Last Wednesday

This Wednesday
I survived the trip into the city, more about that later, and so far it's only rain, which is better than the snow it should be turning into overnight. I used the shoulder strap on the laptop bag, and my arms don't feel worse than yesterday (yet), although my back is not sure I made the right choice. I wonder how all the parts will feel in the morning?

Last Wednesday
After breakfast, and a splash in the pool, we went out, ran a few errands, had lunch, and then drove over to Everglades City for the boat ride that we enjoy so. (As, for instance, in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016...) So, these photos may seem familiar, just saying. This time, there were only two other passengers, so that was a fun difference from usual.

Cormorant (or possibly anhinga), drying his wings.

Birds on the rocks.

Sparkles on the water.

Bird overhead.

Fin in the water. The good kind.

There, to the left.

Bird on the sign.

More sparkles.

Here comes the popular bird spot.

They love it.

Lots of white pelicans, and apparently just the one cormorant. Or anhinga.

Who kind of looks...

Like he's preaching to them.

While they ignore him.

One of them is tagged! Don't remember noticing that before.

This little island/tree has an interesting water area around it.

Almost like it's dammed off.

Looking back at it.

See what I mean?

As the sun sinks, slowly...

Jumping mackerel!

And another fin.

The birds are on that tree branch again.

And the dolphin followed the boat!

Wait for it...

Closer...

Wait for it...

There he is!

So elegant.

It was, as usual, a very nice ride.

Also on Wednesday, octopus progress was made. Legs now joined.

Next stop, connect body to pouch. But not today!

Last Tuesday

This Tuesday
My arms are still sore from shoveling/clearing the car yesterday, on top of the same on Sunday, on top of carrying luggage on Saturday, but they aren't quite as bad as yesterday, so I don't think I've done any real damage. They're more move-ow, whereas yesterday was move-OW!-fight back tears of pain. I am taking tonight off from swimming, though, just to give it more of a rest (and I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, when I have to go into the city, which means carrying the laptop around, but sufficient unto the day, etc.).

Meanwhile, seeing the sun today was very nice! Two days of gloom and snow, on top of the physical pain, was not good for my morale.

Last Tuesday 
I learned that as well as missing some snow and the Patriots' parade, I was far away when the Bruins fired their coach* (they had the press conference during the parade; tacky optics, guys). I think it's a shame, but hey, it felt inevitable, and we'll see what happens the rest of the year and over the summer. (They're 3-0 since then, but I think that may be at least partly from Shame Motivation.)
*And today, he was hired by arch-rival Montreal; way to twist the knife, man.

Meanwhile, following Perfect Breakfast Redux, we went for a beach walk that turned out to also be perfect. The weather was warm, but there was a good breeze, and the water pleasantly cool for walking in. There were tons of shells, and lots of birds to watch.

This gull was just hanging around in case the pelican had any leftovers it didn't want.

The pelican decided what it didn't want was the gull's company, and took off.

Maybe a little farther apart would work?

"They're such pests, gulls, don't you think?"

Then there was a flock of terns.

They always make me think of little old men, with tufts of hair sticking out.

I don't want to go out on the boat, but it's scenic, isn't it?

Such a beautiful view.

We stopped at one of the hotels to have a drink at their outdoor bar, and just sitting there, barefoot in the sun, well. Painful to think of it now. It was lovely.

And the haul.

Sadly, a couple of the fighting conch (the large ones from three to five o'clock in the photo) turned out to be too ... fragrant to keep. Yuck. Trust me. Meanwhile, look at the white piece at 11 o'clock, between the two big sunray venus ones; can you imagine the size of the whole shell that was part of? Possibly a channel whelk; that page says they grow up to eight inches. Whew.

Also on Tuesday, I reached the magic number of octopus arms. Legs. Tentacles?

Tuesday night we went out to have dinner with my mother's oldest friend, or rather longest-standing friend; that sounds better. Anyway, they met when they were two years old, and it was nice to get to see her again, as well as have a very good Italian dinner.

And on the way home, I saw a plate I had to try to photograph, despite the lighting challenges. See?

Got it better here. It's me, ccr!

And that was Tuesday.

Last Monday

I am trying to enjoy the memory of being in Florida last week, which is definitely a challenge now that I am back in snowachusetts*. But hey, it was great while it lasted!
*Blizzachusetts? Something.

My flight on Sunday had no problems, even an empty seat next to me (which makes such a difference to comfort), and my mother met me and took me to dinner. Outback was pretty dead, though I gathered there were more people on the other side, where there was a TV; apparently, we were of the few who didn't care about the Super Bowl. We did turn the TV on at home, when we wondered if the game was still on (to explain how very little traffic was going by), so we did see what happened. And I'm happy for my friends who are Patriots fans, though of course I didn't care a bit myself.

Monday I slept in, had the Platonic ideal breakfast (coffeecake, raspberries, fresh orange juice, on the lanai), and sat on the lanai knitting (an octopus for my mother, of course; as previously mentioned). We went for a late lunch, but the place was mobbed, so even at two, we had to wait half an hour for a table by the water. Aw, must I stand in the sun and wait? In a t-shirt, capris, and sandals? Dang.

There are almost always pelicans hanging out nearby.

And boats going by. The name made sense to me once I said it, though I didn't study Spanish: Serenidad

And then this one. Can't tell why I took the picture?

I believe the hockey stick as flag-holder indicated Canadians, eh?

Most unusually, and most unfortunately, my mother's chowder turned out to be bad, and she was under the weather the rest of the day. Given that she was also in the second week of a cold, this seemed very unfair! But fortunately, she felt better before bed, and a good night's sleep helped immensely. But that's Tuesday's story.

A Harsh Reality to Return To

Last week, while I was enjoying Florida (much more on that to come), there was some snow on Tuesday, vicious ice Wednesday morning, more snow on Thursday (around 10 inches in my area), and a few more inches overnight into Saturday.

I was originally due to return late Friday (as the fare to return Saturday was much higher), but due to Thursday's forecast, the airline waived change fees, so I changed my return to Saturday afternoon. Which worked out well, both because I wasn't on a delayed flight Friday night that would have landed me home after midnight in the snow, and because I got a little extra time in Florida. My flight was in fact a little delayed (due to the plane having to wait its turn for de-icing in Boston), but they notified me before we had left for the airport, so we spent another hour on the lanai before leaving, and still had plenty of time for lunch. It all worked out well.

However. Today's storm, which is supposed to land us about another foot of snow, give or take, meant that I really had to go out today and get some of last week's snow off the car before it got further buried. The forecast doesn't care that my arms already ached from hauling my luggage yesterday. Nor that the sore muscle in my back, which had seemed to be healed after the vacation, turns out to still be strained (it was bothering me a bit before I left; I think I strained it swimming). Out to work on the car; back in to rest; out to do more. At which point I was in enough pain to be rethinking the idea of a run to the grocery store--would lifting the groceries be worth it?

Before I could decide for sure, someone got his car stuck blocking mine; I think he was trying to turn around in the end of our driveway, and it didn't work out well for him. His car kept stalling, and when he got it started, he couldn't get it moving. At various times, I looked out to see him putting oil in the car, and hooked up to jumper cables from another car, but he was there for over two hours, and in the end only got the car moved up to where I could probably get past him, if the car didn't slip on the snow. (And where he's going to impede our snow guy when he comes to plow us out; thanks, dude.)

Of course, before he got it that far I still hadn't decided if the pain of getting groceries was worth it. I won't starve for a few days, but I'd like to have milk and things. In the end, the pain in my arms was greater than the desire for milk. We'll see just how rotten tomorrow is.

Made It Through the Long, Long Week

Leaving class last night, one of the regulars wished me a good vacation, and I thanked her and added that I wished everyone could have a vacation. Don't we all deserve one? Wouldn't a week off out of every six or so be terribly civilized? I guess I already have it better than some, with 10 days of vacation, 5 sick/personal days, and 9 holidays a year, but that just doesn't feel like a lot, somehow.

Anyway! Taking some time off now! Part of me feels bad for this bit of gloating, but if I can't gloat on my own blog, where can I?

The weather here in MA next week, as forecast this morning:

And this morning's forecast for where I will be next week instead.

Warm. Sunny. Ahhh.