Each year St. Augustine has an Easter Parade and for the last 3 years I have been lucky enough to attend. It is the highpoint of my Easter aside from church and every year it gets better.
Since St. Augustine has a Spanish history of over 450 years the parade begins with a tribute to its founders.
Spanish AncestryFun RoyaltyAnd a little Spanish bravado
And then the Parade moved on to..
Military ProcessionsBandsClownsAnimal CharactersShrinersMusic festival floatsAnd of course mermaids dropped by from the ocean to visit.
But perhaps the best addition to this years event was the old cars.
An early station wagonTwo Classy NumbersSome more beauties
Then came the fast cars..
And the Jeeps..
Happy belated Easter greetings to all and if you are in St Augustine at Easter please come to the Parade. It’s the Saturday before the big day at 9 and runs from Kings Street through downtown.
Dedicated to our former Mayor Nancy. Hope to see you at next years Parade.
I departed from my Jordan hotel room at 12:30 am to wait for a 1:30 hotel to airport pick up. The night was cool and balmy as I waited for my chariot and the English speaking security guard befriended me. Time went quickly and was filled with laughter as he professed a mini-course on Jordanian life.
Gazing at my watch I noted it was 1:33 and with no chariot in site my new friend made strategic calls and a car appeared at 1:45. This came with the added bonus of the hotel management paying for this. Apparently, they were connected to the tour company.
The drive to the airport was swift with a non-English speaking driver playing somber Jordanian tunes on the radio. Upon arrival I popped out of the car quickly, pulled my bag from the trunk, shut the trunk and waved thank you to the driver still in the car.
With time of the essence I noted an additional pre-check at the Queen’s Airport in Jordan. My bag failed this x-ray check due to rocks I had procured from various Jordanian fields, however, after much ado I was allowed to keep them.
Off to the ticket counter where I received my tickets and left my bag. Then on to Duty Free where I met friendly staff who helped me use my dinars in combination with USD for purchase. These folks even smiled at this hour. What champs!
At 4:30 am the plane departed and I was off to Cairo Airport for a four hour layover till next flight. I sought out the Cairo Airport Food Village and set my alarm clock to within 2 hours of flight and attempted to snooze. After this I went to the gate and met friendly Americans eager to discuss their trips. It was here I discovered I had a middle seat for the 12 hour flight. This is a no can do for an older gal with a teensy bladder. A very gracious Egypt Air staffer changed the ticket and found me a seat on the aisle, back of plane near the loo. Prayers answered..
The long ride to JFK was quiet. There were no screaming babies and I was grateful. Egypt Air has an easy to manage video system and Johnny English Strikes Again was a hoot. Rowan Atkinson at his finest. How do they think of such slapstick?? Food was basic but had taste and the attendants pleasant so the 12 hours went by slowly, but by.
Arriving in JFK was another 4 hour wait with 45 minutes or so on the tarmac since fog was present and planes backed up. The Delta staff was accommodating and gave frequent updates speaking slowly enough for this old gal in her 28th hour of commute to understand.
We touched down in Orlando after midnight. Bags arrived quickly and the parking company van was at the appropriate site for passenger pick-up. At the parking lot the car ignition worked and by 3:30 am I was at my abode. If only I could say this was a 4 hour commute.
However, as I gaze at my Jordan rocks the images of this beautiful, history filled country persist. Visit Jordan it’s a trip you will always remember fondly…
Last night I didn’t watch the “address.” I feel un-American in doing this but frankly I am tired of looking at this man. He is ubiquitous and I’d like a younger, softer, more intelligent version to watch and have as the leader of the World. Frankly, I’m scared of the lies and the way we are going. I think most Americans are.
Instead I went to an equally uplifting talk on our national debt. We are 23 trillion in debt and our debt was increased in 2018 by 55%. Since the talk was given at Flagler College I felt for the up and coming generations of college students sitting amongst us gray haired. Frankly, I was embarassed what we are leaving to the future generations.
There are grass roots campaigns out there to do something about this situation however neither party has a plan. It seems like other issues overshadow. The answer would lie in our deductions and eliminating them. The speaker said 78% of the American people say we need to increase taxes. This was enlightening. I am all for that and cleaning up the debt. Are you?
No one will ever read this however it needs to be said. I wish I could do more to get out the word. It’s Kathleen with a few thoughts and it’s still Kathleen if you disagree…let’s have a conversation.
Folks in Florida are flip flop people. I can understand this as Florida is hot, especially in the summer and flip flops allow your feet to breathe and not perspire. I am a sneaker person. Being a former nurse with the signature back concerns I live for the support of sneakers. I even buy arches to put in sneakers even though they come with foam filled innersoles that contour to the bottom of your foot. Go figure. Support can be beautiful!
Living in sneakers with the heat has become a problem as an enclosed foot sweats tremendously in the Florida heat. The smelly sneakers that occurred from this sweat became a problem as the odor permeated the entire house. Washing the sneakers did little and while baby powder helped the odor remained.
In an effort to alleviate this situation I resorted to corn starch. Corn starch seems to absorb the odor better and I was elated with this. My home did not smell as foul and I thought I had found a solution to my dilemma.
After using the cornstarch I began to notice it had begun to leak out and as I walked snow rose from my feet. It was the wrong direction but it was snow. The universal miracle cure had a hit a snag as I was concerned folks would think I was using cocaine on my feet.
I am in search of another cure. If you know one, please let me know.
In a recent condo association meeting Sam, our manager, brought up some disconcerting news. One of our renters had hired an unlicensed worker to remove branches which blocked her view. Had the unlicensed worker injured himself our condo association would be at fault with our fees going through the roof. Also, the trees didn’t even belong to us, they belonged to the golf course. All these actions were done discreetly on a weekend.
While I understand the concerns, I could see this coming. I am privy to many complaints as I use the condo clubhouse Wi-Fi near where Sam’s office is and heard this tale many times. At one point the owner from the downstairs condo appeared and it got a little loud. Listening to the squabble I giggled softly to myself grateful I was not part of the fray.
Early on in my move to the condo I had gotten in trouble. Though I had Sam’s permission I planted flowers in the back of condo rather than placing them in pots. The fracas continued to unfurl and now planting flowers in the back of the buildings is a given.
As the meeting continued it was decided to get legal advice and write the condo owner a firm letter informing him of his tenant’s actions. Also, further contact had to be made with the golf course management since they owned the tree.
Today I walked by the tree but didn’t notice anything different. I felt happy to be in an end unit with minimal golf course view and only two neighbors with dogs who have now calmed, at least for the moment.
Young Retiree Needs a Life 