st petersburg, florida

during my two week 'break' i got to hang out at a various places around tampa and st petersburg with mike and kelly and their friends.   i went to their church and met some of the young adults in a class that mike was subbing for.   after the service we went to eat together at lee roy selmons.

play hard. eat well. and don't forget to share.  ok!!

we had a good time at the bonefish grill listening to john kelly's band.

we went to sacred grounds for coffee and reading...   but instead of reading i spent most of the time playing a game called "werewolves and villagers" with a bunch of strangers.  someone from the coffee shop had rallied ten people to play.  i found out after the game that the winner got a dollar off their tab.  so guess what, i got a dollar off my tab! hehe.

the bunch from the coffee shop invited us to a nearby bar where there was karaoke.  it was kinda smokey.  we played darts with a random guy and went home having had fun, but smelling gross.

a couple times we went running and did some exercise in the gym. at the house we worked on mike's phd applications.  i also relaxed and wrote letters and did my taxes and sat in the sun and read and listened to sermons on tape.   i also assembled another book shelf for mike's living room (library!) and rearranged the room too!

i spent an afternoon by myself on pass-a-grille beach.  it was a perfect evening to sit on the beach and relax. the sun was bright.  the breeze was east.  i enjoyed reading, pondering, watching people, feeling the warmth of the sun, thinking about how long i waited to find warm weather, analyzed shells, snacked on peanuts and pistachios, and enjoyed the fact that i was able to be there.

as one might guess, i hung around for the sunset.   see the dauphin?

observing the people next to me made me wonder if it was national primary color day...?

me (wearing a secondary color).

after sunset it was time to go to the old northeast tavern for one of those gigs i mentioned before.

so, the two weeks in the area were easygoing but not boring!  just like mike and kelly.  : )

tampa, florida - gigs

i like music.  i really like live music.  but nothing beats BEing the musician.  when i was a kid, i would goof off on the piano with my siblings.  in fifth grade my class learned the flutophone.  in grade school i played the trombone for the band.  in high school i was self taught the guitar with helpful pointers from my brother and a few friends.  i also bought a set of drums on craigslist but sold them only three weeks later because i didn't have enough time in my schedule to learn them well.  i like a good beat, and i like making a good sounding beat on anything that i can hit with my hands.  if i were to embrace a little more stage flair, you'd probably find me on a stomp crew.  but i'm satisfied listening to my own beats when no one else is around.

while i'd never played a cajon (cahone) before, playing it felt perfectly natural.  it's basically a box that you slap with your hands in various ways to make various percussion sounds.  i had the chance to play the cajon for mike and kelly at a few of their gigs while they sang and played guitar, mandolin, key board, and harmonica.  they are great musicians. it was great listening to them, and was really fun playing with them.   doug filled in on the key board too.

here we were at tgi fridays in tampa again...  this was my view of them while sitting on the cajon as we played.

this was at the old northeast tavern in st petersburg. mike on guitar, kelly on cajon.

this was the group that played after us at a coffee shop called tre amici in downtown tampa.  there was no cover fee for people to come into this coffee shop and listen to local artists do their live music.

having fun playing the cajon has made me toy with the idea of buying my own and seeing if anyone doing a gig needed a simple percussion accompanist when i'm in their area.  i doubt i'll actually do that but it's fun to think about.

tampa, florida - for real and for rest

so, i'd already been through tampa twice - once on my way into florida, and again on my way up the gulf coast before meeting up with my relatives back on the atlantic side.  finally i had the chance to return to the gulf side to visit mike for a longer time as promised and not have it be so rushed!  it became the most restful visit i'd had in the four months of my journey.

i desperately needed a significant break from the constant travel.  i take plenty of breathers as i go, but none of them really count as a recouping break.  the only day in the last four months that was more than a simple rest was my day in death valley when i was in the middle of nowhere and decided to not go anywhere, not interact with anyone, and simply read a book.  that was in early january.  i was again due for another slowdown.

my plan was to spend at least a week with mike.  it turned out to be a whole two weeks of fun and rest in the tampa and st petersburg area with mike and kelly!

i'll post a couple blogs about what i did in that time, but part of my rest included not worrying about keeping up this blog or getting photos of things i did or even having to keep track of what i did.

hopefully i'll incorporate real breaks into my journey more often.

cocoa beach, florida - with my sisters!

jeni, judi, jolene, and i got a sunny beach day.  we got to be the tourists in an environment that was so familiar as home.  we almost forgot to pay the meter.

we didn't make this sign, but we did place it here.  i'm just not sure what it meant.

it was a beautiful day.  we got to relax and play on the sand.  i couldn't help but play frisbee for most of the time we were there.  jolene, jeni and i were goofing off with trick catches and throws, apparently impressing some people passing by.  so fun.  judi captured us with a few action shots.

this is great

it was so good to get in some more sibling time, especially at an atlantic beach which represents the home where we grew up together.

just silly

me and judi

jeni gets in there

jolene gets in there

awww...

so glad and thankful that we got to hang out!!  love you guys!!

cousin in cocoa, florida

i consider eli my closest cousin.  we lived 15 minutes apart growing up and attended the same church.  our families would get together pretty regularly, and almost always for thanksgiving and christmas.   frisbee, basketball, nerf ball, bb guns, atari, cards...  so many fun times come to mind when i remember those long ago days.  we still really enjoy getting together when we can.

eli invited us to the bowling alley the last evening of our florida visit.

when we were little, eli and i would regularly come up with drum beats on anything slappable, do camera tricks showing how we could defy gravity, audio record our chipmunk sounding beatboxing,  play all sorts of made up games, and discuss life's funny quirks.  even now when we get together, in the rare chances we have to do that, it seems we have the same kinds of fun.  on one evening, he invited us to his house for a little cookout.

the brats and smores were enjoyed,

the conversations were fun,

and before the night was out we were of course making up new entertainment.  eli became proficient writing and drawing with fire...    he scribbled in the air

he tried to write his name

created a flaming ring of fire

refined his drawing-with-fire techniques

if you've been following my blog, you'd anticipate this next one of me flaming upsidedown.

thanks to eli for enclosing me with my sisters within the heart.  : )

places near merritt island

as a foursome, my sisters and i cruised around town.  the previous two year we had rented a convertible, but this year we just got a simple functional four door that was plenty cheaper and got us from a to b.  most of our trips were so short, it didn't matter anyway.

we'd go to the grocery store for a few items...

we ate lunch at a couple of great places like the depot cafe

tijuana flats...  mmm

i loved the wild and colorful decor, and the food of course

we went into a few shops.  i was baffled at the prices...  for instance, does this look like a fair exchange rate?

we also went to an art fair.

good kettle corn hits the spot.

i couldn't help but smile when i was reminded of my pastor because i thought the guy on a large poster in ron jon's surf shop looked like him.

relatives in merritt island, florida

my siblings and i enjoyed hanging out with our relatives at our uncle jerry and aunt debbie's place.

jerry was usually the primary chef when we ate.  everything he made was soooo delicious!  i like food.  appetizers, main meal, desserts, drinks...  yes please!

the house was never lacking commotion as there were always plenty adults and kids around.  our cousin jamie and her spouse and kids were staying there while inbetween housing.  our other cousins eli, josh, and jared and a fair share of their families adding to the numbers.  it was an impromptu family reunion, really.   also our aunt jeni and uncle jeff from georgia visited for a few hours as they passed through florida!!

thanks to my sister judi for the pictures...   judi, i second your awareness at the overwhelming number of colors and patterns in this photo!!

trinity and i enjoyed some upsidedown moments.

trinity claimed to be able to keep a hula-hoop going for over three minutes.  i required proof by demonstration.  and prove it she did.

we played dodge ball.

we noticed a blowfish crawling at the bottom of the channel behind the house.

we baited a hook with ham, but the fish wasn't very interested in that.  instead jerry eventually caught a different fish and entertained the kids with it.

so much fun and no lack of entertainment.

i always forget how great my relatives are until we get together.   we really don't see each other enough or know each other well enough.   but maybe that's what makes it so much more special when we do get together.