HAPPY PI DAY

  Yes, it's the Big Day, PI DAY, when we celebrate all things 3.14 . In our house it's a small brown dog  appropriately named "Pi". She named herself by being born with the sign on her chest.
   Francesca surprised her with a pie of her own with all her favorites...whipped cream, strawberries, corn bread and liver treats.

Lucky dog!
                      

PARTY LIKE IS 1356!

          Every year a Renaissance festival comes to a town near you.  It's a good reason to break out the suit of armor that's been rusting in your closet.  

     One visited Gainesville recently and I went with wife and camera. We had a great time.
     
                                                                                                                                                                                              This one was the "Hoggetowne Medieval Faire" because Gainesville was originally called
"Hogtown" (it sounded better than Porkopolis) and in the old days every other word had to end in "e".

  

     Upon entering the city gate we were greeted by
minstrels, 

 



 the Green Man,

 a troupe of belly dancers, and, 

a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex!

  You could easily spend a day being entertained by singers, jousters, and a multitude of folks pretending to be 700 years old.
 
    Francesca danced with new African friends.



     I enjoyed heaving axes at a wooden wall (Gainesville's axe-throwing bar opens on in three months!) and tossing tomatoes at
this rude young man. He drummed up business by throwing insults at everyone.

    
    Unfortunately the two booths were far apart making it difficult to throw axes at him.
                           ______________
  

TELLING GRANNY GOODBYE

     "Granny" (Rose McDonald) was a well-known, much-loved, homeless person in Gainesville. She was killed by a hit-and-run driver January 30th, hit from behind as she rode her bike. We were the same age but our lives could not have been more different. 
      She was raised in an orphanage until she left at 13. People here knew her as "Granny", a friendly face in downtown Gainesville. Her death was not reported for a month because police could not locate next of kin.
    Yesterday the volunteers at Prairie Creek Cemetery dug her a grave in soft, sandy soil. 

 
   
    Three hours later a hundred people attended Granny's memorial service before she was laid to rest. Here's a link to a short, recent interview,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DyCVG637Ftw
     

                                              _____________________________________

INSIDE 45

      I made a Trump outfit two years ago to wear to protest rallies. It always feels uncomfortable to be inside such an evil, loathsome, man.

    Nevertheless I suited up for the impeachment protest yesterday. The Gainesville gathering was the usual  bunch of retired progressives

who feel a need to hold unreadable signs next to rush hour traffic when

it hits the fan. 

   You wave, they honk, you go home and feel like you did something.

It may be useless but I admire those  who speak out even when it seems no one's listening.

    Across the busy intersection were pro-Trumpers doing the same thing.  What seemed odd is that they liked my act too. The Trumpers seemed to agree with my sign, that whatever Trump does is OK. One chanted my "line" repeatedly into his megaphone.

   As #45 once said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters". 
     In yesterday's Senate vote he only lost one, Republican Mitt Romney. That one brave man from Utah gives us hope.
.I

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN (but you might leave quickly)

   
  What a welcome sight, strangers enjoying the patch 'o green I tried to turn into a Coconut Grove park for years. This was on last week's visit to Miami (the Grove Guy moved to Gainesville six months ago).
 Renata Dixon and her family enjoying Four Corners Park.      

    Three adjacent neighbors fought my "Four Corner's Park" proposal for years and now, despite the city refusing to help, the pro-park momentum continues to make it a joyous, public place. Last Saturday there was a yoga class bending in places that won't bend on me, kids running through Charlie's Woods, and a new awareness that "this land is our land".

       









Nothing's perfect. When I headed up Palmetto Avenue I was mortified to see Charlie Cinnamon's historic cottage demolished.              
                                          Before

After


Charlie's house stood in the back left corner for
one hundred years, next to "Charlie's Woods". 

     Replacing it will be a 9000 sq. ft. 
monster with more bathrooms than days of the week.
  
 It's a great example of why the Grove Guy in now a Gainesville Guy.  Developers control everything.

   A half-block further was the home we sold last summer. It looked abandoned but fortunately, not torn down.
       
    We were happy to see some of the Old Grove hangin' in there. The Farmer's Market still thrives next to sign selling its future. The proposed luxury condo includes a roof-top pool and landing pads for human-carrying drones. 

                                          Park your drone  here

    
     In Gainesville there still is plenty of turf to park a flying car on the ground but who cares?  We fly everywhere on bicycles. If you do drive a car you can park easily for free.

     We enjoyed seeing old friends and the balmy breezes we miss here in the North Florida pines. Driving home the next day Francesca and I talked about the special things we left behind.  High on the list was looking out to an endless sea, parrots flying overhead, and the cat litter couple.
Two for five, you can't beat that.
 

THE YEAR OF THE TOAD

   Welcome to 2020, 'The Year of the Toad'.  Knowing this, I wasn't surprised when I became one  -at the stroke of midnight-  on New Year's Eve.
   
    Francesca seemed amused as she picked up 
her wort-covered husband, set me in a cocktail
glass, and partied on. I spent most of the night in a terrarium celebrating by eating mealy worms.
   In the morning my wife took me out to see the sunrise.  She said she would kiss me -returning me to my former self- if I promised to keep our bathrooms clean. 
   I'm still thinking about it. The worms aren't that bad and I enjoy people telling me I'm "the cutest thing".
                    ______________________

DIGGING MY FIRST GRAVE

       Tomorrow they'll lower the body of Bernie Paris into ground. While I didn't know him I helped dig his grave today. 

    A burial from an earlier visit. Embalming and caskets are not allowed at this cemetery.  This person was wrapped and placed in a six-foot basket. 
     I'm a new member of Gainesville's volunteer grave digging group, "The Pick & Shovel Guild".  It's a jolly bunch made up mostly of retired folks like me.
     When someone dies -and their family wants them buried in the local green cemetery- we gather in the woods next to Paines Prairie.  It's a 900-acre conservation area and will remain woodsy, I'm told, forever.

       Here's how it works, you pick a good spot and set down a wooden frame.

After a moment of silence and an appropriate poem, you go at it with picks and shovels. 
 

    It took over an hour to dig down the required 42 inches. That is the best level for a body to "become one with the earth".

     After Mr. Paris is buried tomorrow his grave will be marked with a simple brass disc.  The family may decorate it with moss, pine needle, or flowers.
 

     A recent burial

   It felt good to be helping this stranger reach his final rest. When my time comes I'll be fortunate to be so honored.
           _____           __________________________
    (Two Days Later)
   I dug my second grave today.  When they announced the name of the deceased I realized I had gone to law school with him years ago...
Here's his brief obit from the Orlando Sentinel,

    A really good man is gone. Harvey Martin Alper left us on Sunday, November 17, just two days before his 73rd birthday. A green burial will occur at his chosen location in the woods near Gainesville and a local farewell gathering of friends and family will take place in the not too distant future. He will be missed by many fine people. Sorrow shared is sorrow lessened.