Myakka

Upper lake

 

 

 

 

gobblers

 

tree gobbler

 

 

Myakka River in drought conditions

 

 

Sweetheart couple

 

paddling home

 

 

Upper Manatee River

Ray's Canoe Hideaway

Manatee County, October 2025

 

 

 

 

 

Manatee River near the pioneer town of Rye. Brackish water, low tide 

 

 

 

 

A new Midnight Pass

 August 2025

 

 

 

 

new persona (I’m not there)

After ordering a small chest-of-drawers, about six or seven weeks ago, a wooden shipping crate arrives, addressed to myself, but only using Chinese characters. Apparently shipped out on a slow boat somewhere out'ta China.

My 'mail-to' name in caps, with our new, and latest address listed below.

 

 

Starting all over

Three physical moves in the past two months. Unpacking and stacking in time for the holiday cheer. Just need some twinkle lights for the outdoor tree.

full circle

There was a period when my family dynamic wasn't so dynamic. When we as a family had left Siesta Key and moved closer to town, to 1632 Floyd Street. It lasted for about 2 years, from 1957 through '58. 

This past month, after being washed away by Helene and blown by Milton, my wife and I have repeated the same. We left Siesta Key behind, but this time permanently. For me all told, having been on the island some seventy plus years, I randomly now found my family's old neighborhood street once again. There we took an annual lease on an unfurnished cottage, just a few houses down from that nearly forgotten, early childhood.  

 

My mother looking not so happy. She wasn't. 1957

 

 

 

My next-door neighbor A.J. and I, selling lemonade on the corner of Floyd & Orange Ave. 1957

 

I loved costumes and outfits. A bull outfit my mother had made for me for a school play. 1957

 

When the family finally divided (late, late '58), my older sister Caren, soon would be sent off to boarding school. My father had left, and had moved on. While my mother and I staid together, and moved back to Siesta Key - just the two of us. (My sister and I at Floyd Street in late 1958).

All Souls Day

November 2nd;

Weeks after two multiple disasters, with Hurricane Helene and Milton, hundreds of black, unmarked "double-haulers" are noticed roaming about town - presumably collecting all those lost forgotten souls. All Souls Day - a day, a reminder to celebrate and honor the past.