Florida- August, 2023
Happy birthday this month to the following members of my family:
- 8- 6 Wim De Boeck lives in Nebraska with wife Christina, daughter Elodie and new son Flynn
- 8- 8 Michael Frantz lives in Florida and is preparing to be married at age 25
- 8-13 Louisa Cambre lives in Georgia with her parents, Tim and Connie, is starting kindergarten at age 5
- 8-13 Mary Cambre is Louisa’s grandmother and married to my brother, Bill. They live in the USA.
- 8-31 Emma Hoffmeister, my granddaughter, lives in Florida with her parents, JP and Kellie. In the 5th grade at age 10 this month, she is a school patrol.
My routine schedule this month included:
WEEKLY
- Tuesday, volunteer work in the church office and/or North River Care Pregnancy Center
- Wednesday evening prayer meeting followed by choir practice
- Friday afternoon/evening – volunteer at the Palm View First Baptist Church food bank and then go out for supper with some of the other volunteers
- Sunday, attend choir sound check, Sunday School, Church followed by lunch with granddaughter, Emma, and then a visit with my Dad at his Memory Care Center in Sun City Center (less than 20 miles from home.)
MONTHLY
- 2nd Tuesday afternoon, Family Council at Freedom Plaza Memory Care Center
- 3rd Thursday evening, Senior Saints at Palm View First Baptist
- 4th Thursday evening, Board Meeting at North River Care Pregnancy Center
Tuesday, August 1 – Saturday, August 5
On our first day home from our trip to Compass Cay, I did a lot of resting along with unpacking and doing laundry on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 8/2, I had a 4-month follow-up appointment with my doctor. He had changed one of my diabetic medications at my last appointment and saw that had adverse effects on my sugar level, so he put me back on the old medication.
Thursday, 8/3, I took the car in for its 60-thousand-mile service. While I was waiting, JP called and said that he’d been sick since we got home Monday evening and that he was going to a walk-in emergency center. On my way home from the car place, I drove by the emergency walk-in and picked up Emma. She and I went to lunch and did some shopping, then came home and wrapped a baby present for a shower that is scheduled after church this Sunday.
Sunday, August 6 – Saturday, August 12
As usual, Sunday, 8/6 found me and Emma at church and then visiting Dad. After travelling last weekend, I was happy to have a massage scheduled for Monday, 8/7. On Wednesday, 8/9, with a heat index of 110 or more, granddaughter Vanessa was sent home from working in the kitchen at Hickory Hollow BBQ on the verge of heat exhaustion. She called me asking if I could bring her some Gatorade to help her recover which I did before going to church and choir practice. Thursday, 8/10, was Emma’s first day of the 5th grade. She is proud to be a school patrol this year. It was another very warm day, so I stayed inside and got some work done in the house.
Sunday, August 13 – Saturday, August 19
A business meeting was scheduled after church on Sunday, 8/13. We need a new roof on the church building and some other repairs, so the membership voted to seek a loan to cover those expenses.
The Senior Saints met on the evening of the 17th. After eating some potluck food – delicious as always – we played some Bible Trivia and then Pastor George (our senior adult minister) gave a short devotional.
Most of the participants there this evening, noticed that Pastor George’s wife, Esther, looked as though she might have had a slight stroke and we urged him to take her to get medical attention when they left the meeting. The next day we learned that she had been admitted to the hospital and our prediction had been correct. I am happy to report that she is recovering nicely. Every other day this week was filled with my routine activities.
Sunday, August 20 – Saturday, August 26
My friend, Jackie Sosville, had been on vacation for the past few weeks with her sister, Barbara. She drove them up to Maine. After I finished my volunteer work on Tuesday, 8/22, Jackie and I got together for lunch at the Shake Station in Ellenton www.shakestation.com
CAPTIVA ISLAND
We have been considering going to Captiva Island for a week of vacation in October, but they had significant damage in Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island and Captiva Island eleven months ago from Hurricane Ian. Before making any reservations, we thought it would be smart to take a day-trip down there to check the area’s recovery out. We drove down there on Saturday (about 2 and a half hours south of here).
We have stayed many times with our husbands in our boats on Captiva Island. Most often, we stayed in the marina at the Tween Waters Inn Hotel Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa, Captiva, United States of America – Lowest Rate Guaranteed! (hotelsone.com). When we spoke to the desk clerk, she said that they don’t take walk-ins – just call their reservation center. Although most of their buildings are in use, many have tarps on the roof. She also told us that they have built a new Crow’s Nest Bar on the second story of the restaurant and now have two restaurants operating on the first floor. All three are open but, she advised that we make reservations for most of our meals as there are very few eateries open on the Island.
When we left Tween Waters, we drove by one of our favorite restaurants, the Green Flash which was not open. Although we didn’t see much damage, they remain closed but plan to September 22.
Then we went to lunch at another favorite place which is right on the beach, The Mucky Duck. The picture below is their outside bar which had to be replaced after the storm. (You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)
Notice the roofline above the Mucky Duck sign looks like there is some damage along the ridge line. Although the “selfie” below does not show us in the best pose, we enjoyed our lunch and the beautiful view out the window.
After lunch, we continued south to another resort where we have stayed in the past, South. Seas Plantation South Seas | Captiva & Sanibel Island Hotel Unfortunately, this once beautiful property was completely surrounded by a chain link fence and notices said it was a construction area. After looking at the website above, it looks like they plan to make it better than ever.
While we would love to help the locals by staying on Captiva Island in October; but, we came to the conclusion that they are still rebuilding after Hurricane Ian and we’ll consider it again next year.
Sunday, August 27 – Thursday, August 31
This was not a typical week for me. On Sunday, 8/27, Emma visited her friends’ new church. After getting my hair trimmed on Monday, 8/28, I went to visit Dad prior to an anticipated storm coming to the area. Schools were closed as were many businesses on Tuesday, 8/29, so people could prepare for Hurricane Idalia. Rain started just after 1 p.m. and continued throughout the night and most of the day on Wednesday. The eye of the hurricane came inland in what is known as the Big Bend area of Florida and the Nature Coast. There was much wind damage in towns like Cedar Key and Perry but the entire west coast of Florida, from Ft. Myers to south of Tallahassee had significant flooding damage from the storm surge. Several of my friends were told to evacuate because they live close to the water. We live in the eastern part of Manatee County and have been experiencing an extreme drought, so the rainwater was soaked into the ground here at home. The Manatee River was high but did not come out of its banks. The picture below was taken on Wednesday. This dock is next to a boat ramp in our neighborhood.
Early on Thursday, 8/31, morning I went outside to se a rare blue supermoon. It was the second full moon in August, which is why it’s called a “blue” moon. The “blue” designation doesn’t have anything to do with its color. A moon is called a supermoon when it is unusually close to Earth. When the two occur simultaneously, it is called a blue supermoon. NASA says a blue supermoon happens about every 10 years, and the next one isn’t until 2037. The photo is blury because it was so humid outside – humidity left over from the storm.
School was back in session. JP took cupcakes to school so Emma’s classmates could celebrate her birthday. Emma’s 10th birthday dinner (at her choice of restaurant, Bob Evans), included Emma and her friend, Brook, along with JP, Kellie and me. I took a lot of pictures of Emma opening her presents, but since I don’t put her picture on this site, I have only included one. She has a pool party scheduled on Saturday.
