I Am Titan - I Am Sad

I was happy today when I got into the car for my ride to "the walk" and I wasn't in the waaaaaay back!  But wait, where is my backseat buddy?  huh?  What have you two done with her?  NOOOOOO, tell me it's not true, tell me she didn't go home to May-n!  UGH!

Now I'm sad and lonesome...

I'll just wait here on her rug till she comes back.

Thanks for visiting Wen-D; I miss you.  I'll see you in the spring (or so I'm told).

Woof, Woof
;o)

Time Flies

when you're having fun.  Wendy came to visit, we had fun, time flew by, Wendy left.  ;o(  It was so nice to have my daughter visit for a long weekend; she didn't come down at all last year and I missed her.  She arrived on Saturday around 2, actually landed a few minutes early.  By the time she reached Bill and me, we were both crying (me and Wendy...not me and Bill).

We wanted to fit in as much as possible during her short stay; where we live, where we spend our time, why we love it here, without spending a lot of time in the car.  We don't really do much except walk the dog, have coffee, sit by the river...blah, blah, blah.  She was up for anything; just wanted to relax.  Yeah, we do that a lot, too. 

Since it was only 15 minutes from the airport, we stopped at the Manatee Park to see the manatees, or not.  We read in the paper that the manatees don't like the cold water in the gulf (colder than 68*) and they hang out in the park, near a warm water discharge from the Florida Power & Light company.  It's the best place to see them between November and March, but NOT when the air temperature has been in the 80's for the past couple of days and the gulf water has warmed to more than 68*.  We looked and looked, moved from one spot to another to get a really good look and looked some more.  Not.A.Single.Manatee.In.The.Park! Luckily there was a nice volunteer that informed us not to hurt ourselves looking because there was Not.A.Single (or married for that matter) Manatee.In.The.Park.  The gulf waters were too warm and they weren't traveling down the Orange River to the park.  Apparently they didn't get the memo that Wendy was here and we wanted to see manatees.

Can you tell it was windy?

Manatee Park on the Orange River

No manatees  ;o(   No alligators  ;o)

Two chicks and  a "sea cow"

Too bad we didn't know about this park last year when the gulf was in the 50's and so was the air temp.

On Sunday,Wendy and I went to the farmer's market at History Park.  We did a little sightseeing and saw some amazing things...my condo at Maria Manor, the Animal Welfare League and Ponce de Leon Park.  I know, very exciting!  After picking up Mr. Bill and Sir Titan, we went for a walk along the river, then lunch at Arby's.  We took another short road trip to show Wendy the Tampa Bay Rays spring training stadium and Charlotte Harbor Beach Park. You can determine from our attire and very little detective work that it wasn't the warmest day on record; overcast and breezy.

Fishing Pier along our walk on the Peace River

 

Pier at Charlotte Harbor Beach Park

Monday started out quite foggy but the wind was nice enough to blow it all away and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We left the house early (for us) and walked Sir Titan, then returned home to give him some alone time in his crate.  We had lunch at Cubby's, a little sandwich/ice cream shop, then proceeded to Fishermen's Village where we enjoyed a coffee on the swing by the river.  We even collaborated on a haiku...
     Pelicans diving
     Fish jump in the air briefly
     Geckos in the tree
Wendy and I left Mr. Bill to enjoy some alone time in the sun with a good cigar while we did some shopping, after which we returned to Cubby's for some of their awesome, homemade ice cream.  Yum!

We picked up pizza for dinner as Mr. Bill wasn't feeling very well.

After an early walk with Sir Titan along Tamiami Trail, we tried some coffee from the Hava Java Coffee Shop and learned a valuable lesson. If you are going to sit outside in the sun and enjoy your coffee, look before you sit...

We had a pretty good rain the night before and one of the chairs wasn't quite dry.  Thank you Mr. Bill for being such a good sport.  We returned home for a change of clothes, picked up Wendy's luggage and headed to Ft. Myers and the airport so Wendy could catch her flight home.

As I watched her walk away, I realized that she is no longer my little girl.  She has grown into a beautiful, responsible, compassionate young woman and I couldn't be more proud to call her my daughter.  I was sad to see her leave so quickly but thoroughly enjoyed her visit; she is easy company and her visit made me very happy.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Things You Won't See in Maine (TYWSIM) Vol. 1 Article 2

And I thought we were lazy going to Dunkin Donuts for coffee...

Granted, this wouldn't be fun if the weather was less than great, so there is another one in town that allows you to drive through the building and select your beverage and tobacco choices.  Because, everyone knows, you don't want to get any exercise by getting out of your car and actually walking to make your purchases.

These are mangrove trees that grow along the bank of the river.  You can find more information here.  "These trees have a unique relationship with salt water and poor soil that allow them to thrive.  Large roots holding the trees above the ground or water are characteristic of mangrove trees.  Mangrove trees survive salt water inundation by excreting it at the root level and by storing excess salt in leaves that later fall off."

These are located on a small island in the river near our "coffee swing."  "Mangrove trees are found all over the world in tropical and subtropical climates*. They are found in tidal zones, swamps and shorelines."

*This would explain why You Won't See Them In Maine.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

I Am Titan - I Have a Backseat Buddy ;o)

Hi everyone!

I'm taking a couple of minutes during half-time of the big football game to let you know that my Auntie Wen-D came to visit my mama and papa here in Flor-i-duh.  I really like her because she likes me and likes to hear me talk and sing. 

One of the best things about having her here is that I have someone to sit with when we go places in the car.  I usually have to ride alone behind my mama and papa but can lean over and smell them or give them kisses whenever I want.  (Well, not really when I want because they tell me to "get back", but sometimes.)  Big surprise today when we went for a ride...the backseat was not laying down like it usually does, it was sitting up and I was supposed to ride in the waaaaaay back part of the car.  I don't like being in the waaaaaay back, it's very far away from my mama and papa.  However, I was close to my Auntie Wen-D, which I did like. 

I behaved myself nicely when we rode in the car to get to our walk, which was very fast today because everyone was keeping up with Auntie Wen-D and she walks really, really fast.  I behaved myself nicely after our walk when we took another ride to show Auntie Wen-D the Tampa Bay Rays spring training stadium and the Charlotte Harbor Beach Park.  Auntie Wen-D behaved very well too by snuggling up under her sweatshirt and taking a little nap.  (Don't worry, Auntie Wen-D, it's our little secret; riding in the car puts me to sleep, too.)

I finally had enough of being alone in the waaaaaay back...

I'm making a break for it.

I kind of figured that if I didn't make eye contact with anyone, they wouldn't notice me.  I didn't figure that out quite right but Auntie Wen-D said it was okay and I could stay.  YAY! I love her for letting me out of the waaaaaay back and I rewarded her with one of my special kisses.

At first she played hard to get   ;o(

Then she gave in to my charm   ;o)

I love sharing the backseat with my buddy, Auntie Wen-D.

Woof, Woof
;o)

I am Titan - I Have a New Toy

Yeah, that's right, my papa brought out a new toy for me today.  Come to find out, it was in the car, right under my nose for a couple of weeks.  I heard they were going to save it and let me play with it when we go to the doggie park.  However, it appears we are NEVER going to the doggie park because there are always too many dogs there and I get way too excited.  Sometimes when I'm excited I don't behave myself very well.  Sometimes just walking past the doggie park gets me excited but that's mostly when the dogs behind the fence are not behaving themselves and making lots of growly noises.  My mama and papa think that because the "others" are behind the fence, and I can't see them, I don't know they are there.  DUH!  They forget that my ears and my nose are like a gazillion times better than their's.  So much for making new friends at the doggie park.

I have a toy kind of like my new one but we left it in May-n.

This is the coolest toy (next to my rubber duck) ever!  It's hard to tell from this picture my mama took but it has three tails, kind of like me but I only have one ;o)  When my mama or papa throw this toy, it flies through the air and I run as fast as I can to catch it.  The one at home doesn't have tails any more.  That's because when I get tired of chasing it I like to chew on it and come to find out, these tails are NOT in-d-stuck-ta-bull.  AND, this one s.q.u.e.e.k.s!  I love toys that squeek.

Today I was a little off my game because I got really tired on our walk.  It was warm today, I heard my mama say 84*, whatever that means.  I know she was smiling when she said it so it must be good.  
Even though we stopped several times and they gave me bowls of nice cold water, I still got tired.  Soooo, when my papa brought out this new toy, I was happy and excited, but I just didn't have the get-up-and-go that I usually do.  Even so, my papa was excited for me and throw the toy nice and high.

um, excuse me, I know I run fast and jump high but how, exactly, am I supposed to get that?

Yeah, that's right, papa threw my toy right into the gutter!  Luckily, he knows where the little ladder is and was able to get it down for me.

Woof, Woof
:o)

Update...traffic cones & mural

Although we thought maybe they were planting more trees, it turns out that was not the case.

The traffic cones marked the spot for new signage, actually kind of nice.

The "Hotel Port Charlotte" mural is coming along quickly.

2/1/2011

2/3/2011

I have no idea how much time the artist puts in every day but I don't think he works in the morning when the sun is hitting the building.

It was beautiful today, it was partly sunny and the temperature reached 84*.  We shortened our walk a little so that Sir Titan didn't get overheated.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

I Am Blue

No matter how you look at it, I think the title sums it up...

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)