Back to being cold for most of the day. A good day to relax in the morning and drink lots of hot tea while reading the comics. I did go out this afternoon and drive over to the closest state park. Wandered around their trails there for several hours watching the squirrels hunt for acorns and one armadillo looking for bugs in the leaf litter. Other wise it was just a nice hike of several hours, even if I did have to put a coat on to do it.
    Tonight has been pretty slow with me just working on some more photo's and sifting through a stack of magazines I want to finish up with and get rid of. I took a whole stack with me yesterday and left them in the laundry mat where I did my wash. It always seems like magazines there get a thorough look through, even though most of them are geared more for women than men. My popular mechanics and science magazines should appeal to all sexes I hope.
    I think it will be time to turn the space heaters on again this evening, but first I want to finish this up and then relax with a movie. Since I saw that Leonard Nimoy died today, maybe it will be one of the Star Trek flicks I have here in the trailer. Sorry to see he is gone.

Payne's Prairie State Park with Rima - January 2015

I continue to try and take a picture that really captures the feel of the sunlight through the Spanish Moss on the trees.... This one isn't quite it.

Neither is this one.... but it is getting closer.

Lots of water in the park right now. Was watching a NOVA show on PBS not long ago about sink holes around the world, and how they form. Florida has a lot of them because of it's underlying limestone layer. The program was interesting because it showed some scuba divers that were diving in this underground system while another person was on the surface above them tracking them with a special radio signal. Kinda freaked me out when it showed them in an underwater channel about 80 feet below a near by highway I drive on all the time and about 60 feet right under a big box retail store I know of.  

As long as there is sun out there are always alligators.

A nice Little Blue Heron.

Check out all the alligators, not only directly behind Rima but all of them on the far shore too.

Kind of creeps you out when you see them 'smiling' like this and realize that you are now back to being a part of the food chain.... and not the top spot either.

These two are maybe 9'-10' long.

A white egret and another 10 footer.

Thought I would experiment a little with this shot.

I think Rima kind of likes this kind of stuff.

Their skin texture is fascinating. It makes me wonder how they turn it into leather and use it to make things with.

This one is only 6 foot or so long. But he was sunning right beside the trail and kept waking up and freaking people out when he moved.

A nice Great Blue Heron.

A nice close up of his grin.

Nice teeth.

Nice teeth too. A lot cuter also.

They have a small herd of Woodland Bison in the Park. This is the first one I have ever seen and it was causing quite a stir. A neat thing to be able to see it, but I see hundreds of them nearly every year when I head back west, so it wasn't all that exciting to me.

brk*

    Much nicer today here in the heartland of Florida. It was still grey for most of the day, but it was nice and warm and quite a bit drier too. I'm grateful to be down here were there is no snow to shovel or where I have to wear coats and long pants and 'real' clothes. But I really feel for those friends of mine who are suffering through unbelievable amounts of snow and cold weather. I guess that is why I went over to the office here in the RV park today and paid up for another week.
    Since it was so much nicer today than yesterday I felt it was time to get out and take care of a few of those errands that have been put off for various reasons. On top of the list was one I normally don't care for much anyway, and since I am now living in a movable house I find particularly onerous. That being, doing my laundry. Lucky for me I have now been in this area of Florida long enough to actually know where a nice clean laundry mat is located. One with more washing machines that work than don't and which is reasonably clean and safe too. This one is in Ocala and it was were I spent several hours this afternoon washing, drying and folding several loads of clothes. In fact it made me feel so good to get that job done that I actually rewarded myself with a late lunch out at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Gainsville, La Tienda.
   One other errand to do after that was to do some grocery shopping for a few items. Didn't need a whole lot of food as I am actually trying to eat up a lot of the stuff I have in the trailer, including everything in the fridge and freezer. On the other hand, I still want a few fresh fruits and veggies to go with my canned tuna and chili. Unfortunately I forgot to take my list with me when I left earlier in the afternoon, so I managed to pick up everything on it except the one thing I really wanted, a jar of peanut butter. Maybe in a day of two I'll get back and pick some up.
   Just hung out in the trailer tonight watching a movie and reading some more of my book. Not sure what tomorrow will bring. I just hope it will stay clear, dry and warm for a couple of days.


brk*

   Kind of slow today. Woke up to a foggy, drizzly, grey morning. Perfect for reading the comics and doing crosswords, but enough weather that it really just made you want to stay inside reading a book and drinking tea. So that is pretty much what I did.
    I did work on some more photo's, so there are more to look at tonight. I am hoping it will be a bit nicer tomorrow as I still need to get a couple of loads of laundry done at some point, and it is always nicer to do that when you don't have to dodge around rain showers.
   So in the meantime; here are the last batch taken on our sail on the Roseway. They are also the last ones from our week long dance vacation on St Croix. I still miss being down there and am already looking forward to being there again next year.

St. Croix Contra Dance Week - February 2015

Evening Sail on the Schooner Roseway - Part II

Another view of some of the standing and running rigging on the boat.

Just me enjoying the breeze.

Heading back to the harbor as the sun is starting to go down.

My sister Cheryl and Mary enjoying the sunset.

Another picture of them enjoying the evening.

Not a great sunset..... but pretty darn nice anyway.

Rima enjoying the sunset also.

Another view of her and the passing scenery.

The crew is starting to bring in the sails. They are all volunteers that sign on for a couple of months too a couple of years. They pretty much run the boat along with the captain, and also help during the day when they may have 30-40 local middle school kids on board for a day of school instruction at sea.

 

A moment to reflect.

The old fort in Christiansted as we come back to the dock.

Last view of the boat.

brk*

   Very quiet here these past two days. The weather has been pretty good, upper 70's for the most part, with a rain shower or two at night, but now that my case of introvertism has passed I am a little bit bored and once again wanting to dance and talk to people.
    So I spent yesterday out and about in Ocala running errands. The only one of any consequence was getting the oil changed in the truck finally. They were busy so it meant spending a couple of hours just roaming the aisles of Wally World but that was okay.
   Also stopped by the local hobby shop later to pick up the latest issue of Model Railroader magazine and then on to the local Tractor Supply store for the newest issue of Chicken magazine.
    So I have spent the last two night reading books and magazines and watching old Andy Griffith shows on the computer. But that isn't the only thing. One good thing about having some down time is that I finally got the last pictures from the St Croix week cropped and ready to go. There will be two batches of them to be posted with the first 15 going tonight. They are all from our evening sail on the Schooner Roseway near the end of our stay there on the island. We had a good time, even Rima, who suffers from chronic motion sickness. But with a seasick patch and an ocean that was nearly flat even she had a good time.

St Croix Contra Dance Week - February 2015

Schooner Roseway Sail - Part I  

Getting ready to board the first thing you notice is the bowsprit.

I seem to take the same pictures every year, but I really like how the crew keeps thier throwing lines neatly coiled and stowed and ready for use at a moments notice. I use to use these all the time when I was in the Coast Guard, and even got pretty good at tying up the 'monkey's fist' at the end. 

The ships anchor... also neatly stowed and ready for use.

Rima on the left with my sister Cheryl and Mary to her right just staying out of the way while the crew got the boat underway.

It is fascinating to me to see how such a huge and heavy machine like a 137' long sailboat can be controlled and actually made to function by such a small crew. It is remarkable how this old, old technology still works just as well as it would of 200 years ago.

The foresail sheet.

Rima looking pretty cool and calm with her island braids.

Looking forward at the fore jib and staysail jib.

These are the wooden sail hoops that connect the luff of the sail to the mast.

They raise all of the sails just like they use to in the old days... by hand. The mainsail weighs in at 4,000 lbs., so it takes nearly everyone on board to hoist it up.

Looking up one of the masts at all of the standing and running rigging. The stuff that looks like old mop heads that is on some of the standing rigging is called 'baggy wrinkle' and is used to prevent parts of the sail from chaffing against those lines on certain points of sail.

The two forsail's in the bow also had to be raised but they only took a couple of people apiece. Rima got paired up with this Danish amazon women to hoist one of them.

The sails are up and starting to pull. Time to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Heading out of the harbor... you can see some of the resident fleet of sailboats anchored behind Rima.

Last photo for tonight. This is one of the mainsail sheets turning blocks and the piece of 'fancy work' that protects the deck from being banged up when the line goes slack.

brk*

   So it is Sunday night already and it leaves me wondering where the whole weekend has gone too, since the last time I really looked, it was Thursday night and I was in the trailer trying to stay warm, and hoping that none of my water pipes would freeze up. The good news is that none of those things happened and indeed it even started to warm up some on Friday, though I did keep everything unhooked and drained when not in use, at least until Saturday anyway.
   Friday night was the beginning of the dance weekend here in Gainsville. 'Dancing with the Gods', Gainsville Oldtime Dance Society, was the host and this year they had two wonderful bands playing and two terrific callers to keep us all sorted out. The Great Bear Trio is of course one of my all time favorite bands. These three people, two brothers and their mother, produce copious amounts of music of all kinds and always seem to have something new to surprise you with. But it is also their regular playing, and the ease at which they not only play their tunes, but also toy with the audience in bringing them up, and then letting them down until they finally bring it all home at the end with the dancers generally whopping and a hollering the whole time. It's just amazing!
   Also playing this weekend was a new band for me. The 'Rafter Ringers' hail from some where up north and may even be from the Canadian side of the border, as at least one of them had a terrific French Canadian accent. They were also very impressive with the 3 of them providing more than adequate musical compliment to the calling of both Beth Malaro and Sarah VanNordstrom.
   Fridays opening dance had everybody worn out after more than 3 1/2 hours of hot, sweaty dancing. I certainly enjoyed it even though my allergies were really in overdrive that night. It might just be because it is actually spring down here in Florida and despite the recent cold temperatures of the past few days, there are still plenty of things out there that I can be allergic too. I managed with over the counter meds but I have to say that it isn't much fun dancing with a system filled with drugs. It kind of makes you feel a little goofy and doesn't help at all that I still need to pop cough drops or hard candy to keep from coughing too much.
    Saturday turned out to be a much nicer day weather wise. I actually went and took a hike around the alligators out at Paynes Prairie again that afternoon before the dance. I just saved enough time to go and have a burrito at what is fast becoming my favorite Mexican Restaurant anywhere, the little Bodega here in Gainsville called La Tienda. I have tried all of their burritos so far, as well as most of their plate's, but my favorite still seems to be either the Chivo, goat, or Cabesa, beef cheek burritos. Nice flavor, good texture, huge size and cheap. They could really give Chipotle a run for their money. I in fact like these guys much, much better.
    I was done there in plenty of time to make it back over to the dance hall where I managed to snag a front row seat to a short concert put on by Noah and Andrew of the Great Bear Trio. One of my friends was filming it and if it comes out on Youtube I'll repost it here so you can see how talented they are with other types of music also.
    Good dancing on Saturday night also, but I felt really drugged from some of the allergy meds I had popped, so it wasn't as good as it could of been, especially when it didn't seem to help in any significant way. I was much happier at this afternoons dance when I decided to forgo taking any more drugs in favor of just popping cough drops and candy while dancing. It was so much nicer dancing with a clear head again, and while I was still coughing periodically, it wasn't any worse than when I was all doped up. I am hoping this may be some sort of 'light bulb' moment for me and that maybe it will mean not using as much stuff in the future. Will just have to wait and see what the body says I guess.
    So three days of hard dancing and I'm pretty much worn out and my feet hurt. I am also feeling an 'Introvert' moment coming on, so I am glad to have a nice evening to just kick back and relax. I picked up some fried chicken for dinner and after I finish with this I'm going to watch some movie I have stored under the seat. Tomorrow I need to do some laundry and get the oil changed in the truck. I was thinking of moving up the coast in a day or two, but it looks like more cold and rainy weather is coming in. So I am going to see about staying here another week or so and then working my way on up to Virginia. I kind of miss my girlfriend and I'd like to go see her before she takes off for Hawaii.
   In the meantime; here are yet more photo's from the dance week on St. Croix. A bunch of us are on an island tour that takes us into the fort at Fredricsteadt and then on to the rum factory. Enjoy!

St. Croix Contra Dance Week - February 2015

Fort Fredricsteadt and Cruzan Rum Factory.

The interior courtyard of the fort at Fredricsteadt. Located at the far western end of St Croix Island this fort is important because it was here that the island slaves were first told of their emancipation from slavery.

Some of the cannons originally used in defense of the port.

Up stairs in the fort they had one room dedicated to furniture that had been built, mostly by slave craftsmen, there on the island. Mostly of mahogany and teak, it is some of the prettiest furniture I have ever seen.

These three pieces really catch your eye when you enter the room. Hanging bassinets that rock, how cool is that.

A mahogany chair to hold your chamber pot. No need for an outhouse as long as someone else was doing all the cleaning up duty.

Another stunning piece. I find the lines of this settee to flow beautifully. It looks like a comfortable place to read a book on a rainy afternoon.

There were several of these little 'sayings' scattered about the walls. This one resonated with all of the dancers. ( When a man can't dance, he says the music is no good ).

 

The start of our tour at the Cruzan Rum Factory. Cruzan has been making rum there on the island for more than 100 years now. They now have to import all of their sugar cane syrup from other countries as there isn't enough grown there on the island any more. They also no longer bottle it there on the island. Instead, once the rum is ready they pump it on to a barge and ship it to Florida where they bottle it up and ship it out around the world.

One of the first processes is mixing the cane syrup with water and adding in yeast. While it looks like it is boiling from heat, this is actually just stirred up from the yeast producing carbon dioxide.

All of that rum and so little time. This is the step before they filter it and send it into the distillation tower where they will separate out the alcohol from everything else. The tower is that 4 story building in the first picture of this segment of the narrative.

Once it has been distilled and filtered the rum is stored in used oak barrels that once held Jack Daniels or Jim Beam whisky. They clean the barrels of course and re-char them on the inside. They also add a measured amount of charred oak chips, about a pounds worth per barrel, to give the alcohol more flavor and color. They store the barrels for between 4 months and 10 years before sending it off to be bottled. I wonder how many millions of dollars worth of rum is in this one warehouse alone?

Our tour group listening in to our guide.

What a bunch of boozer's. Along with the tour you get two tickets for rum drinks and 4 tickets for tasting what ever kind of rum you want to try. About a shot glass per taste. Of course I never did see anyone really paying that much attention to collecting your tickets. So we were all pretty happy on our way back to the dance resorts.

brk*