Broken Heart & Other Beachy Finds

Another first - a turkey vulture looks for beach scraps!

Walking along the beach yesterday (Dec 9) we saw horseshoe crab skeletons, lots of shells, jellies and sponges washed up in the surf, along with a brave little bird taking a bath in the waves which were bigger than he.

And then we came across an escapee from the local 'Sanding Ovations' sand sculpting competition held last month. His sculpture, as did others last week, comes complete with a sandy tip jar (look in front of the tower)!

Just outside our condo, we spotted some marks in the sand - U or V shaped markings reminiscent of turtle tracks but too small and of the wrong tread.  

What could this be . . . but a brokenhearted person taking their grief out with some spicy words and lots of markings in our sugar sands.

Our life seems to revolve in a very small circle these days, focused on virtual volunteering and sorting maintenance (street lights, road repairs, condo lights) in our immediate vicinity. Here's the latest on Florida:

A top white house doctor Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force, slammed Florida for staying open during the second wave of the pandemic. She believes a vaccine alone will not stop the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Gov. Ron Desantis has said he won’t close the state, and said the cases here are no higher or fewer than states that are shut down. 

After shutting down the state in March, DeSantis announced he’d reopen the economy in phases. 

Phase 1: May 4, retail stores and restaurants go to 25% capacity, and elective surgeries resume — Cases did not spike 

Phase 2: June 5, most of the state reopens — Florida saw a huge increase in cases followed by a reduction

Phase 3: Sept. 25th, Gov. DeSantis lifted all restrictions and stripped local counties and cities from adopting their own restrictions — Cases skyrocket

By December Florida alone has surpassed 1 million COVID cases and is approaching 20,000 deaths.

One of Birx’s task force counterparts, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is within the same mindset as she is. He wants unity among the nation’s governors and help dealing with those who still believe the virus is a hoax.

silver or sunlit linings in the clouds?

Eta Storm Aftermath & Story of Black Friday

Baynews9.com - Pass-a-Grille 

Well yes, the sand was rearranged.  Some worry it will be harder for the sea turtles to nest.

You can see here the dune walkovers - which pre-Eta had sand under them, but now appear to be in mid air.

The final track of Eta was a bit crazy - 'she 'passed us on the night of Wednesday the 11-12 November - see previous post.

Baynews9.com -- Our beach ...  new escarpment

Of course mankind always wants to improve on mother nature and sand is no exception! One can always use a new sand dune escarpment as a reading nook ...

... but the sand must go from the under-building parking!

Time is flying by but in a crawling sort of way.  It is so weird days pass in a blink but any one day seems to drag on - even with things to do, it is hard to focus.  The BBC has an article that explains why (click here). I guess the effort it takes to think about being safe with COVID is just so wearing. Not to complain, we are fortunate and well here and are well entertained on the beach.entertained on the beach over Thanksgiving.

saw someone on this e-foil hoverboard, looks like fun and a bit of skill/balance needed.

and we think this is moon jellyfish which fortunately don't sting!

There was even a 'tip jar'made from sand.

Saturday morning was taken with spotting and getting FWC/CMA to pick up this juvenile loggerhead turtle who appears to have died from a boat strike and washed up on our shore overnight. S/he was even food for some gulls -- ewww, but that bit is nature.

Head is on upper right of picture

Now in case you are wondering, Black Friday -- called black simply because accountants use black to signify profit — and hence to denote  the day when retailers hold massive sales and likely see positive earnings. Hence they are then "in the black."  As retail/consumer spending drive almost 70 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, Black Friday (and the following “Cyber Monday”) have a big impact on the U.S. economy.

In 1869, in an attempt to corner the gold market, two men using White House connections worked to keep gold off the markets and drive up the price, resulting in a panic and a major drop in the market and financial trade - the first  (and different meaning of) Black Friday. 

What Next - USA Election Process & ETA

10 November 10 at 7:00 am EST

My World:  We continue to be on alert for possible Tropical Storm/Hurricane ETA - the forecasts have been all over the place, but getting more favorable to us - except for this one

white spaghetti plot line nipping/kissing the center of Florida's west coast (i.e. me)! We have already had lots of wind and rain from ETA although she was down south off the coast of the tip of Florida. Today we are getting bands of grey skies, with a bit of  wind and rain followed by sun and then another grey, rainy band - humidity has returned.  Two more potential storms being watched in the Atlantic/Caribbean - and someone thinks "hurricane season" is over 30th November!

USA World:  So the media has called the election for Joe Biden, but President Trump has not conceded rather he has filed [apparently mainly failing] lawsuits in swing states with 'thin margins for Biden.'  What next?  Well, although tradition, conceding is not legally required.  Here's how the process unfolds understanding although Americans vote for a 'ticket of President & Vice President' on their ballots, it is an indirect vote, in that the final determination is by the Electoral College.

December 8: Yes, next month! - Deadline for finalizing/resolving state level election totals

December 14:  State electors vote by paper ballot.  33 states and DC require electors to vote as per popular vote; other state electors can theoretically do as they please! All states use a winner-take-all vote, except for Maine and Nebraska.  Electors sign 'Certificates of the Vote' which are then sent to the President of the Senate (i.e. VP Pence) among others.

December 23: Certificates of the Vote must be delivered to designated officials.

January 6:  House and Senate hold joint session to count the votes. If no candidate reaches the required 270 electoral votes, the House decides with each state having one vote.

January 20: Inauguration Day when the President and Vice-President are sworn in on Capital Hill.

Details can be found here if you want to read more. COVID-19 and the western wildfires have all but been pushed out of the news.

The World:  Very little of any reporting in the USA about the rest of the world as all eyes on election issues!

Sanity comes in the form of: trying to learn to french braid my hair in the back of my head (ha ha), watching the wildlife and crafting (sorry no previews of Christmas pressies) and of course lots of volunteering - mainly over Zoom.

Brown pelicans fishing close to shore ... more brown pelicans swooping across the sky - never seen them quite like this before!

Mini loaf basket just for me!

SEE COMMENTS BELOW FOR UPDATE ON ETA - above spaghetti plot was not what happened! Below is actual Eta track. Thankfully we emerged unscathed.

• October 31, 2020 - Tropical Storm Eta forms in the Caribbean.
• November 2, 2020 - Strengthens to a hurricane and intensifies to a Category 4 hurricane throughout the day.
• November 3, 2020 - Eta makes landfall in northeastern Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm. At least 100 people have died in Central America due to the storm.
• November 8, 2020 - Makes landfall on the south-central coast of Cuba as a tropical storm. Later in the day, Eta makes landfall in the Florida Keys.
• November 11, 2020 - Eta lingers in the southern Gulf of Mexico and strengthens to Category 1 hurricane.
• November 12, 2020 - In the morning, makes landfall at Cedar Keys, Florida as a tropical storm.

Actual plot of Eta which crossed state & moved 
into Atlantic up coast to Carolinas & then out to sea

our street at 20:39 on 11th November

How to Make a New Island & Spread COVID?

In case you are wondering, here's what a hurricane, in this case Hurricane Sally. did to a barrier island in the Florida Keys - one barrier island became three!

Fortunately nothing so dramatic has happened directly to us yet ... but has happened within last 100-150 years a few times nearby ...

On the COVID-19 front our R0 rate is hovering just around or under 1, but here we go again as clearly our leaders don't read the international news headlines "Europe: Sickened by a second viral wave'."  I know people are confused in the UK as to the myriad of ever-changing rules and here in the US we also haven't a clue what to do:

• Florida Gov. DeSantis Proposes College ‘Bill Of Rights’ To Party (headline of 25 September 2020)
• The Republican governor also said he would move to block local governments from closing restaurants again. The governor's plan to stop cities and counties from closing restaurants will have no immediate effect because most eateries have been allowed to reopen, albeit at reduced capacity, as part of the governor's plan to revive the state economy.
• Phase 3 FL Reopening Means Bars, Restaurants At Full Capacity -- no masks required!
"We're also aware of the need for business certainty," [Governor] DeSantis said. "There have been some local closures and other types of restrictions, so the order that I'm signing today will not allow closures of restaurants, and they can operate at a minimum of 50 percent regardless of local rules."

Storm Brewing: COVID? Or ?
we need to send this cloud to CA wildfires!!
It looks like the people abduction cloud in La Derniere Vague 

?????Confused???? Thankfully now we have out local county asserting itself [but without teeth!]:

County COVID-19 ordinance remains in effect. A County ordinance put in place to facilitate safe reopenings while slowing the spread of COVID-19 remains in effect, following the announcement of Phase 3 of the state’s Safe, Smart, Step-by-Step phased plan Friday (25th). Executive Order 20-244, signed Friday by Governor DeSantis, does not impact the local ordinance the County adopted, including the face covering requirement for indoor facilities and that customers be seated to be served at a bar or restaurant.

While the governor’s order suspends the collection of fines and penalties associated with COVID-19 enforced upon individuals, it does not restrict counties and municipalities from enforcing rules on businesses.

Face Coverings: The countywide ordinance 20-14 took effect in June and remains in effect through the duration of County’s State of Local Emergency. ... Citizens must wear a face covering in indoor public places within the County, although the Board provided several exceptions. Among them: o The County ordinance mandate cannot conflict with the Americans with Disabilities Act. o The ordinance does not apply if a person is strictly adhering to social distancing and there are 10 or fewer people in the location who are also maintaining social distancing. o It does not apply to governmental entities such as schools, courthouses or city halls, although those entities are encouraged to develop procedures to protect employees and the public. Etc Etc

Predictable Impact:  Florida bars packed after state lifts COVID-19 restrictions. Think anyone there got the FL Surgeon General recommended flu vaccine?

More notably the weekend saw mini me take borrowed clippers to hubby's head and now instead of looking like Einstein, he looks like Shaun, the shorn sheep.

So to soothe use all, here is a 2 am moon picture from Kepi Peterson.

"We are Flirting with Danger"

http://www.docjonphoto.com/

"We are Flirting with Danger" in oh so many ways - presidential election, politically both sides agree on this, but the exact danger each side sees is polar opposites! And then the coronavirus pandemic, weather extremes (went to zoom presentation on 'controlled burns') and ... ah well... back to the mundane -->

-->Lysol disinfecting dash of 15 September:  Friend texted "they have disinfecting wipes" and I was out the door to snag my first supply in months!  Wow wee got there in time and made my COVID-19 day - how sad is that?  But I figure another surge may be coming so doing all I can to be prepared despite the lower positive test rate here recently.

Mini me has taken to a news holiday on Saturdays and finds this uplifts her mood along with swims in the pool, which reminds me ...

Through September 21

turtle nest with light screen

. . .we are so thankful the hurricanes have missed us to date.  Tropical Storm ( become a hurricane) Sally passed us by 125 miles offshore on the 13th, so all we have is big waves and a bit of wind ...for 5 days!

Our typical rainy season includes lots of thunder and lightening storms reminding me of a childhood saying 'the angels are bowling' and getting lots of strikes I might add! Plus preceding and following a tropical storm we have had what I call humidity pea-soupers or what the TV weatherman calls 'air you can wear!'  It is worse than trying to swim, just walking about in the dense humid conditions - thank goodness for air conditioning (a/c).

Turtle season is winding down, above you can see the big waves of Sally trying to attack this nest, which unusually has both a light screen and a self-releasing (ie big holes) cage around it.  Here you can see it did hatch on night of 14/15th.

turtle nest hatching hole in center of cage

Our beach walk (generally in the rain or just after a storm when beach is empty) turns up a few things ...

. . . we watched this gull try to eat this seahorse for quite awhile (hubby got a great picture),

tasty seahorse dinner, but hard to swallow

and this is a non-stinging (thankfully) moon jelly - our beach is full of them!

The mask hospital was open here recently as I repaired our first set of masks and made a couple more - think we are going to be wearing these for awhile.

Not watching the news is helping to save me from swimming in the sea of mediocrity (I even have made an action motion for this) which is seemingly sweeping the world -I do suffer the  COVID grumpies and weariness trying to anticipate the actions (or inaction) of others.

left = friend Jan; right = mine

On a cheerier note:  here's a craft project I can share as I am keeping it for myself!  I really love this basket.

This along with trying out new recipes (mainly salads some of which I make up on the spot with whatever is in the fridge!) &baking keeps me more or less sane.

2020: The Year that Wasn't

typical summer rainstorm

2020 seems to be lost/disappearing before my eyes and although I could give you a long list of what I have accomplished, somehow it all feels like a mirage.  So 2020 the Year that Wasn't (as my neighbour said)! July and August have seemed particularly tough for those of us still in our own social bubble and disinfecting everything we bring into the home; maybe it's partly the heat and needing to stay closed up with AC. I feel like 'suzy homemaker' with all the baking, cooking, crafting and cleaning!

In case you are wondering - Suzy Homemaker was a line of miniature functional toy household appliances produced by Topper Toys, and launched in 1966. In the USA this term is used as a derisive reference to any woman with habits linked to stereotypical domestic activities traditionally done by women. 21st century update would be Martha Stewart homemaker!

Maybe all this is because History is Repeating: Letters from the 1918 'Spanish flu' outbreak make interesting reading -- independence vs indifference - see this article from The Guardian. More new meaningless phrases:  'half-maskers'(or as hubby says pointless maskers, ie those who cover mouth but not nose increasing one's coronavirus risk as the virus tends to first & most penetrate and infect the nasal cavity) and twin-demic (coming of the flu in the autumn on top of COVID-19).

My fingers are going numb from crafting, so guess I will soon have to just read, in the meantime, I notice the cold water from my tap is hot enough to take a bath (a Florida issue in the heat and humidity).

washed up by Hurricane Laura
could they be sea squirts?

This week's beach sights:

Sea Squirts

Man with fruit - melons or coconut

look closely - swimmers with fishing pelicans 

aftermath of summer thunderstorms

The Gulp Coast

Well I never, but a British friend forwarded an article which names this stretch of Florida beach as the 'Gulp Coast' due to it's microbreweries ... and ... I name it the Gulp Coast due to the Trumptilla Boat Parade, read about it here. What a sight of thousands of boats streaming past on a Saturday morning, Trump banners blowing in the wind going for The Guinness Book of World Records, which they got with 2,200 boats.

I keep thinking we have seen it all out our window onto the Gulf, but no  Last week we finally had a manatee swim past (water temp is 90F/ 32C) and yesterday a jumping fish frenzy (picture by wkrg.com) which resulted in a bird frenzy as they tried to catch the fish.  Underneath the water was a black blob of something unknown that we think drove the fish to the surface - could even be sharks.

Another Gulp, is our increased use of plastic during coronavirus - EEKKKK! So much for that brief 2 month window of helping the planet. Speaking of coronavirus, we now have "mask slacking;"  Apparently People balked at masks in 1918, too. And some say COVID-19 mortality on par with peak of 1918 pandemic followed by Survival does not mean fully recovery! Do masks work?  Surgeons and dentists wear masks - what do you think?

Numerous new phrases we have are just too much, but apparently 'help us cope' as language 'unites' - 

no masks, no 6 feet, but at least outside

don't even mention the 'new normal,' 'back to normal' (a ridiculous concept), or unprecedented (it's not - read about 1918 or the plague) to me! How about re-imagine (used throughout Democratic National Convention with few specifics) or Cory Booker's phrase  'national nightmare?' "We're in this together" seems to be fading from use, but the new TV adverts -- in the USA there aren't really any government public service announcements on what to do the health care groups have taken up the charge -- at least try to give some practical advice .

 I am doing staying home almost all the time and limiting contact to just 1-2 people at a 'social distance' - - guess that's called sheltering in place (but note not a good idea for those living on a barrier island if a hurricane comes along)? Or perhaps I have a "mini me social bubble" ( apparently also known as a pod, or a "quaranteam,")? I don't think the USA and UK concepts of 'social bubble' are at all the same.  It is reported that during the 1918 pandemic, women wore over-sized hats to keep people away - sounds easier than the hoop skirt!' 

The Telegraph reports Megan is having issues "speaking British as an American."  Not sure I sympathize, but I do know what is meant causing mirth/confusion by 'slipping into British idioms' to American friends/whilst living in the USA.

A summer slump calls for some inventive pastimes --Here's the new St Pete pier which replaced the pyramid - do you think it is an improvement? From pictures, I would say the new pier looks better at night - especially the 'fishing net' thing to the right.! And of course this coming week the Republican Convention is on for four nights - yippee!?!

New Pier

Old Pier

My craft projects remain 'under wraps' as they are presents, but here's a picture of our daily summer thunderstorms.

Steel Yourselves!

'city of clouds' on the horizon

History repeats itself: an interesting, easy read - Why the Second Wave of the 1918 Spanish Flu Was So Deadly.

Never realised the face mask would become a new diet plan!

I set out not to be  apolitical on this blog, but just sharing beach/crafting fun.

However, I would feel remiss if didn't mention ...  the USA needs to change - protesters, inequality and kindness.

AND ... 31 July news headlines include 'Hong Kong delays election ... over virus fears' - now who does that sound like?

Mini me has yet to see or try one , but they are about in her community: water bicycle/ hydrofoil/ hydrobikes plus pedal kayaks.

First the news was about staycation stress and now as people have started travelling agins with the inevitable consequences of getting stuck/cutting holiday short, we have Caution Fatigue. Ah the problems you didn't even know you had, until 'named' by the press!

Enterprising fund raising for
Rocksolid Cheerleading,
selling cold drinks on our beach.

It's summertime which means hurricane season - first one we've had to watch is Hurricane Isaias (prounced eee-sigh-ee-us) - a Spanish name. First the forecast was up the west coast of Florida, then the center and now the path is forecast to track offshore ("skirt") of the East Coast of the Florida peninsula as a category 1 steered by the easterly Bermuda High and an Upper Trough to the west.

Segway, some don't have handlebars!

 

The cruise ships clustered and anchored in the

 Bahamas waiting out the coronavirus, are all now fleeing southwest around the tip of Florida.

No not a hurricane spotter (nor the red arrows over Kent), but sea planes like this fly low and buzz our beaches every so often.

The beaches in England seemed to be even more crowded than here as once again officials warn on the news to avoid them and social distance. But otherwise Europeans & Brits seem better behaved than Americans with COVID-19 advisories and common sense!

I've been busy making . . .

. . . Christmas and assorted birthday presents, so cannot post them here -- yet! My favorite model,  however, can show off the newly recommended homemade face shield.

The Sea Turtle Conservancy was here today doing a lighting survey - let's help those momma loggerheads and their hatchlings get to the sea!

And of course I need to end with a sunset.