea level. Two friends are new property owners in FL (both 2nd homes) and they tell me the hurricane damage is the price paid for living in paradise.
Yeah, that's my hope too -- that the parents help the kids learn from this. It's amazing how many kids seem unaware of basic library etiquette. To them it's "just a book."
DeleteI think I say this every time you talk about overdue books, but I just don't comprehend why kids don't return them! (or at least own up to it if they've lost one)
ReplyDeleteI think there's an embarrassment factor when the books are lost, but even then -- it's so much easier to just deal with the problem than let it linger.
DeleteWhen I was a kid, my parents traveled every summer to someplace in the US. Many times we stayed in places with cabins like those in your links. It is a shame that those are disappearing. As recent as about 1998, I took an east coast road trip and stayed in a place in Maine that still had cabins. Staying there brought back some fond childhood memories. I bet those cabins are gone now too.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of traveling used to be the little motels and cabins we'd find along the way. It's just not the same when we stay in a Hampton Inn or some other chain! Admittedly, though, the older places could occasionally be dicey.
DeleteWeather can change the landscape. Age also makes change. As we age things seem to change rapidly.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how life speeds up as we grow older!
Deletewhen Alicia blew threw the west end of Galveston Island and pretty much demolished the beach/bay community of Sea Isle all the one story basic beach/bay houses were rebuilt into two and three story super fancy homes. completely changed the character of the place. lots of insurance money back then I guess.
ReplyDeleteI guess people seized the opportunity to make a fresh start, but I hate this proliferation of characterless mini-mansions that we see in beachfront communities everywhere.
DeleteExcellent photo with the waterfall. So many places have been demolished, especially if developers move in. They want the biggest bang for their buck. Sorry about the books--that's frustrating and a sign of the times in teenager land.
ReplyDeleteArgh! Post-pandemic teenagers!
DeleteI got the same email from Shutterfly! When I logged in, all my photos were my kids' graduation photos from when we sent announcements. I already had the photos and I have copies of the graduation announcements. Good try on Shutterfly's part, I guess, but I don't need access to the photos there. lol!
ReplyDeleteI guess there must be tons of us with forgotten accounts that were used for some purpose or other in the past. I used to use Snapfish too -- I should see if I still have photos there.
DeleteI got the same email and need to do something about it. Might upload something from the trip to print out. Like the fridge needs another magnet.
ReplyDelete