It was a week well spent..............Florida's panhandle, deep white sand, nice temps, clear water, lots of sun. What's not to like?
It was far too short having left last Monday. At 53 I am still in need of a 72 hour decompression mode. Nothing changes with age there.
Observations for the week are many and varied. Sand crabs were non-existant. I need to research why they are gone. Porpoises were around in record numbers. So were sharks. I saw for the first time in my life, having spent a lot of time in the water in Southern California a big shark coming in on a wave chasing a "prey" fish at a rate of speed I couldn't even imagine. Like the speed of light that predator was. Truly shivering to see how fast that big primordial piece of killing machinery moved.
Americans are not getting any smaller at the beach. For the hundreds of millions of dollars of low-fat, non-fat, diet fare sold in grocery stores it isn't happening. And those of us without tats are in the minority. I still can't figure that out. Maybe I'm just plain dull when it comes to body art. Speaking of art, I had a great time reading about the life of Leonardo de Vinci this week. His early work with sculpture and his great record-keeping while cutting and learning anatomy on dead criminals probably didn't make the Mona Lisa look any sexier but I came away with such a great appreciation for his work and the use of color. It was only a mere 500 years ago that he was at his zenith.
Just when you think real estate prices can't go any higher at the beaches in Florida you see a large number of "For Sale by Owner" signs. Folks who have sky high price tags who can well afford to sit for a few more years to get their price while at the same time State Farm announces they are cutting back on hurricane insurance for another 50,000 Florida residents.
Beach food is spotty. The trendy, high-dollar places that offered spectacular cuisine a few years ago are now just high-dollar affairs. Nothing stood out for me. They reduce themselves to simply "Shoney's at the Beach" because you can't keep the tourists away who are willing to pay big bucks to eat the the older "trendy" eateries. I need to do more work on finding great food and service. And I am tired of tipping for non-existent service. Future waiters and waitresses of mine, beware. I can and will be paying for what I get or don't get. My money tree for service just got a whole lot more difficult to water.
It was far too short and that needs to change next year.
Time waits for none of us. And like the ebb and flow of the tide action, Mr. Market looks to make a splash this week. Let's hope we are on the right side of the action.
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