Having talked with Dev I learned I4 had been closed recently because a controlled burning of the country side recently had gotten out of hand and caused so much smoke there were wrecks in which people died. No such thing that morning, it was overcast and warmish, I was glad I brung a jacket. We stopped at a McDonald's near Haines City, in a town still scheduled to be built and the woman in the car ahead of us with a New York accent ordered a coffee with FIVE (5) sugars and two creams. She should consider just shooting the fructose directly into her veins.
We arrived at the Manatee viewing area about 11 I think. I called Tampatalon (Steve) and he was on his way. Dev was behind him a bit, she having three dogs that have to be walked individually (
) had gotten a later start than she anticipated. While waiting I saw a guy I thought was him, but it turned out not to be. The guy who was with him asked me if this Steve was good looking and I said yes and he said "Well this can't be him then."
The Manatees gather at this place because there is warm water coming out of a coal fired electrical plant, belching smoke into the air. I posted on my pic of the day the sign saying not to smoke around the manatees, or throw your butts in the water, meanwhile a big old smoke stack is just belching it out. I told Steve we would be out the long walk way, out on the jetty. There we had the best view of them, the behemoths. How would I describe them? They look like a turd, with barnacle on them. All sizes, a pup next to its mother, a very old one who stayed under so long without breathing I was sure it was dead. About a hundred of them, all congregated in this one safe spot where the propellers can't get to them.
Then here came the kids, about 1000 of them, with a median age of 6.3. All in a single file line against the railing, all screaming and hollering and carrying on about the floating blobs in the water. And above the fray I head my name being called. It was Steve, in the flesh, who had arrived with the buses. A compact man with an amazing moustache. He had taken his morning when he should have been asleep to come and meet us. He said Dev would be there soon and sure enough, he soon spotted them, she and her husband, down the board walk, a fitting place to meet people from Jersey I think.
I hugged Dev, it was amazing. I remember her from waaaaay back in the beginning when we were all on the Yahoo board, posting about Brokeback and fighing off Tamara Trout and other asinine trolls. She is so small, and timeless, I would guess her age to be between 31 & 33. Her husband was just perfect to her, I never seen two people compliment each other more.
So what did Jack tell Lureen when he got the postcard saying the divorce had come thru? Was he hedging his bets and going to Wyoming first to check out the lay of the land before telling Lureen he was leaving her? Was she gone on a trip to Dallas with L.D.? Her mother could have took care of Bobby while Jack just took off on a 14 your road trip, for nothing. That was what we wondered, after all this time. Dev was shivering, I give her my coat to wear because I have as much blubber as a manatee.
We took in the Manatees a while longer and then pursued souvenirs at the shop. Staffed by little old ladies and volunteers. They had all manner of Manatee-shirts, but my favorite was a manatee license plate that was also a clock. That would be a weird thing to have on the front of your car.
Steve told us how much the place had changed since they had arrived there from the north a few decades back. The realestate prices that had grown insanely and retreated insanely. He took us to a hole in the wall restaurant where he and his partner used to go and cause whispers, not so much anymore. We follwed him in his rabid yellow truck, it was easy to keep up with
The restaurant, called just that, was staffed by a woman who had no back teeth. I wondered it all the calcium had leached out of them during pregnancy like my friend Sue Ella's had when she had her daughter. They just crumbled in her mouth later and she had to get dentures at 23. I had a Cuban sandwich, which came on a bun and had deli meat and veggies and was wonderful. Others had breakfast. Dev regaled us with stories of her daughters adventures behind the wheel and her husband with pictures of their dogs and the mischief they get into and Steve told us about the heck his parter went thru changing his last name, and how he might be related to Chuck. How his family came to America thru the West Virginia coal mines and I should remember to ask him has he ever seen Matewan. But there is never enough time, or in my case, brain cells to remember it all. Soon we would have to et on the road if we were going to make Santibelle Island and Key Largo before the spring.
I loved meeting you fine folks, my brokie, and my real friends, you all ever up this way let me know ahead of time and I will go and get some of that Blenheim Gingerale.
Topic: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings (Read 2598414 times)