Tuesday

 

Toby hanging out in the bedroom for a lazy beginning to the day. It's been a weird day. First of all, we had the 4-point house inspection scheduled for noon, and we had John's bike tire to fix. Instead of riding our bikes to the causeway to walk, we pumped up his tire and headed to Kafe Racer. We took the pump with us, and John stopped three times to add more air. We made it in time for their 10:00 opening. We dropped it off. John walked home and I biked. When I got home, I met him on Ben Hogan in the go cart and brought him home.

We spruced up the house for the inspector and had an early lunch. A few minutes before our noon appointment, John took Toby in the go cart to Highlander Park to walk. We knew Toby would be a nuisance with a strange person in the house, poking and prodding. At 12:45, the inspector hadn't shown up, so I called. He had no record of our appointment. I expressed our anxiety of being dumped by our current insurance company with a tropical storm forming in the gulf and headed this way and not being able to get new insurance without first getting a 4-point inspection. He was very apologetic and said he could come Thursday and that he would give us a 37% discount.

We were both a little frustrated and disappointed. I headed to the gym to see if that would help.

The high temperature today was 90 degrees. There was a breeze, but it was hot at the gym. It was an easy workout, though. I guess it helped me to channel my frustration in a productive way.

Later in the afternoon, we drove Toby to Lake Saundra for a walk in the park. It's nice to have the cart to keep Toby out of the sun and off of the hot streets.

We dodged a rain storm and picked the only opening to ride our bikes to New Bamboo in the Causeway Plaza for Chinese takeout. The forecast called for a 15% chance of rain. Ha.

It was sunny and beautiful in Dunedin, but storming in Palm Harbor, just north of us.

We made it home just in time. Rain is expected off and on until 10:00. The grass certainly needs it.

Our last walk of the day. We got a few sprinkles, but the coolness felt good. The rain brought the temperature down to 75. The rainy season has begun.

Frangipani blooms in the backyard 

Hibiscus blooms in the backyard with more frangipani beyond.

Miles walked: 8.9

Miles biked: 15.78

This month's walking and biking totals:

May Walking: 10.9 walking per day, 337.9 total miles

May Biking: 8.14 biking per day, 210.7 total miles

Walking history

April 2022

10.2 (306)

March 

11.3 (350.3)

February 2022

10.4 (291.4)

January 2022

9.8  (303.8)

December 

10.8 (334.8)

November 

10.5 (315)

October

9.6 (297.6)

September

8.2 (246)

August 

6.8 (210.8)

July

6.2 (192.2)

June 

7.3 (219)

May

6.8 (210)

April 

8.2 (246)

March 

8.6 (266.6)

February 

8.1 (243)

January 2021

7.0 (217)

December 2020

5.6 (168)

November

5.2 (161.2)

October 

6.7 (201)

September

8.5 (263.5)

August

6.3 (195.3)

July

6.7 (201)

June

5.8 (174)

May Biking:

210.7 total miles

April Biking: 

138.47 total miles

March 2022

186.48 

February 2022

133.75

January 2022

41.06

December

163.23

November

120.94

October

171.29

September

244.33

August 

156.50

July

271.24

June

407.60

May

281.43

April 

224.65

March

222.18

February 

78.62

January 2021

97.31

December

130.59

November

88.08

October  

240.44

September

412.04

August

355.91

July

274.26

June

264.25

Monday

After lunch, we took Toby to Highlander Park in the go cart to walk in the shade. The high temperature today was 90 degrees with a 7 mph breeze.

Toby has been very content today with us staying inside.

We rode our bikes out to the causeway to walk this morning. Because of the holiday, it was very crowded--on the water and on land.

John's electric bike had a flat tire, so he had to ride his manual bike. It looks like we'll be making a trip to Kafe Racer (bike store) tomorrow.

We thought about going out to the island to people watch, but John didn't want to take his manual bike that far.

So we walked in the neighborhood and watched “Bridgerton” on Netflix.

Last walk of the day

Miles walked: 10.8

Miles biked: 5.35

Sunday

We took an afternoon go cart ride with Toby to Highlander Park. We kept to the shaded sidewalk between the Fine Art Center and Fire Station 61.

It was sunny and 86 degrees.

Another beautiful day. We took the long route home to take in the scenery.

 

This morning the temperature was 76 degrees, but there was zero breeze, so we decided to take the go cart down to Stirling Park and walk the Pinellas Trail downtown in the shade.

We passed Cedar Creek, which flows through Hammock Park on the way to St. Joseph's Sound.

Cedar Creek looking towards the Sound.

The Pinellas Trail was busy with all sorts of riders and walkers, just not when I took this picture.

The flag in honor of all veterans on Palm Boulevard was lowered for Memorial Day weekend.

We took a pit stop at the train station and walked back to Stirling.

This week was for Alzheimer's awareness, or "Paint Dunedin Purple." There were purple ribbons up everywhere. People raised money for awareness and support for The Longest Day, an Alzheimer's Association fund raiser. "The longest day" centers around the summer solstice, the day with the most light, but also alludes to the disease. This was the third annual event. There was a bike parade and purple hair and purple food. There will be live music in Pioneer Park, and a "Paint Dunedin Purple Music Fest" at Dunedin House of Beer. The fundraiser has raised more than $30,000 so far. Over 60 businesses will participate. This year the organizers expanded the event to include Safety Harbor, across the peninsula from Dunedin.

After lunch, I rode my bike to the outdoor gym at Weaver Park. These exercises have really helped my neck pain and general strength. It also helps me to sleep better. I especially enjoy the workout the next day.

We got on our bikes to go fetch our Chinese take out. The picture above shows us waiting for our food.

Covid transformed this restaurant to take out only. Only recently have the owners taken down the plexiglass separating the owners from the customers. The owners are still wearing masks, probably a good thing since the number of infected is rising again.

Our food arrived via bike basket. The temperature was 84 degrees on our way home.

Last walk of the day.

Today's bike routes to Weaver Park and New Bamboo in the Causeway Plaza.

Miles walked: 11.6

Miles biked: 9.87

Saturday

 

While John cooked Tuna steaks for dinner, I power washed the front of the house with the hose. While I was in a cleaning mood, I vacuumed and mopped the house.

After dinner, the three of us rode downtown in the golf cart. We parked at the Dunedin Smokehouse and walked to the marina and back. 

It was very crowded.

Toby got lots of attention, petting, and treats.

I noticed that Stirling Wine expanded into the courtyard next door. The stairs to the left lead to the rental above the store that was to be my family's home away from home on their recent trip before they got the one-level unit at Weaver Park.

Toby got lots of practice with "sit" and "wait" at the intersection of Broadway, Bayshore, and Main. The "walk" sign doesn't come on often. 

We rode our bikes out to the causeway to walk this morning. The temperature was 75 degrees, and the wind was coming out of the west. That means the walk out to Honeymoon Island was pleasant, but the walk back was hot, since we were walking with the breeze. The high temperature today was 89 degrees.

The water was very clear. We didn't take too many pictures this morning. I think it was because there were so many people to look at. The line of cars to get in to the park was long. Tomorrow and Monday will probably be worse. 

We had an interesting conversation with a neighbor about kitchen renovations and construction companies. I'm looking forward to getting our project started before the year is out.

The Florida legislature passed a bill and the governor signed it that attempts to address the home insurance problems in the state. The bill prevents a company from dropping someone for having a roof that is less than 15 years old. It also requires the company to allow the homeowner to get a roof over 15 years inspected and if it is estimated to have 5 years of life remaining, the insurance company cannot drop the homeowner or force them to re-roof their home. There were other reforms, but that's the main one for us. Critics said the 2 billion put into a catastrophic fund was half of what was needed to keep insurance companies from leaving the state.

Miles walked: 10.3

Miles biked: 5.75

Friday

 

John got these awesome shots of a roseate spoonbill on one of our afternoon walks around Lake Saundra.

Amazing wings

This morning, we rode our bikes out to the causeway drawbridge and then walked to the ticket booth at the entrance to Honeymoon Island. The shot above is looking north to the island with the entrance off to the left. I don't think the construction will be completed before Memorial Day, which means there will be a huge backup on the causeway.

The water in the lagoon at the island entrance was very clear.

This morning's walk was beautiful. Temperatures were in the low 80s, and the breeze was about 12 mph, keeping things comfortable.

I drank three bottles of water, using the fountain at the restrooms for refills.

We got buzzed by a pelican on the bridge. The wind was so strong that he just hovered without flapping his wings. He kept going back and forth, clearly enjoying the flight.

I could almost reach out and touch him. 

John got this shot of an old VW bus. The sign says: "Be a Mermaid. Make waves."

We passed a family of three manatees on the Pinellas Trail bridge over Curlew Creek. At high tide, this is a favorite spot for these three.

We stopped by Publix on the way home and picked up some fruit and milk. We brought home a canteloupe and added it to our usual fruit bowl.

John got this shot of a  flower that came up between the asphalt and the gutter of the street. That takes courage.

Our last walk of the day. The temperature was 82 degrees. The high temperature today was 86. We had lots of cloud cover and the threat of a shower, but it never came.

One of our neighbors drew this image on her driveway in response to the school shooting in Texas. She's the artist who drew pictures on her driveway during the pandemic to keep everyone's spirit up. This time, she drew because she was angry and needed to express it, she said as we walked by. The image is of The Incredible Hulk, who bulks up whenever he's angry. He's looking at the news of the school shooting.

I learned from an article in the New York Times that it wasn't until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s that gun ownership skyrocketed and became such a heated and divisive political issue. Whites, mostly in the South, rushed to arm themselves in response to the legislation protecting the rights of Blacks, outlawing discrimination in public accommodations, employment, voting, and schools. The Jim Crow laws that humiliated Blacks and "kept them in their place" were gone. Many Whites felt threatened by the rising power of Blacks in their communities and felt the need to arm themselves. The Civil Rights legislation, was opposed by most Southern legislators--92%, according to Wikipedia, who were mostly Democrats at the time. (All 11 Southern Republicans also voted against the legislation.) The vote signaled a massive realignment of political parties, especially in the South, when white Democrats switched parties and started voting for Republicans. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I have to admit I was. 

Miles walked: 14.3

Miles biked: 5.74