"Holey Moley"

The construction site got bigger today with storm sewers being installed.













It's a digger's dream...and nightmare too, when it started pouring rain. Now we are left with a big mud hole. The workers had to put black mesh down in the other sewers, so that the dirt and debris could be filtered out, and not run into the sewer they were working on.



Mom and I have learned so much this week. Maybe we'll have to be part of the crew on their next project...or not. LOL Well, maybe we could at least be their official photographers, since we seem to have lots of experience with that now!

The Beat Goes On

Wow, and the beat rattles the house, especially when they drop the gigantic concrete pieces into the roll-off dumpsters.

Today there were just two guys running the big backhoe/loader and the skid-steer...actually a father and son team (We're getting to know these guys so well that pretty soon we'll have to bake them cookies!). They had to tear up and remove all the concrete catch basins for the storm sewers. There had to have been at least 20 dumpsters. As soon as one was filled, there was another delivered, following the workers down the road, making it very efficient.



Mom and I went out earlier, but then they took out the end of her driveway.



The whole road was pretty much impossible to traverse today.





Later on they brought in dirt and graded off the driveway and road. Plus a water truck went around to pack everything down. It's not pretty, but at least it's driveable.

Another piece of equipment arrived this evening. I didn't see what it was because I was out walking, but saw the huge trailer it came on. Mom said it motored down around the corner.

Tomorrow's another day...hope the sunrise is as pretty as it was this morning when we woke up to the beep, beep beeps of the machines. I'm not too sure if this is a good or bad sign, but we're getting used to all the commotion! I think the workers are all going to miss us when we head north next week.

Heavy Metal

It's been a busy two days in the neighborhood. The truck arrived yesterday and the new concrete sidewalks were poured.





They came out beautiful, and are now up to standard regulations at a foot wider than the original.

Today the roadwork began. The blacktop has been milled and a huge grader followed that.







In the middle of the road grinding, more concrete arrived for the side street's walkways, and a tree service cut down several large trees that were on city property and in the way.



The chipper was huge and I would love to have it in the woods at home. One of the workers posed for me, pretending to hold up the tree trunk that wouldn't fall down.



I think (or at least hope) all the workers are getting a kick out of Mom and I watching everything going on and taking photos. We really are interested in how things work and what's happening next.

Later in the day, other large equipment arrived, but none (except the grader) have been pressed into service...yet.





I bet we find out what jobs are planned for all this 'heavy metal', when they fire up the engines at 7 A.M. tomorrow!

Pow Wow in the Park

How convenient to have the park that holds the annual Pow Wow and Mother Earth celebration about a mile and a half away from Mom's house. I walked over there this morning, and enjoyed myself so much, I ended up staying almost 4 hours! I've never been to a Pow Wow before and it was interesting watching and listening to all the different exhibitions. I was relieved that they were trying to incorporate history and education for not only the Native American tribes and culture, but also for preserving our environment.

There were displays about nature, and they brought out baby alligators, snakes, a skunk, and a tortoise. All were rescued and the speaker really drove home the point not to have these animals as pets (or at least be aware of what happens when these animals and reptiles grow up!).











There was a young bison, and a demonstration about wolves. All the wolves in this show have been rescued and one was even 15 years old. More interesting information was told to the crowd about the Alpha Male, Female, and pack instinct.





Several spectacular horses were on sight, and they were quite photogenic and patient with children wanting to pet them. At least one of these horses had Spanish ancestors. This is coincidental since the wild horses of Abaco are called Spanish Barbs.





My favorite part of the day was the dancing exhibition.







The outfit colors were beautiful and the music beat was infectious. They held tribal dances where the audience was welcome to join, and this elderly man was so excited to be a part of the action, complete with headdress and face paint.



The hoop dancer has been doing this since he was a young boy, starting with one hoop. He can now handle 19 hoops all together and not get caught up in any of them.



The costumes and dancing actually reminded me a bit of the Bahamas Junkanoo. It certainly shows that many nationalities have similar ways to celebrate their heritage and environment.

Here and There

Dave flew back home earlier this week, but I will be here in Daytona until April 25th. That's when Mom and I (and her Maltese, Cindy) are flying to Albany. Mom and Cindy will stay with us in Glenville for a month, before going to visit my sister Sue and family in New Hampshire. Mom has been reading my blog about all we did last summer and wants to see it all in person!

Dave has been busy getting all the utilities back in service, getting the vehicles back on the road, making sure the house in Glenville and Ticonderoga survived the winter okay, and getting the motorcycle shop ready to reopen for the season.

Meanwhile, Mom and I are being 'entertained' by construction workers here in her neighborhood. Her street is being torn apart for new sewers, road and sidewalks, due to previous flooding problems. Today they started on the sidewalks, and they even have to relocate her sprinklers.






In one day they have accomplished quite a bit, and the lines and forms for the new walkways are almost done already. I'll keep you posted on the progress both here and there.

Amazing Encounter

Now that it is a bit cooler out, we decided to go kayaking in the Tomoka State Park. This was probably our best kayaking trip that we have ever experienced.

The employees there couldn't be more helpful and explained the different water trails to us.





Once we were set up with our rental kayak, we headed to the area that we were told had lots of wildlife. That sure was an understatement! Very close by the outpost and launch ramp, I noticed a manatee nose sticking out of the water...then another and another. Suddenly the water was alive with turmoil, and as we looked further ahead there were several different groups making the same ruckus. Naturally we stayed a little bit back (thank goodness I have a zoom lens on my camera!), since number one it's illegal to chase or harass manatees, and number two, we sure didn't want to get caught up in whatever they were doing and end up in the river with them! We have been around many manatees, but have never seen them like this. Almost their whole bodies were coming out of the water, and you can see the boat propeller damage on this one's tail.



Then to our surprise, this one's head and torso popped up.



We paddled way over to the beach shallows to really get out of the way and several swam right next to us anyway, before heading back to their group. It may look like a rock, but it's definitely a manatee, complete with lots of barnacles on its back.





After what we witnessed today, I do believe that in a year's time there will be several new calves added to the manatee population!

Splish Splash

It is getting hotter and hotter here in Daytona with temps in the 90+ range. This is pretty unusual for this early in the season, even this far south. We've been trying to stay cool by riding around on the Honda Helix, but come mid-day it's time to find some water to cool off in.

Yesterday there wasn't a breath of wind at the "World's Most Famous Beach," and the place was packed with Easter vacationers baking in the sun.



I don' think I have ever seen the water as calm and clear as it was (what a gulf stream crossing day!). The water temp was about 75 degrees, so I had to do my famous 'chicken dance' to get in, but it sure was a cool relief floating around. Dave didn't like it too much because the waves were too small to do much body surfing, but I thought it was more fun watching the schools of baitfish and even quite a few sheepshead swimming around our legs.

An added attraction was rinsing off in the fountains of Sun Splash Park. Even the big kids (aka Dave) couldn't resist playing in the water.



What a great place for the young and young at heart!