New View

Old pool........new pool........wished-for pool. In two more days a new month begins so we will pack up our relatively few possessions and move into a new sand castle. Actually, we're relocating to the high rise next door (the pink one is the old, the yellow, the new; the round pool, the old, the rectangle, the new). I know! I know. We're just a couple of gypsy moths. At any rate, the bottom house is where I would like to live, but someone else beat me to it. Who knows though, maybe the new owners won't be able to meet the mortgage payments, and the dream house will be on the market again.

The Tortoise

Now which way is the beach? Did they say "straight ahead" or was it down the lane? I may just wander off the road and nibble some of those leafy weeds in that yard which hasn't been mowed anytime lately. I just love it when people let their lawns go "green."

Hot as blazes, but I'd walk miles for some lush veggies. Anybody seen that "wascally wabbit?"

See Ya Later, Alligator

Don'tcha dare feed them gators. We don't want 'em to get a hankerin' for human flesh. (Do we really need a sign and a fine to keep us from feeding the alligators? I mean, would we be lobbing a raw chicken over to them. It's not exactly like feeding bread crumbs to the ducks.)

This here is gator country. Can you see him lurking out there in the water? By the way, this is the Sanibel River, and just to the left of the photo are a couple tennis courts. Can't you just imagine the beasts coming up out of the water with their racquets when no one is around? Of course, of course, they would be wearing their izods.

It's amazing how languid and graceful these reptiles appear in the water, yet how awkward and ungainly they are on land. However, these guys can move when they want to.....on land......or in the water. And why is that silly birdbrain swimming over closer?

The media has been showing films of the 8-foot alligator some woman found in her kitchen. Yikes!

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2008/4/22/341817.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tcY4TNWYWCw

Trust me.......I would not be that calm. Sometimes it's good luck to live on the 13th floor.

Where There's Smoke

Ah.....a road trip to Naples FLA .......................... a great destination if you have money to burn. So many shops, restaurants, marinas, penthouses, beaches. I could hardly hear myself think above the din of "buy me, buy me."

Actually the fire was closer to Fort Myers on our way home........a brush fire near the interstate. This blaze didn't seem to attract much attention, but sometimes on a very windy day the flames will spread across the median or jump the road, and traffic will be backed up for hours. Wind and low humidity are a bad combination here in the land of orange juice and coconuts. Not to worry.........soon it will be hurricane season. Meanwhile, the sun just "rolls around heaven all day."

Money, Money

It's tax time - the ides of April. What to do with all that money?

Buy a hot red sports car?

A house on the beach?

A big boat?

If I were getting a refund.

No worries here.

Rogerita

Our #1 son and his lovely wife were here for the weekend. They're the ones in the top photo..........I know it's hard to tell who's who with the sunglasses and all, but hey! we're in Florida, and the sun does shine here........not quite like California where it never rains ......but almost.

#1 and LW are enjoying rogerita margaritas, whose contents are described on the drinks menu with the quip, "we don't care how you make them up north."

http://www.greenflashcaptiva.com/

Yes, that is a glass of wine in my hand, and shouldn't the kids be wearing the bibs?

Sitting in the Sun

We're at the beach. Where are you?

We've been here a month and finally gotten chairs after someone complained constantly about lying on the sand. I, on the other hand, prefer to travel lightly with just a towel and some suntan lotion. Oh, and he had to have a beach bag too.....and an umbrella. Remember...... we must be able to fit all our possessions in the trunk of our car. It wouldn't be the first time we left our beach chairs (and the beach) behind. In fact, today we saw a couple perfectly good chairs that someone had tossed on top of a dumpster in the parking lot. We had already purchased these luxurious loungers, but another sun worshiper didn't hesitate to grab the discards and make a quick get-away...........rather like a hermit crab acquiring a new shell. You're never too rich to appreciate a bargain.

No Foolin'

A glass of wine and a neon palm tree........who wouldn't smile. Lunch at Moretti's Seafood in Matlacha with the dolphins (not the ones from Miami). Popular restaurant with the locals......us too.

http://www.matlachabayfront.com/matalache.html

Same shirt.....another day, another restaurant, another glass of wine. Today we're having lunch at Rumrunners in Cape Coral, and the food is great with a view of a canal which leads directly to the Gulf so there is a lot of boat traffic to watch. Everybody in Florida has a boat.

It's a glass of chardonnay, no matter how it's served although I must admit that there's a little less glamour when sipping from a disposable plastic cup. The logo on the side says Tween Waters Inn (where Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote Gift From the Sea ), but we were actually lunching at The Canoe & Kayak Club with a number of herons and pelicans on Sanibel/Captiva Island. Like so many places here, the food is nothing to blog about, but the view is world-class. I'm sure that's why I'm smiling.

April Fool.