Alabama

A couple of pics from my trip to Alabama:

Where does the time go?

It's almost Thanksgiving already, kids, and I have no idea how this year has slipped past so quickly. Between finishing the hospital in Orlando, starting new projects in Lakeland and Ft. Myers and working on the boat to get it set up for next summer's sailing adventure every day since I got back from Paris in March has been action packed.

The work stuff has been satisfying but absolutely exhausting at the same time. It is time for a change of pace and I can't stop thinking about the day I'll be able to hoist the sails on Moon and go chase the horizon for a while.

I'm getting some canvas work done on the boat now - installing a new dodger and bimini - and got a sail in this afternoon after checking out their progress to date. What a gorgeous day....bright sunshine, temps in the mid 70s, and a 10-15 knot breeze out of the northeast. I spent a few hours tacking north on the Banana River, then had a great ten-mile running sleigh ride back to the marina with a pod of dolphins playing in the bow wave for a while.

Can't wait to see everyone in Asheville for T-day.......

Milestones

Oh hey hey hey gather 'round friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters and let me tell you what! Today, four years, two months and three days after starting the journey to build this place of hope and healing for children, we reached the point where the fine folks at the City considered the situation and conditions right and ready to issue a Certificate of Occupancy for the building!

Amen halleluja.

There's a lot of work left to be done, and it will be another several months before the first patient will walk through the door to see a doctor, but it really feels good to have this milestone behind us.

Think I'm gonna go have a cold beer and catch a nap.

Home stretch.....

I caught this shot of the building on the way home yesterday. We're getting close to being finished!

The Best Sailing Documentary Ever

I got up this morning with every intention of going to work, but as is my routine on Saturday mornings I took a few minutes to surf the net with my coffee before hopping in the shower to get tready to go, and after checking the news and weather I went to my favorite sailing discussion forum to see what I could learn. In and amongst the threads about freeing up frozen seacocks and why one anchor is better than another I ran across this video made by a group of adventurous kids that bought and fixed up a derelict old boat and set sail for the islands. Once I started watching I couldn't stop........it is inspiring, wise, scary, sad, sobering, and very funny in turns. Just likereal life.

Be warned that there is some adult language here that you might not want the kids to hear.

That being said, I highly recommend watching it, and suggest you get comfortable when it starts!



http://vimeo.com/15351476

Photos from the jobsite......

Here's a link to some photos I took at the job last night.....

Jobsite Photos May 2012

More Paris pics - stories to follow later

I'm still playing catch-up on getting pics from the Paris trip out of the camera and uploaded, but here's a link to a group on my flickr site where I have parked a few more of the shots:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdogandy/sets/72157629299979478/

There are several hundred pictures still on the camera that I need to go through and cull, and I'm hoping to be able to write down some of the stories of the adventures that I had as well, but that will have to happen later. I'm still playing catch-up at work, and I'm nursing a broken foot-bone (Jones fracture of the 5th metatarsal sustained in a fit of klutziness early Friday morning....another adventure to try to capture with the pen sometime) and will be hobbling around on crutches for at least a few weeks. So, progress will be slow but steady. I hope.

Peace.

Paris...more to follow

Wanted to put up a few pics from the trip before I head to the bed....more pics and stories to follow.....

This band appeared out of nowhere and played some big-band jazz for almost an hour on this street corner.

Fans of the Mona Lisa.....

The Arc de Triomphe....

Inside Notre Dame....



One of the hundreds of patisseries...this one was a block from the apartment in Montmarte. The raspberry torts were my favorite!

One of the many houseboats docked along the Seine....this one had a pretty nifty arrangement for lowering the masts to go under the bridges.

Venus de Milo at the Louvre

Katydog

The vet that Katy was boarding with while I was away on vacation called me early Wednesday and let me know Katy had passed away in her sleep early that morning. Her health had declined steeply in the last few months, and although it was clear it was her time and her passing wasn't unexpected, I am heartbroken.. 

She was a good dog and a good friend, and I will miss her terribly.

Wednesday night softball......

So...some folks from the jobsite have gotten together, organized a softball team, and joined in the local city rec league. We play Wednesday nights, and although we are playing against vastly superior competition we always have a good time.

President's Day block party!

In honor of President's Day our neighborhood had a block party today organized by the family across the street - an amazingly energetic and talented mom, dad, and daughter that all do art, music, and theater in their day jobs. The "Wilt Chamberlains", the band made up of the young guys that moved in a few houses down last fall played the gig and did a great job, and fifty or so neighbors and friends brought food and drink for the community table. Everyone, including dogs and random passers-by, joined in the fun.

Here are a few pics. I'll probably load another few on the flickr site this weekend.

Fair winds...

Here's a short video from today's sail on Moon.....(click on the YouTube button on the bottom right to be able to see it in full screen)