February 10, 2007

I do not know where the day has gone. One would think that if you are living in 26X8 foot of space just how much cleaning can one do before you are caught up. Every day after making myself breakfast of some fashion or other I sweep the floor in the boat and after you get that clean you look at what has presented itself for suicide on the outside of the boat. Bugs trying to get in because it is warmer work themselves into a death throe and finish it by clinging to the boat. Well the boat will get washed the day before I leave here on the outside because I could do it every day under the dock lights. So tomorrow is cockpit morning after my walk to sort of exercise my sore back. Which means that instead of stooping over I will be doing the scrubbing on my hands and knees. I know, everyone scrubs on their hands and knees and you know its hard work so why labor the point. Another reason it is tough to keep a small space clean is during the day with the windows open you are a dust magnet as well. It went from dusk to dark in the time since I started this message.

Today the Joneses were going to go grocery shopping so I hitched a ride and did some of my own. I bought eggs, bacon, bread, sugar free grape jelly to go with the peanut butter on sandwiches. And I bought some fruit, bananas, tangerines and pears which can be kept out in the open and I use them for snacks. One of the best things I brought with me is the Brita Water pitcher which I use to filter the local water tastes out with. For me I am now drinking more water than I ever had in my life. Everyone says well about time, but I just thought that the only water that was any good had to have coffee in it.

A little bit ago the Joneses came down for a visit as the sun was setting and we talked about all the building going on here. The citrus groves have pretty much been bought up by the waterways and the ocean and great big homes are going up on them and I mean 3000 sq. ft. ones. But they are now being constructed out of concrete block and reinforced with steel to withstand the hurricanes that come along this section of the Florida coast. Mr. Jones said that insurance can hardly be found and if found is almost prohibitive to carry on your property but still the people continue to build and tear up the land just to say I got a bigger place than you got. Right next to me is a road in front of their house known as the Jungle Trail. I think it gets it name from a state historical park just up the street where the first house in this area was built on what in Florida is called a hummock or a little hill and the house just fits on the hill. I imagine it was constructed there to keep the water out of it and to help it catch more of a breeze above the top of the mangroves which are plentiful around here. Just sitting here on the boat you can see how the mangroves just turn a wake from the huge powerboats to zero movement when they hit the shore. Oh yes, people are buying these mangrove islands to and hauling in dirt to build them up but the counties are now starting to restrict the destruction of the mangroves because of their useful purpose in slowing down the water from the hurricanes and because of the bird habitat which is destroyed as well. I have seen egrets duck into the mangrove when they see a big wake coming. I wish Shorty and I could do the same.

I wish everyone could be having the same weather I am because you are cold and slugging it out with mother nature. The weather will be cooling down here I think in the next couple of days and I thought I heard or saw a forecast for thunderstorms in this area coming up in the near future. Boy, when it gets dark here it is dark and there are still some small boats going by on the Intracoastal Waterway, I just heard one tell another that it was time to steer to the flashing green light or they would get lost in the mangroves.