September into October 2024

It’s been a minute, so I’ll give the Reader’s Digest version of life with Timmy over these past few months. It might take a few posts…

We returned from Iceland and almost immediately, I became consumed with two concurrent and completely unrelated medical/health issues. Lot’s of tests, bloodwork, doctors visits…you know the drill. Anyway, I’m all good now…and grateful for the excellent care I received.

The entrance sign to our Long Island community…I looked up the proper usage of “slow” here, and it seems that it’s okay …grates me a bit…I prefer “slowly” …whatever…let’s focus on what’s important. Like the glorious fall weather.

Freddie was so happy to have Timmy back home😻

We were lucky to be at the Cross Country meet where Claire came in first and broke the school record for Freshman!

Proud Dad♥️

Isabel ran from vantage point to vantage point, cheering on her sister♥️

Meanwhile we became alarmed at the approach of the second hurricane to hit southwest Florida in 10 days. Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding on Siesta Key, but most of Sarasota dodged a huge bullet. That was September 26. We began monitoring Milton on October 5, and I have to say the four days until the hurricane made landfall were very stressful days.

I was glued to the weather channel and various weather apps…and became increasingly anxious with every update. Because the predicted landfall kept dropping closer and closer to Sarasota.

We were worried for our Sarasota friends and our condo. Almost everyone who stayed for Helene…evacuated before Milton. Our community fared well…we lost some trees and about 1/3 of the carports. So lucky.
Siesta Key, my beloved Siesta Key was not so lucky. Videos of the aftermath were devastating to see.

Although friends were swift to check in with live reports …we were anxious to see for ourselves and planned to leave for Florida on October 19.

You may remember that while we were onboard Symphony in the Gulf of Finland last August, we experienced the Northern Lights for the very first time. It was truly one of the most magical of events of my life. Well here we were on Long Island and we were gifted with another sighting! October 10, 2024. While not as intense nor as long lasting…every bit as wonderful. So freaking lucky♥️

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We spent a beautiful afternoon watching Isabel compete in a soccer tournament. Her team controlled the ball the entire game and were up 1-0 with seconds to play, when a fluke shot tied the game. Felt like a loss. Thank goodness it was only the first game…Isabel’s team eventually won the tournament ♥️

Hard to believe but in the eight weeks since returning we only dined out once. Not one winery visit, not one North Fork sunset, nothing, nada. Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to all the medical drama…I also fell down the stairs. In our house. Not from the top step…I was about 2/3 of the way down the 14 steps. I thought I was dead. Luckily I survived with just the largest, ugliest bruise on my thigh. And a very sore hip. Anyway, that tumble definitely impacted my desire to be anywhere other than near my heating pad.
Whatever.
We finally made it to Drifters. If you’ve been paying attention, you know we live in a restaurant desert…with the exception of Drifters.

We headed over for a late lunch a few days before we left NY for Sarasota. I had a Pumpkin Pie Martini and Timmy the Harvest Mule.

Tuna appetizer …I hated sharing it.

♥️

I did manage a few loops around our neighborhood and we spent some time cleaning out the garage and the gutters.

We really are getting too old for this nonsense. Why didn’t we simply hire someone? Because we waited until right before we were leaving and well, you know…

Anyway, we left on schedule, stopping in Glen Allen, VA to get a LoveBug fix.

Maddie and Mia graciously shared their Barbies with me…

…and modeled their new eye ware

🩷 #moviestars

…here they are performing a favorite Taylor Swift song

For some reason the girls insist on Timmy lifting them up to the ceiling

Who’s happier?

Sometimes serendipity shows up right in front of you on the highway. #juxtaposition

Our second night on the road found us in Savanah and back at Sam Sneads…always a great experience. The trip down was uneventful and we arrived back in Sarasota around 3:00 pm on the third day. Freddie had a rough first day but settled down and slept most of the second and third days. He helped me unpack, then went for a walk around the patio.

The day after we returned we were back to saving democracy. We attended a fundraiser lunch and left with “get out the vote” postcards.

Because we are old and Tim’s ankle, (and now my hip)…we can’t canvass door to door, but we sure can write postcards.

We began in the morning….

…and were still at it in the afternoon 💙

October 23 found me back on the beach

9:15 am two weeks after Milton

🩵

So eerie …

I walked down to Patriot’s Pier and took photos of the washed out road.

Most of the debris were cleared out and heavy equipment staged for the repairs.

Afternoons…when we weren’t writing postcards, we were set up outside an early voting site engaging voters and handing out voting guides.

Determined to make a difference…thinking about our granddaughters’ future…

I continued to walk Siesta Beach every day and I marveled at the large number of sea birds.

I think this might be my old friend… the Gulf is so murky and not safe. There’s still lots of storm debris and of much greater concern…waste water run off…

This is Crescent beach…before clean up …

Almost impossible to imagine the power of the storm surge…until you see this tree

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A few days later it looked like the gulf was healing…

But then the next day…back to square one…

…still waiting for a work crew

Every one of these ground floor apartments had several feet of storm surge. The road had to be repaired before the workers could begin.

Sixteen days after Milton made landfall, you would be deceived by this photo if you thought all was well….

…because a few hundred feet down the beach we have this…

…raw waste water running from the street onto the beach. The smell was beyond disgusting.

Same day… just further down the beach

Poor guy…he was hopeful 💙 #yankeefan

Still waiting…

Cleaning gum and oil spots. Siesta beach parking lot. Very few visitors.

Another afternoon of postcard writing …

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On this morning I decided to check out our neighborhood park…it took a beating, but all the trails were clear.

An Anhinga aka snake bird

Skies are blue…but the gulf is still murky…in addition to the runoff and debris… Red Tide is back…And the local news frequently mentions the 70+ cases of Vibrio vulnificus (flesh eating bacteria) since the hurricanes. Yikes. …Double yikes!

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I’ll finish up October with these two walking companions.
Although the gulf temperature was warm, I couldn’t touch a toe in the water because of the “no swim” advisories.
Next up November…