David is in a hotel room. What do I do while he is gone?

Thursday November 20 and Friday November 21, 2014
Fort Clinch Campground
Fernandina Beach, Florida

 

 

I’m writing this post on Saturday morning.  One of my morning rituals to make myself smile is to check on the weather at the farm and at my daughter’s house in Laurel Maryland.  This morning it is 20 degrees at the farm, 18 degrees at Carrie’s and 69 degrees and breezy here at 8am.   I am feeling really lucky to be out of this serious cold snap  

But this post is about the past two days.  David was forced into an overnight to get his infusions 105 miles south of where we are now.  That’s the longest distance he will have to drive for them during our winter in Florida and it seemed silly to make that round trip twice so he arranges to luxuriate in a hotel room in Palm Coast.  And eat whatever he chooses I suspect.  He left at just after 8am on Thursday.  What did I do while he was gone?

 

THURSDAY

 

 

After he leaves I head down to the beach.  I am always so surprised to see cactus in the sands of the dunes area.  I can’t get it out of my head that cactus are dry hot desert plants.   But I’m working on it.

 

 

 

The beach is beautifully deserted this morning.  There are long stretches of water ridges filled with shells.  It’s really lovely.

 

 

 

 

I can tell the sand dunes here have been protected for a long time.  They are nearly covered by the low maritime forest which is the natural vegetation of this area and protects the shore from erosion and the things behind them from storm damage.

 

 

 

The winds are a bit brisk this morning so I’m fleeced and sweatshirted up.  By the time I return, the sweatshirt is tied around my waist.

 

 

 

 

I’ve walked a couple of miles when I see two large birds at the water’s edge.  They look like buzzards from this distance.  I get out my trusty camera and take a picture before they fly off.  Later when I crop it, I find a bird that isn’t a buzzard or an osprey.  I send my picture to Judy who promptly writes back to tell me that I have seen an immature bald eagle.  WOW!  Later Nancy tells me she’s seen them here too.  So I’ll be on the look out for them now.   How wonderful that this place is home for them too.

 

 

 

I’ve actually been walking along the Cumberland Sound as I head north, the Atlantic ocean is South of the campground.  As I approach the tip of the island I can see the fort right across from the tip of Cumberland Island.  The Dungeness Ruins are there beyond the trees but out of sight.  It seems on a calm day we could just kayak right over there.  Of course the catch is, would it still be calm on our way back?

 

 

 

The fort is a 19th century masonry coastal fortification.  The site was first fortified by the Spanish in 1736 when they held colonies in Florida.  From that point on various nations have had troops here to protect the the entrance to the St. Mary’s River in Georgia and the Cumberland Sound.  The current fort was built at the end of the Second Seminole War in 1847.  It’s pentagonal in shape.  Confederate forces seized the fort in early 1861.  I don’t go into the fort, that’s for another day.  But as I walk by on all sides, the canons are facing out to sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I walk along the shore, I find this interesting portion of old tabby construction and very old bricks.  Not sure what it is but I imagine the tour of the fort would tell me.   A question to be answered. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I round the point and begin walking down the shore of Sound heading for the Amelia River.  It’s about time to turn around and head back but I want to take a walk through the other park Campground which is here in the maritime forest.   There are 40 sites here and they are roomy, nicely spaced and of course very shady as compared with the “Ocean” campground we are in.

I find some interesting rigs including this bus with solar panels.

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than walk back up the road to our campground, I just turn around and go back along the shore.  I only see two fishermen on the beach.  This one.

 

 

 

Love the eye.    

 

 

 

Here’s the second fisherman.  He is keeping track of two poles.

 

Check out this custom fishing cart.  The plans might be for sale.

 

 

 

I head back in to whip up an early dinner and when I look back I see that Nancy has joined Bill.  Don’t they look totally relaxed there by the water.

 

 

 

Sunset is 5:25 so it makes the days seem very short and the nights long.  I guess that’s because they are.

 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY

 

I get up to see the sunrise, no fear of waking up someone who has great difficulty sleeping. I walk around the shore of the sound beyond the fishing pier to the Atlantic.  There is something just so lovely and peaceful at this time of the morning.  I don’t see another soul other than the birds flying by in groups.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m feeling particularly tall as the sun has risen to my back.  I enjoy the warmth and look at the shells along the way.

 

 

As it turns out, this is the best part of the day.

 

David has been wanting to try making popcorn without oil.  Last night I read on line and watched a Utube video about how to do this.  I follow the directions exactly and here is what I get, one burned pan and a 1/4 cup of burned and partially popped kernels.

 

 

 

So today it is time to clean my poor pan.  I read on line and watch a utube video where a woman who has a pot totally blackened all over the bottom and up the sides from boiling something dry, puts equal parts vinegar water in the pot and boils it for 8 minutes. 

I then watch her use a wooden spoon to scrape out all the black.   I try this.  Does it work for me?  NOPE. 

About this time Nancy Mills drops by and joins me in the vinegar spa where the temperature is 81 degrees inside and the windows are fogged up with vinegar.  She actually sits down, says she loves the smell of vinegar and chats a while.  Now that’s a real friend.

 

 

 

When she leaves, I try the next idea I find.  Make a baking soda paste, let it sit and then scrub.   Does it work for me?  NOPE.  

At this point, I put this problem aside for a while and go on to the next thing on my list, making reservations for a few days at Disneyworld in early December.  

Everything is going fine with this.  I have booked both the campsite and the tickets.  I click the final purchase button and the phone rings.   It’s mastercard calling about a fraud.  I think they are calling about what I’ve just done. 

But no, they are calling about charges just made in California.  They have blocked my card.  The young hispanic girl asks if this Rite Aid charge is mine?  

NOPE, I’m in Florida, not California. 
Well what about this one from Lowe’s. 
Nope, is it from California?
Yes.
But I just told you I am in Florida.
Well what about this one?
Nope, is it from California?
Yes
SIGH…………

OK so what about the charges I really did just make at the same time here in Florida?

Well one went through and one didn’t.   I go back on line to try to redo the campsite but it’s no longer available of course.  So I call Disney and then I have to call Mastercard back.  This goes on back and forth Disney/Mastercard for the next NINETY minutes on the phone trying to get two charges paid for before they cancel the card and send me a new one.

I am just on the final phone call when David returns from Palm Coast.  I think I have gotten it all taken care of.  But when I check the account on line, I find I have 3 charges to WDW not just two.  The $400+ charge is in there twice.   My phone minutes are down to 52 out of the 700 a month on our plan.  We cannot call anyone else between Monday and Friday until December 3rd.  This will have to wait until tomorrow, the week-end, when calls are free.

Who could have imagined that David could have had a better day than I did?

But there’s always tomorrow.

 

 

The nature of our future will depend on the future of nature.