On being in the right place at the wrong time

Casperson Beach, Venice, Florida

Saturday I put the bike rack on the old Ford van and drive Mrs. Phred to Venice. We do the five miles on the Legacy trail to Casperson beach. The gulf water is very warm. I float in deep water for about an hour until we get caught in a thunderstorm and eat turkey sandwiches under the shelter of the bathhouse.

You pass the old airport on the legacy trail and watch the old aeroplanes floating in for a landing without thinking much about them. Later, on the beach, I worry a little about being struck by lightning and fail completely to consider aeroplanes falling out of the sky...

 On Sunday one of the planes lands on the beach and kills a man from Georgia and badly injures his nine year old daughter. Too bad the pilot didn't decide to land in the water instead of a crowded beach....

 We attend a free concert at the Van Wezel on Friday...good music...if we go again we'll go earlier and get a seat closer to the sound...

 After the concert I take Mrs. Phred downtown for Margaritas and Mahi-Mahi quesadillas....

 Chilling in one of the Sun & Fun hot tubs...nice to be out of the sun in July....In case you were wondering, the little mockingbirds hatched, grew up, and flew away in the standard 14 days...guess they have less to learn than human whelp....

Vagaries

Mile Marker 123

We spent a little too long escaping the storm, chatting with neighbors.

You never really know when you wake up in the morning if it will be the last time.


Whenever they have a fatality on the US 1 two lane choke point out of the Keys, traffic stops dead for about five hours while they investigate and clear the scene.

The accident must have happened about a minute ahead. The big rock hauler is trashed. The other vehicle is completely disintegrated, parts strewn for 200 yards along the highway. The fire rescue people walk along the roadside for 500 yards in all directions making sure that they have not overlooked any bodies or parts.

We see the helicopters evacuating dead victims.

The last time we left the Keys there was also a fatal accident that stopped all traffic in and out. Since we were stopped by a restaurant, we had conch fritters while we waited.