The Saturday Morning Post: Istachatta Florida

Sometime in the late 1950's my grandparents started spending at least part of the winter in Florida. In 1961 or 1962 they bought a very small house that had just been completed in the fishing and railroad village of Istachatta, Florida.  The house was just a living room, bedroom, kitchen, two covered porches, and an outhouse.  Yes, a new house in the early 1960's without an indoor bathroom.  

Within a couple of years they had a bathroom built, closing in a side porch to do so, and had a carport added on.  They enclosed the front porch with windows. And they spent about 15 winters there.  

Istachatta is on a nice river, and hosting visiting fishing parties was a major part of the very local economy.  Canals from the Gulf of Mexico were only about a 20 minute drive away, offering saltwater fishing for a change of pace.  My grandfather loved fishing (and hunting.) My grandmother enjoyed getting away from cold snowy winters.  They had some wonderful friends there, played a lot of cards. Television reception was terrible, and cable TV was not an option.  So they spent many evenings playing cards with friends, and reading newspapers.  

It was their winter escape.  It fit their personality.  My grandfather had grown up in poverty. The house in Istachatta was comfortable and inexpensive (they paid less than $5,000 for it.) The house filled their needs with little excess.  

My family visited there a couple of times, the first time in the 60's when I was a toddler,  the second time in January of 1972.  I took this photo on that trip, my mother and grandmother standing in front of the house. I was in middle school.  My brother and I stayed down the street with friends of theirs, a retired school teacher.  

There was a tiny local general store, and post office.  It was fun to walk over and buy a Coca Cola, and listen to the locals.  Passenger rail service had stopped running, freight came through between the store and the riverfront "fish camp."  

My grandmother (on the right in the photo above) spent one winter there after my grandfather died, then sold it, bought a larger home on the east coast near my parent's last home. She remarked when she bought the house near the space center, that she had owned four homes in her adult life, and it was the first one that had an indoor toilet when she bought it.  

I did a Google search, the house is still there.  It has new siding, and air conditioning. But not much else appears to have changed. It looks good, my grandparents would be pleased.   

100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Travel Experience: #16 Walk The Streets Before You Leave Home

Google has video taped millions of miles of streets and walkways. Going into street view allows me to virtually walk down the street in much of the western world. This is a remarkable tool, that has only been available for a couple of decades. Being able to do this on demand, was beyond the dreams of our parents.  

What am I looking for?  Traffic, parking, entrances and exits.  Restaurants, shops,  hotels, and attractions.  I can get a real feel for the place, long before I arrive there.  Knowledge of a few landmarks help me to navigate unfamiliar shores.  

The Thursday Ramble: Riding

I have vague memories of struggling to balance myself on  a bike, learning to ride on a tiny 20-inch childs bike. I remember thinking that getting half of me on each side was the key, then a fast roll down the slight slope of the gravel driveway and I realized that momentum is what keeps a bike upright.  

The little bike was bought for my sister to learn to ride on. Dad took the training wheels off when she started to ride well, and said it was too much trouble to put them back on when I was learning. He said I would get it soon enough, after a few spills on the gravel driveway.  Ultimately he was right, but I still thought it was cruel that she had the training wheels and I didn't.  

A couple of years later, a new full size bike came into my life.  It was ordered for my birthday, and Schwinn workers in Chicago went on strike and it was delayed.  It arrived a couple of months late, and it is red, instead of the blue I wanted.  I use "is" I still have it. It is old enough to be classified as an antique.  Air up the tires and it is still a joy to ride.   

My parents bought similar bikes for three of the four kids, I am the only one that somehow held onto mine.  When my middle brother and sister stopped riding theirs, my mother sold them. I insisted that I needed to keep mine.  It is secured in the storage room off the parking garage.  

When we started spending winters in Florida, I bought a ten-speed. The first one at K-Mart, and a couple of years later a much better one at a discount store that was going out of business.  I rode those back and forth to school in Florida, stored them in the summers they were not well suited to gravel roads in Michigan.  

After I moved to Orlando there was a long dry spell when I didn't ride much.  Then in my late 20's I lost a ton of weight, and started riding again.  After a while I bought a better 10-speed at a garage sale. 

A year or so later I bought a dream bike.  A Trek 1200 Aluminum.  At the time it was Trek's top of the line racing bike.  (The first Trek Carbon Fiber frame came out a few months later.) The Trek was built for speed. I remember shopping for a super fast bike, several bike shops tried to push me into something heavier and slower.  The shop I bought it from was honest, he said, "it is fast and can get away from you easily, work on it, build your skills, respect it and it will take you places you never thought you could go." He also taped his card and a quarter under the seat and said, if you get in trouble with it, call me and I will send someone to rescue you.  I never needed to make the call. I only laid it down once, a street that I thought was a through street that came to an end faster than I could stop. 

That bike took me to the nation sprint triathlon championships in 1989.  I passed Mike Pigg on the bike course.  I finished in the top 1/3rd of the field.  I was glad to be there, passing one of the fastest in the sport was a bonus.   

It hangs on the terrace.  I should part with it, but I don't want to. My ramble down memory lane on this Thursday.  

My World of Wonders, aka The Wednesday Ws Last of July 24th

Where have I been? Not much of anyplace, home, the gym, the pool, the farmers market, the library, dropped a donation off at the local animal shelter, a walk in a park, Aldi, and out to lunch on King Street. 

Who have I talked with? My sweet bear, John from upstairs, the lifeguard at the pool, my old office mates (a Zoom board meeting last week.) 

HoW is everyone doing?  My sister is recovering well.  Sweet Bear's oldest brother had open heart surgery last week and post op complications.  It is going to be a rough recovery, he is 83. 

What have I read? 32 Yolks, The Ideas that Made America. When I finish the current stack from the library, I will have read 50 books, my goal for 2024. 

What am I watching?  The Tour De France finished on Sunday, the Olympics start next weekend.  The Indy Car Race from Toronto (we will be in Toronto in August of 2025.) On YouTube: Billy at the Convent, an amazing renovation, Glen and Friends cooking, Photo Dude, Dude's best friend, and an remarkable expat in Japan. So far as broadcast television, the CBS Sunday Morning Show and 60-Minutes are about it.  

What am I listening to? Saturday afternoon, the sounds of silence.  I went to the pool, in a light rain. About ten minutes into 30 minutes of swimming laps, the power went out.  I heard it go, come back on, and go out again. Then it got quiet, really quiet.  I came back the house and had a hard time taking a nap, it was so quiet.  The power was out about an hour. 

Where am I going?  Chicago soon. 

What did I learn this week? The development of American English was intentional, an effort to create a unique identity though changes in spelling, definition and word usage.  We use the spelling, tires instead of tyres, color instead of colour, because of an intentional effort to create American English.  We say someone is in "the hospital" instead of someone is "in hospital" because of a difference in defining what article of speech "hospital" is.  Confusingly we have "ice cream," instead of "an ice cream." In a music or theater performance, we have an "intermission", as a break between parts of the show, instead of an "interval" a word we use to define a period of time. All of this is the result of an intentional effort by intellectuals in the late 1700's and early 1800's in North America, to define differences unique to the Americas. 

What is the strangest thing I have done this week?  Swimming in the rain. It wasn't raining when I went to the pool, a few minutes in, it started to rain.  I thought, oh my, I will get wet!!!!! It was actually very pleasant, the water is warm, maybe even warmer than the weather. 

What fun have I had in the kitchen? I made a peach pie, fresh peaches from the farmers market, Mary Berry's sweet crust pastry, a glaze made with a chopped peach, brandy, sugar and cornstarch. It set wonderfully, and the pastry is some of the best I have ever made. 

Time Travel Tuesday: A cooler day, January 3rd 2022

This was a very heavy wet snow, and many trees were damaged or destroyed by the weight. 

My little VW Convertible 

 

KAMALA! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

An Oldie, but A Goodie 

Monday Mood: Bit Shocked

A source told me early on Sunday that VP Harris was screening possible candidates for Vice President, then in the pool Sunday afternoon a neighbor broke the news to me that President Biden had withdrawn. 

It is a shock, but not a surprise.  His debate performance was abysmal, but then he has never been a strong public speaker.  There has been a lot of pressure on him to step aside. 

I worry that a dedicated public servant has been publicly hounded into retirement. The press and leaders in the Democratic party have been increasingly putting the pressure on him to withdraw.  I worry that the concern is ageist and not based on ability.  Older adults are often perceived as being less capable, just because of how we look and sound. Joe has never hidden his age, no fake hair, to spray tan, what you see is who he is.  But looks are not what get the job done. 

I Thank President Biden for his decades of public service, and wish him well.  I expect he will be a strong campaigner for the selected candidate.  

As John said in the pool Sunday afternoon, I would vote for Mickey Mouse if he was running against HeWhoShallNotBeNamed.     

The Sunday Five: Local Landmarks

1: What local institutions are you a member of? 

2: How much does it cost to enter local museums? 

3: Have you booked admission to a museum on your phone? 

4: Should there be more public support of museums and local landmarks? 

5: When was the last time you visited a museum or local landmark? 

My Answers:

1: What local institutions are you a member of? Mt. Vernon, and the Smithsonian 

2: How much does it cost to enter local museums?  The Smithsonian museums are all free, Mt Vernon is about $30 - I have guest passes if you are in the area and want to see Mt Vernon. 

3: Have you booked admission to a museum on your phone? Yes, I really don't like it, but I have done it. 

4: Should there be more public support of museums and local landmarks? Yes, the National Park Service especially struggles to maintain local landmarks. 

5: When was the last time you visited a museum or local landmark? About three weeks, it has been rather hot. 

Please share your answers in the comments.