Issue 17
Sandy Toes Diary 17
"These are the days of miracles and wonders..." Paul Simon.
Dear Friends and Family,
The snow that fell here on Christmas Eve was called a miracle. It thrilled and brought joy to so many Texans. The tsunami that struck the next day left so much tragedy in its wake. It made people wonder how God could let that happen. The longer I live the more I am amazed at the powerful force that existence is.
An interesting effect of our miracle snow was the fact that it killed all the Tilapia fish in our pond. Within a few days we had hundreds of dead fish floating on our little lake. Our neighbor, Norm, put on his waders and started the daunting task of scooping them out by the trash bag full but then the local pelicans came to save the day. To them it was a free sushi bar, and to us, it was an opportunity to watch pelican life up close and personal. We had nine very fat pelicans eating and sleeping, day and night, for about a week right under our noses, which saved our noses. They gulped down (literally) every one of those big, dead fish. (See pelican pictures). I found it fascinating and also a little unappetizing.
The day after Christmas our good friend Cathy came from Cleveland to visit for two weeks. Even though she cheers for snow storms and is a big fan of cold weather, (plans to move to Alaska some day), she was able to enjoy our 70 degree days and took many walks on the beach and collected her share of seashells. She wove some tiny shells into a necklace for me, which I just love to wear. For future reference, this is basically how we entertain people: we give you a bucket and send you to the beach. That’s really all there is to do here. Ask the Palmers, who sat in our garage and waved at people driving by for entertainment. But people always seem to look pretty relaxed by the end of their stay. (See happy cathy picture).
The play, “Cheatin”, that Doug and I were involved in ended January 22 after 12 fabulous shows that were sold out. The critics raved and the cast had a good time. Of course in this town, the farting man from the Moulin Rouge would be sold out also. I have attached some photos so you can see what you missed.
After the play ended I sat down and shoveled through my file box full of statements and receipts in order to get my QuickBooks program reconciled for the year so we could do our taxes. This is the current side order of “big dead fish” on my plate, which I have almost finished chocking down. Ugh. (Again, see pelican pictures)
To keep things interesting I decided to visit the beauty shop and I am now officially a blond (see photo), and yes, blonds do have more fun. No blond jokes pleeeeze!
For those of you who are following our budding writing careers, take heart, there will be more installments of chapters in both books, but probably not until after July. We are signed up to attend a weeklong writing workshop in a desolate cabin in Utah to hopefully improve and wrap up our novels. I am already rewriting like crazy as I learn more from every chapter I am reading of “How To Write A Damn Good Novel”.
Here's a holiday you don't celebrate in Cleveland. Yesterday, March 2, was Texas’s Independence Day. On that day in 1836 they declared their independence from Mexico and became a separate country, the Republic of Texas. Texas was a separate country before being annexed to the United States almost ten years later.
Bet you didn’t know that.
Construction has been booming in Port A and we are smack dab in the middle of it. I swear they save the loudest jobs for five in the morning. We are watching two major building projects taking shape. One is a souvenir shop going in next door to us. The good thing is that we won’t have far to walk to get our postcards and t-shirts. Behind us we are watching an amazingly speedy assemblage of a Days Inn. The good thing there is if you don’t like staying with us (Doug does get a little smelly), you can always move out and shlep your luggage down the road to the motel.
Molly is whining and desperately wants to go for her daily trip to the beach to shove her nose in the latest flotsam and jetsam that has washed up with the tide. Speaking of desperate, I have become a rabid fan of “Boston Legal”. “What’s my name? Denny Crane!” Love it? If so, let me hear from you.
All my best, and Doug’s best too,
Janis