I’ve been missing taking photos and having somewhere to put them. So I thought a few weeks ago I’d try uploading a photo a day. Just happened that I met several dogs and was able to post them. But then I got sidetracked–again. Okay. I accept it. I’ve got too much stuff going on that takes precedent over this website.
But I will put up special photos when I get a chance. And I’d like to give a little background on today’s picture.
Terry and I volunteered at a run last Saturday. The Water Safe Citrus Inaugural 5k/10k/1 mile walk put on by the non-profit Cayla’s Coats. There were about 150 participants.
This is one of the organizations that I always try to support. Little Cayla drowned in a canal off of the Homosassa River not far from my house when she was 19 months old. To honor her, initially their church started collecting and donating coats in her name. Now the non-profit, run by Cayla’s parents who also have full-time jobs, uses money donated to the organization for swimming lessons and buying life jackets and coats for children in Citrus County.
I took an entire month off from posting here. Sorry. Needed a break.
Hope you are back, too.
I still have some issues with the design of this blog. I changed it up a couple months ago because it was so slow. Pared down to the bare minimum and now need to get it back to pretty. Thought maybe if I waited long enough it would fix itself. Didn’t happen!
So where did I go and what have I been doing and how have I been?
Volunteering at the Old Homosassa Learning Center and helping out at the Festival is kicking my butt. I swear, I could just sit at my desk all day and just respond to FB messages and questions about the festival. Then there are the websites. And there’s always something at the learning center. Besides working with the kids, we’ve got a new yoga day and trying to get a beginnng ukulele together.
Today I arrived at the learning center after working on the festival grounds with my hair all in disarray, dirt on my old tshirt and shoes, and munching on my lunch which was a small bag of Fritos and a cookie. Ruth, the coordinator, asked “are you going to do this next year?”
of course! This is what I do! Love it!
I’m pretty sure that if I hold still too long I’ll remember how old I am and start thinking about my joints and that twinge in my back and wonder if I should really be wearing tights with a blue dress and knee high boots.
keep moving keep doing keep learning
I didn’t post on my DIY blog this week. I was sewing. A lot. But it was a skirt for the new festival stage. That’s not very interesting and it ate up all of my sewing time! But it looks really cool. I went to take a picture of it on the new stage and a couple of the volunteers were sitting on the edge of the stage. With. Their. Feet. On. That. Skirt.
Deep breath.
It’s only fabric.
And they are people giving up there time to make this world a better place.
Also didn’t get any time to write on the NatureCoaster.com blog. Sorry Diane. I’ll be back!
Anyhow….
It’s Friday!
What’s going on?
The 43RD ANNUAL HOMOSASSA ARTS, CRAFTS, AND SEAFOOD FESTIVAL.
Where will you be this weekend?????
Stop by and say hi! I’ll have an orange shirt on!
(And I thought I’d put a snap of my orange shirt here but it might be in the washer at this moment!)
Anyhow, here’s your dog of the Day…..
Wagster’s super power is that he can touch his nose with his tongue!
Okay, if you follow me on Naturecoaster.com, you’ve already read something about this.
But, I cleaned it up for Naturecoaster. None of my pithy comments or wry personal observations.
There are a couple of big draws back here for visitors to Old Homosassa. (besides the Freezer, of course.)
The first is manatee season. No, you can’t catch and eat a manatee. But we do get a lot of tourists back here in the winter that want to swim with the manatees. Or kayak with them. Or touch them. Or ride them. (both of those last two are illegal)
And the other big event is scallop season.
Such a fun time in Old Homosassa for all those that get out into the Gulf and scoop those future delicious morsels out of the sea grass.
That’s Jessica back in 2012.
Also a boon for our local businesses which is a very good thing for Old Homosassa because they are owned by our friends and neighbors who in turn employ people from our community. No chain restaurants or stores in Old Homosassa!
But everything isn’t sunshine and roses for the local residents.
This pic is from a traffic back up last year. All the way back to the Homosassa Elementary School. This year at 7:30 in the morning on opening day, traffic was backed up all the way to Kevin Jenkins art studio. And vehicles were driving in the wrong lane to get around the jam while other vehicles were heading out of Homosassa. Very scary.
Several years ago Citrus County started having employees from the Parks and Recreation department direct traffic at the county boat ramp in Old Homosassa on the weekends. This alleviated a lot of the congestion and some of the arguing at the boat ramp as visitors attempted to put their boats into the river or pull them out. Kind of made it boring for Terry and I because we used to bike down there on Saturday mornings just to watch the launch battles!
But there were still too many trucks and trailers to park in the county parking lot. A few businesses and several home owners with large yards allow trucks and trailers to park for a fee.
But still, not enough parking on any Saturday during scallop season.
This is supposed to be a two-lane road. Not during scallop season! Wondering how a fire truck would maneuver around these obstacles plus dealing with oncoming traffic if there was an emergency.
And if the fire truck got through? The fire hydrant is blocked! Along with the gates into the elementary school. And they are parked on our SIDEWALK! We don’t have many and they aren’t supposed to be used as a parking lot!
Here’s another one on the sidewalk.
Note the “No Parking Here to Corner”. The corner is where that stop sign is. Two boats and trailers!
The board of directors of the Homosassa Civic Club decided that it was time to come up with a solution for this ongoing problem. After talking with owners of some of the local businesses and a meeting with Sheriff Prendergast, the board decided that part of the civic club property could be used for parking.
Our first youth group benefiting from helping out with the parking is the “Unstoppable Student Ministries” from the First Baptist Church of Homosassa. This Saturday will be their third time–they are raising funds to go to camp next year! They should already be pretty close to their goal!
Terry and I worked the parking lot on one Sunday. One guy, in his $40,000 truck and $30,000 boat objected very loudly to paying $10 to park so went and parked at the school in front of the fire hydrant. Really.
Streets clear, local youth groups earning money for their causes, and the smart scallopers won’t be getting tickets!
