All Hallows Eve at St. Lucie

Saturday October 31, 2015                                                       Most Recent Post:
St. Lucie South Recreation Area                                             Fun in Flagler Beach
Stuart, Florida

 

 

This holiday starts off with another spectacular sunrise. This is one of the best I’ve seen and makes it even more difficult to leave this wonderful spot.  I’m out early enough to see the very subtle beginnings of the color and to watch it get more and more intense as the sunrise closes in.

 

 

 

 

The color continues on around to the south and fills the sky above the Flagler Beach water tower.

 

 

The birds seem to begin to fly in the few minutes before the actual sunrise.  I zoom in to get these three as they fly through the fiery color.   

 

 

 

They circle around and land just on the shore in front of me as the tiny blaze of orange peeks out from the horizon.

 

 

 

 

What a send off as we start our way further south.

 

 

The 200 mile drive is all on I-95 and there is nothing bad about it except that it is I-95.  It isn’t toooo crowded as interstates go, there are no accidents or workmen.  Those are the good parts.  200 miles of it is the bad part.  Interstate boredom is the bad part.  I read more of Outlander outloud.  Nothing worth taking pictures to remember, just a long drive on an interstate.

 

St. Lucie South Recreation Area is an easy on/off I-95 at exit 101. But it isn’t a place you could just drop in to overnight. It’s an extremely popular COE (Corps of Engineers) campground with only 9 RV sites, 5 tent sites and 3 boat in campsites. All the RV sites are pretty much filled all the time.  I’d be surprised if you could ever walk in here.  Reservations are made through Recreation.gov and a long time in advance.  Six months ahead is when they can be made and that’s when I made ours.   I really hate having to plan that far ahead but in Florida, in the winter, there isn’t much choice.

 

When we pull up to the gate to check in the cute little lady in charge grins up and says “How did you get that site? That’s the most popular one here.  It’s the very best site and right on the water.”    It’s only for two nights, but score another one for me!

Our site is at the top of the hill.  This picture is taken looking back toward the entrance.  There are three sites on the water on the right and the other 6 are on the left

The sites off the water have more space between them as perhaps you can tell.  Still the quarters are fairly close.

 

 

Looking back from our patio beyond the bedroom slide you can see the three boat sites.  The first sailboat belongs to a full timer who volunteers here in the Visitor Center.  He and his wife who works in the nearby town live here year round.

 

 

Just beyond the boat sites you can see the lock in the background.  We’ll find out all about that tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

We’re feeling pretty good about this site even in the heat of 88 degrees until the first time the power cuts off due to low voltage and takes out the AC.  This happens over and over and eventually it only stays on for about 10 seconds before cutting off, staying off for 20 more and then coming back on.

David checks the power at the post and what our Progressive Industries says it is receiving and finds there is a an 8 to10 volt difference.

Took off the power cord plug to see if there were any signs of shorting or deterioration in the wires.  He twisted some of the braided wire ends that were sticking out and tried to get them under the screw clamp.  That seemed to help but not enough so he calls Progressive Industries. 

 

 

On a Saturday?  I think he’s crazy.  They don’t answer of course but he leaves a message and within an hour someone calls him back.  I’m shocked and impressed.  And even more impressed when the technician spends over 30 minutes on the phone trouble shooting the problem.   He tells David the best thing to do is to buy a 30 amp male cable end connector from them designed specifically for use with our device.  This is will solve the problem because of the way they clamp the ends.  You don’t have to twist the braided wires which tends to break individual strands and the clamp assures that all strands participate in carrying the load.   He orders it.  I guess we’ll find out if this is true or just hype to make a sale.  Stay tuned.

 

Time for dinner and then an after dinner bath for our crew just before sundown.  They are back in their spots as the color begins in the sky. The sun actually sets behind the trees out our front window.   We can see it go down but not actually set on this holiday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have no Trick or Treaters here on All Hallows Eve.  The Halloween Americans celebrate has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-en)  The Celts of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany believed that this holiday, Samhain, was the end of summer and the beginning of Winter.  On this night they remembered their dead and told family stories of the ancestors.   My friends Sue and Mo visited Ireland very recently and Sue has written some wonderful posts about their trip on her blog The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales.  I really wish they had been there tonight so I could find out how modern Ireland celebrates Samhain.

Tomorrow Mexico will celebrate The Day of the Dead and many Christians All Saints Day.  Both are also associated with remembrance of friends and family who have died.

Because our farm driveway was 3/4 of a mile long, we never had any trick or treaters.  We did take Carrie in to town to trick or treat with her friends for the 5 years or so that she was interested in it.  But those evenings seldom actually were on the 31st of October.   So for me this has always been a night to remember my ancestors upon whose shoulders I gratefully stand.  And those others whom I have admired and loved but who are no longer with us here.

 

Today I’ve been thinking in particular about my amazing Aunt Carrie and wondering how she lived so long and so well to age 102. My father on the other hand is 95 and hardly moves from the chair in his apartment other than for meals any more.

When we lived at the farm, in our front hall, we had an old school desk from the early 1900’s and on its desktop we had small framed pictures of all our honored dead including our animals. We passed it often as we went up the stairs to the bedrooms.  I’m missing that tonight as I watch the sun set and the beautiful colors in my ever changing back yard. 

 

Thinking of you Aunt Carrie, of my mother Margie both of whom I miss every day, my grandmother Cecilia and her mother Barbara Ann.  Thinking of Bill and Dorie,  Puddie, Buffy, Scamper, Scooter, Dede, Lily, Emmy Mae, Uncle Bob, Rachel Carson, Ed Abbey, David Brower, Monacan, Nakoma and so many others who have touched my life and hopefully through me the lives of those I love and others.