Mia Visits and Ulysses Arrives

I picked Mia up on Wednesday midday to begin her 6 day visit for the summer!  We took a nice walk in the afternoon and had lunch at Little Greece restaurant, which opened recently on 4th Street North.  We relaxed for the evening after getting back.  Mia had been wanting to see 'Once Upon A Time', so she found some online sites with full episodes.  Needless to say, she is hooked!  We watched seven episodes before going to bed!

On Thursday morning I picked Ulysses up at the airport.  [Note to self:  make sure you have each other's phone numbers!]  He's visiting to experience the St. Pete Pride celebration this weekend.  We had a full day, starting with a walking tour of Cofffee Pot Bayou and the Bay front.  Then headed back to the apartment to pick up Mia.  Lunch at the Moon Under Water, followed by gelato at Paciugo.  I'm getting out of practice, with not taking pictures.  Shame on me!  We dropped Ulysses off at his hotel, then all took naps in the afternoon.

We met Otto for dinner at the Queenshead for the Thursday special of fish and chips.  It was a fun time!  We were there almost 3 hours . . . lots of laughs and good food!  Agenda for today:  Sunset Beach!

Debby Does Florida

Tropical Storm Debby decided to just take her time to meander around the Gulf of Mexico.  We had a party to attend on Saturday night, so the guests remained inside for most of the night, instead of hanging around the pool.

On Sunday afternoon, we had a "garden party" to attend.  But Debby decided to make her presence known with lots of rain and wind all day.  This first photo is of Wayne's backyard.  No lack of water in that pool!

This is John's backyard.  Note the absence of guests and the water right up to the brim.

There was a lot of flooding.  Many roads closed, and on Monday, bridges closed too because of the high water and wind gusts.

This shot is of the North Shore Beach, a short 5 minute walk from my apartment.  Monday was mostly sunny with a lot of wind.  On Tuesday, I walked along Tampa Bay, from Vinoy Park, downtown, up to Coffee Pot Bayou.

I don't remember seeing this lake before!  It's usually empty of water, put there for just this reason.

The docks are almost covered.

No one playing volleyball today!

Not usually waves here like this.

What beach???

North Shore Park

I usually take my walks along this sidewalk.  This is looking north.

The bridge to Snell Isle.

Coffee Pot Bayou and Coffee Pot Blvd.

Looking east, back towards the Bay.

High waters along Snell Isle.

Saw one tree down.  Apparently, Debby is hanging around for a couple more days.  Mostly with winds now.  Please go away!  St. Pete Pride celebration is coming up this weekend, and hopefully, all will be sunny!!!

Happy Father's Day!

What makes me a Daddy / Dad / G-Pa:

And pictures and good wishes posted to face book:

------- by Adele

------- by Gina

And by Mia!


And it all makes me happy!

A Whiff Brings a Memory from Long Ago

On my walk this morning along Tampa Bay, as two guys passed by me, I caught a whiff of what smelled like Borkum Riff tobacco.  It brought me back to the summer of 1966.  After I graduated from high school, I had a summer job as a stock boy at Hall's Drug Store at Westgate Shopping Center.  (40 hours/week.  $60 gross, $48 after taxes)  Once a week we would unload incoming stock from a big tractor trailer.  After taking inventory, we would distribute the items to the shelves in the store, with extra placed in the storage room.

When stocking the tobacco counter, I always loved the smell of this pipe tobacco.  I didn't smoke, but this smelled sooooo good!  So, as I walked along today, I was thinking back on that summer.  It was lifetimes ago!

Then, that memory brought up tons of other memories, all flooding back in rapid succession.  It reminded me of something a counselor had once said, about memories being stored in "stacks" in our brain.  And that if a smell or a sight or a sound triggers a memory, all of the memories in that stack can surface.  That comment really hit home.  When I first started work after graduating from college, I was a computer systems analyst with a NY State agency.  Our mainframe computer was a Burroughs.  It's memory was arranged in 'stacks'.  I guess that's why the comment made sense to me.

So, as I walked on, various memories popped into my brain, all seemingly random.  My grandmother, in her kitchen, saying she had the blues because she was thinking of her mother.  Pulling into the driveway of my home of 31+ years.  My children as babies.  Plus what seemed like a myriad of other visions from the past.  Maybe someday I will write them all down.  But for now, I will enjoy the aroma of Borkum Riff in my memory.