backyard secrets

I ran into an old friend of mine John, the other day - it had been awhile.

John Lambie, and his noted father locally, had both contributed greatly to an experimental legacy that began here in Sarasota. And with John, with his early-on environmental-friendly, Florida House (1992) - John inspired for many, the responsible need for future "eco-friendly" construction and home design, that reached out on a national level.

John had invited me to his annual holiday party earlier in the week. And, I was the first to arrive (must have gotten the time wrong), but it provided for me, an opportunity to wander and peer at his small, yet very unique backyard.

John described it as, a "perma-culture" garden, inspired by the late German social reformer, the esoteric - Rudolf Steiner. It would all be to difficult to explain - or even at times, try to understand, but I do like to grow things - and the study of "bio-dynamics" seem to resonate for me, from somewhere.

  

Sally invites us to lunch

And tells us how much she has always loved Christmas, ever since she was a child.

Aloha Trailer Park

This is a story, not just about a trailer park, but a story about the death and dying of a small town that I once knew.  Yesterday, on our home phone machine, I played back a recently recorded message; "This is Marsha, Marc's wife - Brad, he would really love to talk to you. Please call back".  And after nearly some twenty years, I did.

Marc (Marcel) was like an older brother when I was a young teen, when I felt adrift after being abandoned by the death of a mother and an absentee father. For four years, Marc and I covered a lot ground - hittin' the road, driving, hitch-hiking, and one summer in 1967 - we fell stranded while 'hittin' it' in New York City.

That same summer, we were robbed and nearly shot at gun point in Rhode Island, and while bumming-it, out on Massachusetts's Cape Cod, we both became a potential witness to a murder out on the "dunes".  Hastily, we thumbed our way back to the Boston Turnpike, where we scrawled out a cardboard sign, which read;  San Francisco.

Today at Aloha Trailer Park - Marc sat in his chair, slow in thought, short in movement, where we reminisced once again - all the while, both smoking and drinking from his bottled whiskey.

 


Marc's mother - Vastaa Kyselyn Finannasta (Vera Kimris) who I had known late in her life, was a French-Russian aerialist who had head-lined with the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Show.  "Vera's" renowned act - hanging by her teeth from a revolving airplane while performing under the 'big top'.

Marc flipping through his scrapbook.

After nearly 3 hours of conversation between Marc and I, Marsha tells me, "Let him rest. But I want to show you what's left of this poor old park".

The Aloha Trailer Park backs-up against Phillippi Creek, and on my hour tour, there were signs of a still active "homeless camp" back in the woods.