6 Feb 2014 - There is Life after Tim Horton

Wayne having his siesta in the sun. Huge Osprey nest in tree behind.

This Osprey came down to the beach for a swim.

The Black Skimmers lined up on the beach for their afternoon siesta.

The week is speeding by - they all do, whether we are in Ottawa or Naples. However, the weeks are just nicer in Naples (sorry people, but it is what it is...right?).

There's a bit of a heat wave going on here (again...sorry) and Wayne came home from the gym the other day looking a bit heat distressed so going earlier in the mornings. I think Fort Myers set a new record as it is not normally this hot for another couple of weeks. We went to the beach one day and hauled chairs, lunch, our nice big shelter, etc. about a mile down the beach...when it was relatively cool. I seem to recall saying that we might be making a mistake being this far from the tram when it came time to go home, and it was. The water is still a bit cool for my liking but I did get in up to the tatas to cool off more than once. On the way back to the tram, I had this vision in my head of chairs (one by one), a cooler, a beautiful shelter and a shit-load of shells discarded and trailing behind us along the beach! The day was memorable as the Osprey's have squawkee, squeelee, babies in their nest and the 3 big nests visible from the beach are very busy. One of the birds decided to come down to the water's edge for a quick dip and it was only about 20 feet from me.

Wayne brought 2 large cans of Tim Horton coffee with us and we clearly underestimated the amount we drink. The first can is nearly gone and we still have 2 months to go before we are anywhere near a Tim Horton regenerating station. While I was picking up groceries the other day, I decided to try the U.S. version of Timmies.......Duncan Donut Coffee. I admit, I bought the smallest bag just in case it turned out to taste like Folgers but surprise....it's good, I mean really, really good! Again, another vision of me no longer bringing kid's clothes home from Syracuse but case after case of DD coffee. Someone save me please.

We have decided that we are staying in the most convenient part of Naples...everything is either close or easy to get to. I put that to the test this week by looking for a place to get a pedicure and a hair trim. I found both less than a block from us and was very happy with the results. I actually woke up the morning after the cut and all my hair wasn't standing up on three sides! Success. Not only that, I managed to find Swim Mart ("We have a bathing suit for every BODY") and after trying on 87 different suits, managed to find 2 that didn't show all the things I don't want shown. Overall, a great day.

I went to my Writer's Group again today and still enjoying it so much. The two hours go by fast and I love that there are always 6 different ways to express the same idea. I'm so glad that I decided to get off my duff and commit to something.

We are looking forward to our cruise next week. We went to the library today and printed off all the forms and tags we need and will head out from here early Monday morning to be there before noon. I know one day we will be in Nassau and I'm hoping that a side trip to Atlantis is one option for the day as I've always wanted to play...I mean see it. We are going to try...TRY...and pack light as this is a Free and Easy Cruise (no formal stuff) and only 4 days. We'll see how that goes.

When Scott was here, Brenda had a pair of those sunglasses that fit over existing glasses (not clip-ons but full sunglasses). She had bought a few pairs at Giant Tiger and after I tried a pair on, I was hooked! I wear progressive lens and find my prescription sunglasses are so heavy that I tend not to wear them. I was very clear about the fact I was going to steal, buy, hide those 'fit-overs' of Brenda's and she would not be going home with them. Bless her heart, she willingly gave them up and I figured my life in the sun was going to get a whole lot better. Unfortunately, one of the arms broke in half on Day 2 and I was upset. In a visit to Bass Pro Shop yesterday for a pair of clip-ons, I commented to the sales person that fit-overs would be my preference but "where would a girl get those except on television or GT". Voila!! BPS had a large selection and I now have the Cadillac version. A small thing to some, I know, but it's one less thing to think about for the trip to 'you-know-where' this fall.

I have mentioned how beautiful Naples is and now that we've been here for a few weeks, here's a few more things we've noticed:
- I 'guestimate' 5 of every 10 cars here is a Lexus. The others would be BMW, Lincoln, and Cadillac.
- This is a WASP city. While the Korean community have the medi/pedi business locked up here as well, there are very few African Americans, and no Muslims (wearing traditional dress).
- Art galleries are bigger, more beautiful, more numerous, and contain more expensive items that Scottsdale, Arizona.
- The Naples Winter Wine Festival raised $13.5 Million this year for underprivileged children at this (yes, only Collier County) year's event. According to yesterday's paper and the website, here's some of the things people bid on and what the final bid was: $900,000 for a 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Lamborghini Aventador, No. 45 of only 100 made; $750,000 for a 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith; $340,000 for a private jet voyage to China, Singapore, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Qatar, Crete and Seville; $260,000 for two couples to the annual Bulgari high jewelry event in Rome, including four nights and two $25,000 gift cards for Bulgari jewels; and on and on it goes......... Over 14 years, the festival has raised $123.5 Million. Clearly, this is the city in which to be 'underprivileged' I guess.
- every weekend it filled with events. As much as I'd like to be going to the Redneck Yacht Club's Mud Races, I expect we'll probably head over to the Greek Festival.
- This is my city.

I doubt we will get any internet time next week so until we're back on the grid, take care and love and hugs to you all. Be prepared people, I am installing Facetime on my iPod Touch. No-one will be safe!