Postings from Paradise

Monday, October 11, 2010
Hi Everybody,

As you may already know, I have recently returned from a two-week African Safari. My trip was through Road Scholar (used to be Elderhostel). I traveled with my friend Peggy from Maryland.

We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya after two long plane rides from the DC area. We spent a whole day there, visiting the estate of Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa; and visiting a giraffe center.

Then we traveled south to Amboseli National Park. There we started our routine of getting up before dawn for are first game drive of the day. Another game drive usually happened around 4 pm until sunset around 6pm. At this location we stayed at Kilima Safari Camp. The cabins had 3 sides of canvas but also an attached beautiful and spacious solid sided bathroom.

After 2 nights there we traveled on some rugged roads across the border into Tanzania and on to Ngorongoro crater. We stayed at a beautiful lodge on the rim of the crater. We spent the whole next day observing the animals on the floor of the crater.

Next we moved on to the Serengeti. We had 3 nights there with twice daily game drives and plenty of wildlife in and around the lodge built among the rocks. Once I encountered a large male baboon who walked right into the bar. Another, braver, woman scared him out.

Next we crossed back into Kenya and then boarded small planes to fly to the Masai Mara Park. This was a much lusher location than we had seen so far. Our "camp" was right on a river. We stayed in deluxe tents with attached bathrooms. The highlight here was a hot air balloon ride over the park followed by a champaign breakfast. We could sit on the porch area outside our tent and watch wildlife across the river. Three nights there and then a small plane flight back to Nairobi. There we finalized our shopping and got cleaned up for the long flights home.

The experience was everything I expected and more. It was stupendous! I'd recommend it highly to everyone.

The following link will bring you to a selection of my photos from Africa. http://picasaweb.google.com/109882005079885791491/BestOfAfrica?feat=directlink Good luck, Janet

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Hi Gang,

Last Sunday was amazing! It started at 6:30 am. That's when I got up to go watch the sun rise. I grabbed a chair and my keys and headed across the street to the beach. There were a few scattered folks out already and a group down the beach a ways. I set up my chair close to the surf and waited. At 7:10 the big red fiery ball came up just beside the the airport control tower. It was beautiful. (Most of the group that had gathered left at 7. A few hung out for the actual event.)

Later I attended the UU fellowship service and a nice social after wards. While there I got invited to a private party by a lady I know from church choir. (She and her guy came to the dinner at my house.) Anyway, it turned out to be extraordinary. First of all it was held in the garden at a Victorian guest house....brick pavers, grape vine arbor, tropical foliage everywhere. There was all kinds of wonderful food and drink. But the best part was that it was a gathering of musicians. They just circled up (right next to me) and played and sang. Mostly blue grass, some Cajun, some kinda country stuff with guitars, mandolins, fiddles and two big basses. There was a guy who played an acoustical steel guitar from the 30's. It was amazing. So much fun.

As if all that weren't enough, back at home I was watching TV about 10 pm and there was a knock on my door. It was my neighbors directly downstairs from me. They are snow birds who are going back to Ontario at the end of the week. They brought me a beautiful flowering plant to thank me for being such a good neighbor. What did I do to deserve such fine treatment? I was quiet! They didn't hear me at all. I never tried to be quiet. I just kind of schlep around. (My neighbor upstairs is noisy. Must be something about that flooring. Very thumpy.) Anyhow I was flabbergasted! And the plant is a desert rose, the very plant I was wishing I had.

So...between the beautiful sunrise from the beach, the very cool party and a lovely gift from some people I barely know for basically doing nothing.........it was an extraordinary day.

What's going on with you?
Janet

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
This email has been a long time coming. I've been busy with singing and church and home improvement. The guys are basically finishing with completely redoing my master bath and replacing the flooring in both bedrooms. It has taken a while with storms and other jobs intervening. I ordered the wrong shower doors so we are still awaiting the replacements. That's the last thing they need to do for me. It's getting better but I was suffering from "contractor fatigue" there for a while. You know -- how tired you get of the noise and dust, and getting up early to be dressed before they show up, and worrying if it's going to turn out all right, and writing the big checks.

The fall color I was going to tell you about was a spectacular sunset I saw in September. I had driven up to Miami Beach to see Aimee. She had flown down for a long weekend with girlfriends. I just stayed one night. It was fun to see her but the drive out of Miami during Friday night rush hour traffic was horrendous. I stopped at the Marriott resort in Key Largo for dinner. They have a restaurant that has patio seating over looking the bay. This was my reward for enduring the drive. The food was terrific (soup, shrimp cocktail and dessert) and the sunset was incredible. It was pretty when the sun went down, but it kept getting better and better for another half hour after that. And, as if that weren't enough, a dolphin swam lazily by just off the pier. Really. It was all so energizing that I didn't mind so much that I still had two more hours to drive. I took some pictures and will attach one.

So tell me about your fall. I'd love to see the fall colors in your part of the country.

One more story... Last night I went to my voice class. I was frustrated because I didn't get to sing the pieces that I wanted to. (I'm auditioning for some solo parts for the chorus tonight and wanted to try them out in the class.) So I packed up to leave at the end of the class and walked out without my water bottle so I went back in a got it and stayed to hear one of the class members practice her song. Then I went down and got in the car and realized I'd left the water bottle again. So I grabbed my car keys, got out and closed the door and was going to go back up to the classroom again, when I realized the car was moving! I had taken the car out of gear and now it was rolling backwards. Of course I couldn't stop it and I had locked the door! So as the car is rolling I'm unlocking and opening the door and throwing my self inside and finally stepping on the brake. Fortunately there was not much of a grade and the front wheels where turned at a sharp angle so the car was backing into the drive (not the Gulf of Mexico). It had only traveled maybe 10 or 15 feet. But it was pretty exciting, scarey even. After taking a few minutes to recover I drove on home -- screw the water bottle -- to a big glass of wine.

There's more to tell but I'll leave it for another time.
Janet


Thursday, September 11, 2008

Hi gang,
Got the word (from the weather channel) on Tuesday evening that residents could come back on Wednesday. So we were packed up and on the road by 7:15 AM. My nephew and his wife were so sweet. It was fun to hang out with them. They have a cute cottage in resort area on Siesta Key in Sarasota. And the cats were really well behaved. But I was ready to go home.

It was eight hours home with minimal stops. There was some heavy rain at the beginning that slowed us down some. Then I almost ran out of gas in the middle of the Everglades. So I slowed down to 55 until I could fill up. Then when I got to Key West they had my road blocked off just past the airport. It was still pretty windy and spray was coming up over the breakwater and onto the road. So I went around the other way and there was a police blockade there, too. They were cleaning the sand and seaweed off the pavement. I told the officer where I lived and he let me through. The furry ones and I could not wait to get out of the car. We were so tired. I was in bed just after 9.

So today I took the bikes back outside and the furniture back on the balcony. And cleaned up. I still need to go get groceries to replace the ones I had to throw out before I left. Then I can take up where I left off.

The beach is trashed again with lots and lots of seaweed. The difference this time is the addition of a lot of recently living coral. Very sad to see. The current and/or wind direction must have been different from the last tropical storm. But they are working to clean everything up. Only 6 weeks of hurricane season left...

Stay tuned,
Janet

Saturday, September 6, 2008

So, they've call for an emergency evacuation of all the Keys. They don't tell you where to go. You are on your own. I kind of panicked for a while knowing it would be very difficult to get a motel room. Then I remembered a nephew in the Tampa area. I called him and he graciously said he'd take me and my kitties in.

I'm watching the 11 am update on Ike's progress. The news is improving for us. The models have it moving over Cuba. But they never know for sure. Residents of Key West are supposed to leave at 8 am tomorrow. My plan is to leave in the wee hours in the morning so I can beat the traffic. We'll see.

More later,
Janet

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Hi everybody,
So Gustav is pretty much history. But while he was plowing across the Gulf of Mexico we got the outer bands which produced scarier winds and wilder waves than Fay. They are still cleaning up the sea weed washed ashore. It was a foot deep over the entire beach. They had to scrape it up in big piles like snow in shopping center parking lots and then load it up and haul it off.

So... my friends in the Carolinas and mid Atlantic, Ms Hanna is heading your way very soon. She hasn't affected us. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

Next, is the scariest one so far...Ike. Already a category 4 hurricane, the projected path has him barrelling into Miami about Tuesday. Of course, a lot can happen between now and then, but not looking good right now. Then they don't seem too worried about Josephine. Seems she's going to wander north into more open water.

So, in the meantime, I try not to worry until I have to. And I check in to the weather channel a couple of times a day. (That will increase as Ike threatens.) September is peak hurricane season. Only a few more weeks...?

Other news:
The bathroom project is proceeding. They've torn out everything in the master bath. The cats are frustrated because the door is closed so they can't wander between the walls and peer down the hole to the neighbor's below. We're waiting for a plumber to upgrade and move connections, etc. I've spent several hours pulling 1 inch green glass tiles off the backing and gluing in turqoise ones to make a wave pattern. I don't think the whole thing will take too long once they get going, but then things always happen. So now I'm using the guest bathroom and getting some wild ideas about how I'll decorate in there. Nothing major, just paint and accessories. And there's other paint and fabric projects for the livingroom, too.

I went walking on the beach tonight. With most of the seaweed gone, the weddings are happening again. There seems to be one or two almost every night. On Aug 8 (8/8/08) I saw 3 weddings before 9 AM! I like to go down to connect to the ocean and sand and it's at least a little exercise. Tonight I saw the single lady who lives next door to me (on one side) out running. She's trying to stay fit to ward off any more breast cancer. The father of four who lives next door on the other side was out with his brood all on wheels going down the broad sidewalk that borders the beach. Lots of people use it on a regular basis, running, walking, biking, rollerblading, pushing baby carriages and exercising dogs. One night there was the cutest little hispanic toddler with her mother at the water's edge. The little girl was scampering in and out of the shallows, her onesy unsnapped at the bottom and wet to the waist. "Agua" she exclaimed over and over. As I passed she looked at me and pointed to the water and told me "agua". Her mother laughed but I understood.

What else...I'm getting to know some folks at the UU Fellowship (Unitarian Universalist). I'm going to join on Sunday. They only have 43 members so one more can make a difference. And they have a lot of interesting stuff going on. And I've started up with the Keys Chorale, a mixed chorus that meets as a class at the community college. They have an ambitious program of holiday music we've started on for a concert in December. It includes Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" and the first soprano part spends a lot of time at or above the top of the staff. I need to remember to take water next time to soothe my poor vocal cords. One of the other pieces is an old Karen Carpenter song, "Merry Christmas Darling" arranged by our director. Again, the people are friendly and welcoming.

OK, enough for now. I have to send this out in batches. My Yahoo program won't let me send it to my old categories like it used to. Anybody else have that problem?

Stay safe,
Janet


Friday, August 15, 2008

Hi Everybody,
Don't get too excited. They don't expect tropical storm Fay to even turn into a hurricane. But it is kinda heading this way. Just this afternoon the ground winds around her got high enough to be classified as a tropical storm. So maybe tomorrow I'll fill up the gas tank in my car and make sure my phone is charged up. I've got water and flashlights and food. I'm not too worried.

But for sure tomorrow morning I'm going to get trained to be a poll worker for the primary elections in a couple of weeks and also the election in November. They asked me when I got my driver's license if I wanted to be a poll worker and I said "Sure." It should be interesting. Imagine...working a presidential election in Florida!

So, the last update was a month ago. In the meantime I've been on a real roller coaster ride. There were crises with the washer and one airconditioner breaking down. Each of the teenagers had their own crisis. There was a very serious deal with the cats. I didn't always handle these things well, but we got through each of those. The high point was watching Aimee graduate from her Air Force officer's training in Montgomery, Alabama. And I have to admit it was a relief to have my place to myself afterwards to finish up the unpacking.

Now all the boxes are gone, the art is up and the great room is looking pretty good. My contractor guy put up new fans in the living room and master bedroom. They look better and have lights. He also put up a cool pendant light in the dining area. And, my favorite thing, he put together a sturdy hammock swing frame I bought on line. It is very cool to sit in it on the balcony and relax and watch the ocean.

Yesterday I went out to the Community College and signed up for a Mixed Community Chorus. (It meets from 7 to 10 pm on Tuesdays!) And a class on Tu/Th called Yogalates. I can't get in-state tuition for a year and there are no breaks for old people so that was enough. I've been going to the Unitarian Universalist church and have attended a couple of events already at the Studios of Key West. So I'm worming my way into the community.

The master bathroom is in pretty poor shape so we have plans to completely gut it and replace everything but the toilet. I did a lot of research on line and got some of the materials there and some from Home Depot. There will be a modern looking vanity on legs with a white stone top and a beautiful glass vessel sink. I'm getting a new, deeper bathtub and we'll tile the bath area with 1" green glass tiles. The plan is to use a few turquoise tiles to make a wave design. There's a new light fixture, new mirror and cabinet, new faucets, shower head. The floor will be bamboo design vinyl plank tiles. I'm still waiting for the bi-fold tub doors to arrive. Most of the materials are stacked in the guest room. I think they'll get started next week tearing out the old stuff. I think it will be gorgeous. After that is done they will pull out the carpet in the bedrooms and put the same bamboo design flooring down in those two rooms. Then I'll just about be ready for guests!

OK, I'm going to quit now and watch the Olympics. I'm worn out from staying up late every night to see stuff live. But, hey, it's only every four years.

Your southernmost friend,
Janet