Hoofing It and Rescuing Aloes

This place is called "The Doctor's Office," because I think that's what it used to be. Now, obviously, it's a restaurant, and most doctors would probably not approve of the cocktails!

I realize my recent Florida posts are a bit slap-dash and involve mostly pictures. That's partly because I'm writing quickly so I can get out the door with Sue, who gets up and goes walking early. I bet I've walked 30 miles in the time that I've spent here, and I feel better and look thinner.

Yesterday we were up very early and we took a trolley to the Longboat Key bridge, on the southern tip of Anna Maria Island. From there we walked north almost all the way to her house, which is midway up the island, so that's about five miles. It was beautiful seeing first the moonlight on the beach (above) and then the sunrise.

These were all taken with my phone. I don't lug the big camera on these walks.

My favorite thing about this mural, at the Anchor Bar, is the anglerfish at upper left and the fact that the artist turned a real light fixture on the exterior wall into his lure on his forehead.

We ended up back at the house and John made breakfast, and we relaxed a bit before I needed to head out and meet Dave's parents for lunch. (Despite looking skinnier I'm doing plenty of eating!)

I met up with them at the front of their retirement home, and we went to the Anna Maria Oyster Bar next door (where the chair above sits at the front entrance). I had a grouper sandwich. I remember when grouper sandwiches cost something like $10 -- I used to eat them a lot as a young reporter, when I was out and about and needed lunch. Now they're an insane $36. (And they've been even higher, depending on market prices.)

At least it was a good sandwich.

Dave's parents are fine and we had a good talk. At one point his mom asked me if Sue "had a family," and I was so obtuse I didn't immediately realize she meant children. I said, "Oh, yeah, she had a mother and a father, but they're both deceased, and now she has her husband and a dog." She clarified, "But does she have children?" and I realized what she was really saying. She must think I'm an idiot.

It's interesting -- many of my college friends do not have kids. That's partly because many of them are gay and I came of age at a time when gay people couldn't easily expect to have children -- but even among my journalism pals, many are childless. Journalism can be such an all-consuming career it's hard to accommodate children, I suppose, and I also think reporters -- with their stereotypical cynicism -- aren't always wired for parenthood. That's a huge generalization, obviously, but I've found it to be true in my life.

After lunch I went back to the Goodwill, because Sue and I needed a small flowerpot and I'd seen one there a few days before. I found this t-shirt on the rack and thought it was pretty funny. (But I didn't buy it -- it's way too small for me.) The rooster was gone.

We needed the flowerpot for Sue's Aloe Rescue Project™. Did I mention that we retrieved some dying aloe plants from the front of a demolished house next door? They were brown and struggling in a sandy planter, and no one was living there, so we stole adopted them. We potted them up and they're already looking much greener and happier.

One of them, however, had broken off at the stem, so we put it in some water to grow roots. I was skeptical it would work, but that aloe turned bright green within a matter of days and little nubs of roots emerged almost immediately. Yesterday we put it in the Goodwill flowerpot to continue its convalescence. Even here in Florida I'm rescuing plants!

Yesterday evening we went to a local happy hour with some of John and Sue's island friends, including a British couple from Cumbria, Gary and Debbie. They'd been traveling all over California before they came here, and I had a great time talking to them about England and English culture. Hopefully we offered each other a little of the security of home.

Today I'm off to Jacksonville to see my brother and his family. More time in the car!