hospital accommodations

All Children's Hospital; St. Pete
Not as a patient, but as an overnight family care-giver.



A welcome card, with a supplied rough-looking face cloth, nicely folded and presented.

Personally, a few long nights tossing and turning (monitors, and alarms along with the tube feedings, all with an attending, caring all-night staff). When early mornings did arrive, I found myself somehow awakened tightly wrapped, swaddled like a newborn - barely able to move my arms.

Today, taking a night's leave from the hospital and then back-up again tomorrow. Now headed home, smelling like that gently held, sweet baby, that Santiago is.

Post script; Hospitalized for nearly two weeks, "Santi" was released today (June 13th). He finally found that way, his way back home - and all, all very happy.

simple twist of fate?

Sarasota's bayfront Selby Library (1976).  Architect, Walter Netsch - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

(Glass atrium retrofitted in 2000.  G. Wiz Science Museum, Dale Parks, architect).

(photo; Ezra Stoller /SOM)



TODAY - developers, city commissioners, and a few locally distinguished 'assholes'

"When losing another little piece of our history, a grieving period is in order".  Quote from columnist, Barbara Peters Smith, from her article titled - So long, and thanks for all the books.  Sarasota Herald-Tribune, May 20th.

Farley family

Recently I had read about someone in the local paper, that I had gone to school with here on the island, and that must have been some 55 years ago.  Back then, it was a graduating class of eight.

Alice Farley had returned from NYC for a short visit, to help sell the family property - and to give a brief talk about her family and their unique home. Her father Walter, was a well known writer of children's books and her mother, a former high model of the New York fashion world.  There was nothing then about the family, that I could remember, that may have appeared grand or particularly exceptional. But really, there was.

So, Sandy and I went down to see Alice, to hear her speak, and to visit their noted home, now aging, and listed on the high-end real estate market.  Architecturally, little seemed to have changed.

Rear view of the house, designed and built by Ralph Twitchell and architect, Jack West (1953)

Screen lanai and footpath out towards the beach

The living room, where a few chairs were set-up for Alice's talk.

Walter Farley, Alice's father, had written the children's classic, 'The Black Stallion' (1941). After publication, the New York Times referred to it's character as, "the most famous horse in fiction".

 

From the Black Stallion series, there were twenty books of written sequels - from which a TV series and a motion picture were eventually made.

In Walter's library, reference books on children's literature, from Aesop's Fables, to tales from Edgar Allan Poe.

Rosemary and Walter, out on the beach (1946).

Alice's mother, Rosemary from her early years modeling in New York

A simple kitchen in a modest, simply designed home - and Farley family owned for over sixty years.

A few collectibles remain of Walter's personal horse memorabilia - a helmet, scarf and a horse-hair crop, left hanging.

Upon leaving, with a few moments left in the kitchen, Alice and I had a good laugh over one of our most difficult teachers during that time spent while attending the Out-Of-Door School. That person was a miserable, difficult and unforgiving woman - our moody art teacher.  Luckily, we had her way before we both began our professional careers in the visual arts.

the Golden bamboo

Got up by 7:00 today, to beat the heat, to finish digging a hole deep and wide enough, after my first failed attempt from over a week ago.  An initial two hours, when I just ran out of steam.  The dug-up roots (rhizomes) left from the old, existing bamboo, were deeply matted horizontally and running nearly three feet deep.

The plan - to replace an area of original Timber bamboo that had died - to fill-in that major gap with a unique 'Golden' variety.  About a month ago, a nursery delivered two 30 gallon tubs of mainly root stock with a few new long and slender "culms" showing. The hard part, the digging - dragging the heavy tubs and getting them placed by myself.  After this second attempt today, I'm finally done.


The newly planted, large root stocks, are now in the ground within the center area of the existing 'Timber' bamboo, with only a few straggler culms (stalks) appearing.

What it will eventually appear as..

Four feet down and a hour in, and shoveling hard with a good sweat - I hit sea shells.

Eventually, the newly planted 'Golden', now planted in the central area of the old growth, will closely reach the same overall height and spread of the original 'Timber' bamboo shown below. 

Petrea "Queen's Wreath"

Rebuilt the large arbor and one planter box with a friend's borrowed tools.  Couldn't wait for the landscapers to help me install new plantings around the outside (and the granite gravel they were supposed to lay for the drive). It's gettin' hot and the bugs are starting to bite.  Don't know what's happen with them guys, no return calls - not answering their phones. So, this late spring, early summer, it's been my choice to get hot, and extra dirty.

For the arbor area (what the kids used to call the "blue lounge"), I decided, this time around, on planting Petrea - a native of the West Indies that ranges from Mexico to Panama. "A fast growing, twining, woody vine that produces wisteria-like erect to drooping axillary foot-long racemes of star-like purple flowers, that flower profusely in southern Florida from late fall to early spring." Often referred to as the "Queen's Wreath".  Sounds good right?

Three days rebuilding and painting the arbor.

Rebuilding one of the planter boxes for the new Petrea

The major draw back with Petrea, is that it can easily get out of hand, take off on you - growing surly and wild, with a leafy feel of rough sandpaper (it's other common name - the "sandpaper vine").  Examples below; from newly planted, to a crescendo of old growth.

My effort this week - complete the arbor, the planter box, new soil, new dirt. Now planted, I can sit back and wait for her to flower, watch her grow. (taking the final photo, I forgot to tidy up and put back in the blue chairs and table). Once a favorite spot with my teenage boys (and their friends), and with much misbehavior, I'm sure there were many enjoyable late nights out in that Blue Lounge. Now that 'lounge' is back with me.

a big Holy Week (and a Seder)

Most of my life I've been more than curious, with cultures particularly. Well, this was my year to finally immerse into a cultural experience that always seemed at least two steps away.  Don't know why this became so suddenly related. Maybe from something that caught my interest, from something I recently had read, but it just came on, and full bore.

So as always, I reached out to my all-knowing, good friend Rebecca, who as a child was raised well immersed, and had grown up around the Jewish faith. I had questions. And she suggested that, definitely we should call-up her old friend, Sara (who had converted from Methodist, to Jew, to Catholic) - that she might have my answers. So, four days ago, calling from Rebecca's, we had a three-way, 45 minute phone conference with her friend - a deeply committed and knowledgeable Sara, still on Martha's Vineyard.

The following day, I drove over to our, one and only, local Jewish Deli restaurant to reserve a spot for Rebecca and I, for an offered holiday sit-down, (and possibly my first ever) Passover Seder. No luck - maybe too late, maybe too popular, maybe ....?  But, they did recommend the next best thing - arrive before the morning opening and get in line. At 7:30 am the next day, I was their first customer.

 




Two 'take-out' Brisket Platters;
(doesn't look very appealing, but I'll warm it all up later, make it fancy)

Beef Brisket
Matzo Ball Soup
Gelfilte Fish
Potato Pancakes
Carrot Tzimmes
and Macaroons

By 5:00 pm, Rebecca arrived with the "Manischewitz" and the makings for the traditional 'Seder Plate'. Sandy completed the ritual "house-cleaning", and I, being the youngest, had done my best by reading about the children's "four questions", while also researching the important biblical meaning behind the Great Exodus. 

traditional dipping using salted water from the Seder Plate

and All with a great ending and a newly appreciated significance for a very traditional, holiday meal.
Thanks Rebecca.
 

 

never decline an invite

Got a last minute call from my good friend Rebecca - to go out and about, for a night of possible laughs - and to try something newish. Wasn't much disappointed.

This was a paid, special event, but I get bored easily.  So I wandered instead, the event hallway where I found Ingeborg Angeli, waiting anxiously for her own presentation of her husband's latest designer art.

This was not the town I grew up in.  So luckily, I found the bar, ordered some 'menued' food - and instead, just listened to Erol Ozseyer's, happily played, classical guitar.