Four days before this past Christmas, I went to my friend Alex’s memorial service. She died on December 17th after a three-and-a-half year battle with eye melanoma, and after living for two years longer than her doctors expected. A large hoop with ribbons dangling from it dazzled in the sunny doorway of the Glade Church, […]
The whole time I was in Cedar Key I felt like I was at the bottom of a snow globe. The birds flew up near the ceiling, and the clouds rolled across the width of it like snow falling and stacking. In the evening I sat at the edge of the bay’s shore where the […]
Two stand-up comics, two children, one poet performing to the Indigo Girls singing Bob Dylan on a boom box, and another reading while standing on a chair made for a wild night at the Café Del Sol’s Spoken Word Open Mic. A total of twelve performed to a full house. At one point Sally, the […]
1. Discipline 2. Isolation 3. Culture Clash 4. Air force 5. Off Duty Post note: All the above photos were taken during our recent vacation in Cedar Key, Florida. The last one is called the “honeymoon hotel” by the locals.
As of yesterday, my Asheville Potter son who loves the Red Sox is the proud owner of a green folder full of papers with lawyer “language” that says he owns 1.8 acres of land in Madison County, North Carolina. He bought the land from a man named Rob, an artist who appreciates Josh’s art, who […]
1. We left the white sandy beaches of Florida for a solid floor of ice and empty birdfeeders in Floyd. 2. Because Virginia falls somewhere in between being a southern and a northern state and our winter weather can’t decide whether to rain or snow, we are prone to have ice storms. 3. I can […]
In the past month I’ve been to two doctors and have had four drugs prescribed, all of which I have declined to take. A New Year brought a new array of symptoms on top of the ones related to Chronic Fatigue that I’ve been managing for years. The worst new symptom had me worried […]
Dear Goddess of the spreading starry skies … whose shawl is the northern lights … and whose shoes are the polar ice floes …. Lead us ever in circles … Don’t stop dancing with us … Should disastrous death try to cut in … like an asteroid tapping on your shoulder … keep whirling … […]
By the time we arrived in Manatee Springs, Florida, about an hour north of Cedar Key, the weather had changed and it was cold enough that I had to wear gloves to hold my camera. I couldn’t get a shot of the manatees because only their noses came out of the 70 degree crystal spring […]
“Little Mary Fagan went to town one day. She went to the pencil factory to get her little pay.” ~ Line from a ballad displayed at The Cedar Key Historical Museum. A Mary Fagan was listed on the Atensa Otie grave marker list from the late 1800s. The first thing we saw upon landing our […]
It was fun to have company over at the campground. Liz, Willow, and Gina drove by to scope out the place for a possible future family reunion site. Gina and Liz got hooked on the half-done puzzle that was spread out on a card table in the clubhouse. Joe and I ate breakfast in front […]
1. Most overheard words spoken by Colleen in Cedar Key: “That house could use a little pink paint.” 2. According to the placemat at the Seabreeze Restaurant, Cedar Key is known as “The Oasis in time.” According to the Cedar Key Historical Museum brochure, which I read on Valentine’s Day, there’s a small key near […]