Heavenly Bodies

Living on the Gulf of Mexico means celebrating the sunset every single night. People gather on the beaches, in beachside restaurants, and at local sites such as Pier 60 to share the spectacular, ever-changing phenomenon.

The Clearwater Pirate ship, photographed from Shephard's
Tiki Bar, takes a Sunset Cruise every evening.

Clearwater Beach sunset at the end of a stormy day

Dusk on Siesta Key

The Wolf Moon rises over the Intracoastal Waterway

 The sunrise at Clearwater Marina

Avian Visitors

 I lived near a rookery of great blue herons when I lived on Peggoty Beach in Scituate. The birds were always skittish and difficult to approach, but in Clearwater they are as tame as gulls. This one was hanging around Pier 60.

 This osprey liked to use our balcony as a fish-spotting platform.

 An anhinga (water turkey, snakebird) dries his feathers on the dock after diving for fish.

An egret landed on our railing and stared at us through the slider.

I finally relented and hand-fed him a piece of ham.

The Condo

We liked everything about the condo: the location, the layout, the space, the furnishings, the view. The living room and each of the three bedrooms were equipped with LCD televisions and I-homes for our Ipods.

Taken from the slider to the balcony, this picture show the living and dining areas and the kitchen.

The living area

The kitchen

The master bedroom

 The Harborview Grande faces northeast, overlooking a lagoon that opens to the intracoastal waterway. The view always included pelicans, and frequently dolphins and ospreys.The beach is across the street.

View from the balcony, looking right

View from the balcony, looking left

Clearwater Beach: The Trip Down

Instead of our usual brief junket to the Caribbean, Kathleen and I opted to take advantage of our mutual status as retirees by spending two full months in Clearwater Beach. Last winter's unprecedented snowfall made a compelling argument.

Kathy's propensity for motion sickness convinced us that I would take the Xterra southward while she battened down the hatches and then followed me via the air. I made the trip in short easy hops, relying on relatives for overnight stays: on the first night, I stopped in Greenwich where Joan and Don treated me to filet mignon; on the second night I stayed with Kathy and John in Silver Spring, where they treated me to an Afghan meal at Faryab in Bethesda. From their home it was a short ride to the Autotrain in Lorton, Virginia.

On the overnight trip I made the acquaintance of John Daly, author of several crime novels. After discussing books for a while, he good-naturedly declared me a literary snob, which I guess I am. Dinner and breakfast were served on the train. I didn't get a lot of sleep during the 17 hour trip, but all in all it wasn't a bad experience. I arrived in Sanford, Florida, and drove to the Orlando airport to pick up Kathy. Our transportation plan had worked to perfection.

It was about a 90 mile drive to Clearwater Beach. We arrived at our condo just as the sun was setting over the Gulf of Mexico.

Our home for January and February: the Harborview Grande

Old Cape Cod

In September, we were the guests of Bonnie and Peter Rollins at his family's beach house, a large, comfortable, purposefully unmodernized home on its own peninsula in Orleans.

The chairs in the yard face Frostfish Cove, which connects to the Namequoit River, which leads to Little Pleasant Bay, which opens up to Pleasant Bay. Peter and I took the Boston Whaler all the way down to Chatham Light and back, passing the Wequassett Resort, the Chatham Fish Pier, and the Chatham Bars Inn along the way.

The porch has water views on three sides and is a great place to have breakfast on a late summer morning.

The living room is livable, not fancy, with the original dark knotty pine walls and beamed ceiling. The new television set is really the only accommodation to modernity that is apparent. The house is full of books, inviting the visitor to pour a drink, find a seat, and relax.