The Smell of Rainbows in the Morning

Palm Beach, Florida

I love the smell of rainbows in the morning. They have the sweet odor of an improbably lovely reality.

I have learned to make mojitos. It's a Cuban drink that translates to "a little wet".  To make two decent mojitos, take about 20 fresh mint leaves and add three tablespoons of white sugar and the juice of three limes. Crush the mint leaves to release the flavor. Put two or three ounces of white rum in each tall glass and split the mint mixture. Fill with ice cubes and club soda.

The dive trip in Palm Beach was a fizzle. I had bad chest pains and shortness of breath the night before in the hotel. It would have been inconsiderate to go on the dive the next day with the possibility of ruining the trip for 12 other divers by creating a medical emergency or a dead body 100 feet down in the Gulf Stream....

We heard some loud (and fairly good) music at a place called "Two Drunken Goats". It was a very racially mixed listener venue. When you look at what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri right now, it's good to see people with different skins enjoying music together somewhere in America...

Sunrise in Palm Beach.

We found a great place for breakfast in Palm Beach called Debra's. It seemed to be filled with fishermen.  I had the catfish and eggs.

Mrs. Phred enjoys a home-made mojito...

We will definitely be hitting the road Tuesday after seeing my oncologist Monday no matter what he has to say about the whole body positron emissions tomography (PET) scan (old age is not for sissies). Our first stop will be Ginnie Springs....I want to dive some caves (the Devil's Ear), do the cavern and float down the Santa Fe river....we should hit it in the ideal time after school has resumed but before Labor Day.

It's not bad here between reading, drinking mojitos and walking seven miles a day in the 95 degree heat to downtown Sarasota...

Summer's Almost Gone

Sarasota, Florida

The every day seven mile walk to downtown Sarasota in the plus 90F humidity drops my weight by three pounds so I never weigh in until after the bus ride back. I listen to the 679 tunes on my smart phone while walking. I can get though about forty of them in the 2-3 hour walk. Today I heard the Doors singing "Summer's Almost Gone"...both apropos and poignant.

Summer's almost gone

Almost gone

Yeah, it's almost gone

Where will we be

When the summer's gone?

Morning found us calmly unaware

Noon burn gold into our hair

At night, we swim the laughin' sea

When summer's gone

Where will we be?

Mrs/ Phred and I took a walk in the Myakka River State Park. She's not afraid of bears, snakes or gators, However, she really dislikes deer ticks so we had to stay on the paved road instead of the trails...

Maybe we'll go down to West Palm Beach this week and do some drift dives in the Gulf Stream....the hotel rates are looking good in the off season....Nothing thrills like floating along 100 feet down. You feel  like a you are a balloon looking at corals and exotic sea life....

There are some very strange bikes downtown.

One morning this week about 300 snowbirds dropped in to rest in Alligator Pond...they didn't seem at all nervous when I walked past....

The strange cancer on my head is back again. It started in 2007 and has now spread down to my neck. I've had radiation and about 9 surgeries to remove it, but it's a hardy little booger...Another new doctor Friday (an oncologist) and probably a PET scan (positron emission tomography) to see where else the slippery little bastard has gone. The thing is beginning to irritate me because it interferes with my travel plans....

These are my new chest waders from Amazon for the salmon fishing trip to Alaska next July.

Sometimes I fix Mrs Phred a little snack before dinner.