Nag, Nag, Nag

It was off to the Florida Horse Park yesterday for the driving competition. The photos are of the pony class, single and teams, in "dressage." This weekend there is also a "marathon" and "cones," the latter, as you might suspect, is driving a twisting course around pylons. As with all horsey competition this is serious stuff and the skill of the drivers was evident.

The Florida Horse Park

Ocala, Florida, markets itself as the horse capitol of Florida. In the midst of the multitude of horse farms is the Florida Horse Park. It is unclear the relationship to the State and I don't have enough interest or any reason to find out. Yet it appears to be an ongoing development and what isn't beautiful on a 70 degree day with a perfectly blue sky? 

On Wednesday the horsey people are there instructing and letting "relatively" young people ride the competition show jumping course. This is not to suggest these were novice riders. All seemed extremely capable and very serious about their art. Yet, if you are attempting to make a 1500 pound beastie do what you want you had best be serious. 

Special note for those who look closely at the photos. Yes, it is the same young woman riding different horses.

Rainbows, RVs, and Remembering

After nearly 2 inches of rain we were rewarded with a complete rainbow that would have taken 5 wide angle cameras taped together to photograph. Of course, by the time I saw it it was fading but still had better color than this photo would suggest.

OK, we have been active beyond chasing rainbows. This week is the Tampa RV show and of course I broke my promise and went anyway. Hundreds of  RV dealers, suppliers of bells and whistles, and RV resort reps, (with hundreds of RVs) were there with order pads, financing agreements and prices you could get if you ready to deal. We survived aside from paying way too much for food, walking far more than we should, and driving in Tampa-St. Pete.

The day was capped with dinner at the home of a fellow from my hometown, Fox River Grove, Illinois. So around a rather excellent pork tenderloin and a moderate amount of wine, we recalled the old times, for the benefit of our wives, and it was all true, give or take a lie or two (reference the movie Sunset). The following day it rained and was about 50 degrees. I cannot wait for winter to end. Today it is sunny and 60, maybe winter has ended.

Fort Island

White Pelican

What bird made that track?

A Vista

The Gulf Coast in this area is shallow water with a generous amount of marsh, swamp, rivers, and other things that interfere with development for the "maker" class. One aspect of this type of coast are roads that run toward the water and then for an obvious reason stop (bottom photo, beyond the small island the next land mass is probably South America). The road to Fort Island is one of these. This, like others, has a small park and a boat ramp. Since the area is "undeveloped" wildlife is often present and it is prudent to pay attention (middle photo, the smaller tracks are about 1 inch by 1 inch).

The top photo is a white pelican sitting on one of about eight smaller commercial fishing boats. This is at Shrimp Landing where we got a pound fresh for shrimps and grits one of nature's most perfect foods.

Cedar Key

Waccasassa Bay

 Cedar Key is part of what the people, who want you to spend your money, call "old Florida." This sort of means a lack of high rise condos blocking the ocean and Ron Jon Surf Shop. Old Florida is delightful, if too often dilapidated, 19th-century architecture between, if not containing, bait shops, shrines to the one true religion of the area, fishing. The waterfront street has the T-shirt shop, the fishing pier (guarded the the fellow in the lower photo), restaurants, and the boat launch. Two blocks inland is the main business street with wonderful old buildings, a couple of nice artist co-ops, and friendly cats.


As is obvious from the upper photo all the best birds flock here and live in harmony upon whatever that once was. As they say, there is something for everyone. The real estate office had a listing in the window for a private island (cost, a tad under a million). Get it now when you can enjoy it, in a few decades it will probably be a reef.

Right place right time

c.1850 coastal cargo scow

We were wandering to find water access points for our boat and at Crystal River State Park we saw what appeared to be a ship's carpenter nightmare (top photo). It looked like a sailing barge that would function as a party platform. Anyway, a fellow yells to me across the river and asked if we wanted to meet the fellows that built it. So we drive around.

Seems it is a reproduction of a common coastal craft pre-Civil War. It is flat bottomed and has lee-boards and could carry a respectable weight in cargo. The builders, a club, have sailed it on the Gulf of Mexico. It was constructed entirely in the historical manner including ripping the planks. No fancy fasteners. Within the next couple of years it will be a display on land as the worms and other destructive forces are at work. It is a wonderful example of testing historical materials and techniques and life-expectancy of material culture.

common pram

In the shop, pictured below, the crew is modeling other "working" boats including a small river stern-wheeler and a "mullet" boat c.1905. (This is on a table just outside the shed on the left of the photo.) Eventually they hope to build a working replica.

This seems to have the informal support of the park staff and archaeologists working in the area.

outdoor shop

FLOOR-DA

We have arrived, so to speak. As proof, here is a palm tree. I think that a palm tree is about as Florida as you can get. I included Denise to prove we are here. G&Ts are appropriate adult beverages as it is around 70 degrees (ON JANUARY FIRST)!!!!!

Tomorrow is predicted to be 77 and the next day above 80 so, the next time you consider retirement, keep this in mind.