Keeping watch....

My upstairs neighbor, Randy, posted this photo of an eagle perched on the roof edge not far from his porch. Someone mentioned that these birds look a bit messy before they get new feathers for the winter months. I feel sorry for this guy looking less than majestic...

I’m back, baby, I’m back!

Spoken like George Costanza, it seems my good health is returning to me, at long last. Yesterday I coaxed myself to go outside and float around in the pool since it had been a couple days since my last ‘event’ and my bones were begging to be floating. It was nearly miraculous, the curative effect of the sun and warm water, and talking to people.

One negative was that the adults’ pool was on the fritz, in fact, they all were, but the handyman was busy cleaning it up. I was glad I was not out there the day before!!! What it turned out to be was the pumps have failed so no water was being filtered. The cabana lady came out to discover the water had turned almost brown since the day before (it does happen quickly) mostly from no filtering plus being littered with leaves and residue from the two late storms Friday and Saturday. He had shocked it and was using a device to vacuum the bottom of the pool. We used the teens’ pool instead, which was fine with me.

The cabana lady, Sylvia, wondered where I had been and when I explained, and ordered a Diet Coke in decaf, she said, “Now I know you’re sick!” I assured her I was probably better but would not be dining with her today. One of my newer acquaintances at the pool, Lee, came out after not being around for over a week. She is new to the area so we had lots to talk about. Lee is in need of a handyman at her place so I gave her some names and numbers, plus told her about my wonderful massage therapist and about where to get a pedicure on Fleming Island.

She is also an artist so I am going to make plans with her to go visit Great Hang Ups some day. Lee is a single lady, just bought a home not far from The Club, but off the property. Another artist friend, Melissa, came out to the pool, too, so we three ladies talked about art a bit, which intrigued Lee. It will be nice if she becomes involved and gets to know more people around Orange Park. Her sister lives in Mandarin which is whole ‘nother world so I accept the challenge of introducing her to goods and services around here, and Fleming Island!

Eventually we were able to move to the other pool as more and more folks came out to enjoy the day. Many were commenting about how terribly hot it was but you could not prove it by me. Or even Lee, for that matter. Being in the water made any excessive heat go away. For those who sat poolside, they were miserable from the heat but I was unaware. The lady to whom I loaned the DVD a few months ago, named Kay, returned it to me, saying she had been looking for me when she came but we missed each other. Her hubby is the one who reads while standing in the pool.

Kay, Lee, and I talked about books (yes, books again!) and how we are not on board yet with the Kindle or e-readers. Kay said she really likes the smell of new books (me, too!) but her kids gave her a Kindle as a gift so she is trying to learn to like it. We three ladies preferred new books, but Kay’s spouse gets his books at the Chamblain Book Mine, the place I took Lynn and Linda last time they were here. Kay was telling Lee about donating her used books, which she does not keep, generally speaking, to the women’s shelters in the area. I can fix Lee up with Penny from Quigley House for donating her books there rather than to Goodwill. Kay said that Goodwill will often sell books by the pound to the recyclers so no one gets to read them. I have to take her word on that, since I don’t know.

I made Lee laugh by telling her how Jessica, upstairs from me, calls my books “boring”. Lee reads fiction, has read “The Help”, the book which is all the rage, and went to see the movie already that weekend. Kay wants to see the movie, having grown up in that era and in that environment. She told us about how she had a black maid all her life, the same lady, Miss Maddie, I think she called her. Every meal she ate was prepared by Miss Maddie, but while they did not eat together, the maid was allowed to use the same dishes and the same bathroom, not like it was in the book. Miss Maddie was flown by Kay’s parents from Mississippi to attend Kay’s wedding, and was flown again to stay with Kay when she had her first baby! She was like family. I had never met anyone who was raised this way and it was amazing to hear this story from Kay. Makes reading the book and seeing the movie (hurry up, Lynn and Linda!!!) all the more enticing!