BUILDING A COMMUNITY

 Hurricanes build community. Ripped roofs and downed power lines get people out of the house and  talking to each other. 

There are also less stressful ways to do this. We're visiting a small town in coastal California this week.

They put together a day full of Fourth of July activities that made everyone have fun whether they liked it or not. 

There was the Third's ice cream social followed by the Fourth's early morning run. After that there was the horse-shoe competition, a pet show, egg toss, tug-o-war, and seeing who could eat watermelon the fastest. We walked down to the beach and entered the sandcastle building contest. 

The judges failed to see the brilliance of our six-inch edifice protected by a 40-foot pentagonal moat.  We explained, "Our castle is the safest. It could never be hit by cannonball". 

The parade here, ten minutes of decorated kids, is always a hit. It's pedestrian-powered and there are no politicians waving from convertibles.

 

What did you do on the Fourth? I liked being in a place where everyone pitched in to have a day-long party. 

People love community. They want to live in a place where they feel safe, nurtured by friends and family. Public events, be they parades, art shows, or barbecue cook-offs, help make this happen.

Happy Seventh of July,

GT

Sam and Sarah leading the parade in La Selva Beach, California

                                ____________

Summer '24 Newsletter

                                    UP THE CREEK

    SUMMER NEWSLETTER FOR FLORIDA PARK, G'VILLE'S GROOVIEST NEIGHBORHOOD 

Happy Summer Everyone. Aren't you happy it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk?  If concrete cooking isn't your thing maybe you should go for a swim.

I recently visited the new Westside Park pool to submerge myself.

 

For just $4.50 (half that if you're old) you can swim there or at of our many public pools. They're open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

 

 

 

And of course, there are our amazing springs, several just forty minutes away. There once was a

GAINESVILLE  SPRING

   If you were hot in Hogtown you could dip into Glen Springs -where 18th St meets NW 23 Ave-  until 1970.  That's when the water's flow had been reduced to a trickle. The suburbs around it sucked up most of the water and fertilizer run-off polluted the rest.

A pool was built around Glen Springs in 1924. It was shut down in 1970. Green scum covers it now.

   The Elks Club bought it and for $25 you can join them.  Your membership will allow you to drink beer while watching the slimy green pond that, for thousands of years, was our pristine, natural, swimmin' hole.

     Twelve years ago a group was formed, the "Friends of Glen Springs" to bring it back to life and  into the public domain. Unfortunately the Elks put too high a price on their beer bar to allow this to happen.

MILWAUKEE SPRINGS

In our segregated past African-Americans were not allowed to use Glen Springs. In 1940 they could go four miles north to Milwaukee Springs (It's just off 441 north of the Turkey Creek subdivision).  It seems to have faded away after the war.

I am told that water still flows there on what is now private property  Our county commission, together with the City of Alachua, is now discussing acquiring the spring so the public can enjoy it again.

One can not say enough about the cooling effects of

 

WATERMELON

Ward's has the best deal, a chunk enough for three for two bucks. And, they have the rare ones with seeds you can spit!

Nearby Newberry had its 78th annual Watermelon Festival last month.  That town is so '57 they still have beauty contests.  Several young women stood on a stage seriously vying to see who would be 2024's "Miss Watermelon". A Barbie-like "Savannah" claimed the prize.  Remarkable seed spitting skills were apparently not required. Look for Savannah in the next UF homecomng parade.

 

The festival's parade featured nothing but cars and trucks rolling  by.  Some had people waving at anyone who would wave back. 

 December 28th's Flying Pig Parade will be  nothing like that. 

If there is a queen, she (or he) will be the one who can best spit seeds.

'23's Clown Marching Band

 

It's a good time to start planning your group. Information and entry forms are on our website, www.flyingpigparade.org. 

 

 

Last Tuesday we had a parade board meeting. To keep from being bored we chose a Devo-inspired bucket head look.  There's no way anyone can take you seriously when you're wearing one of these.

BATHING IN SOUND

If cool water isn't your thing try immersing yourself in sound.  You can do that at Gainesville's Gong Chamber. 

 

It's  meditation sessions are incredible. You lie on the floor surrounded by thirty hanging melodic metal discs.

Dan Randall, the gong master, plays them with dramatic verve. The experience can be be exhilarating, and, rejuvenating. One fan comes regularly as it eases her chronic pain. 

I go to be amazed.

 

The Chamber shares space with "Sweetwater Picture Framing".

Most days the gong master is there as his alter ego, Dan, the frame master.

For more information on gongs: gongspot.carrd.com

picture framing: sweetwaterpictureframing.com

 

BANG A DRUM!

We're forming "Bloco GNV", a samba percussion group.  Classes start in early August.  If you're interested in being a part of it let me know.

Last month's Goombay Parade in Coconut Grove had no shortage of drums.

 

 

IT'S WILD!

We spotted a deer and two foxes in Rattlesnake Woods last month, just beyond Rainbow Bridge.

Just seeing it makes you smile

Spotted sunfish had swished 4-foot circular nests in Hogtown Creek bed. The males sculpt the sand and stand guard.

All the females have to do is lay 15,000 eggs every spring. The wonders never end in North Central Florida.

 

 

It's time to sign off.  I'll close with a cool morning that we enjoyed in Vermont last week. 

                                     ________

Your neighbor,

Glenn

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

         DIPPING INTO SOUTHERN VERMONT

   We came north this week to join my siblings for a

family reunion.  

 

 

 

On the way I saw two guys displaying our country's flag. 

Since it was still in its original colors and right side up, I assumed that they were not supreme court justices.

 

 

Outside the Bennington Museum Francesca and I encountered our "16th President Blessing the Nudists".

  A double-rainbow showed us the way to Dorset's

 

farmer's market. 

The produce, goat cheese, and granite shards were outstanding but what really caught my eye were the bumper stickers.

 

Well, it happens to be cold here, 52 degrees this morning.

I hope someone sticks some clothes on these two.

                   ________________________

                         UP  THE  CREEK

      GT'S NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER, APRIL, 2024

          "All the news that didn't fit into the New York Times or Gainesville Sun".

   This'n starts off up Rattlesnake Creek, the watery wonder that flows through our neighborhood. 

 

 

A bunch of us painted Rainbow Bridge once more.  We appreciate all who contributed.

Note the digging debris in the background

 

 

 

We've got new signs to try to keep "the diggers" at bay (the outsiders who illegally dig up our creek and creek banks in search of fossils).

Below you see what the creek banks look like when they're left alone.

 

 

 

 

 

and here, when they're attacked with picks and shovels.

    Everyone in Gainesville lives close to wild places. In our 'hood it's Rattlesnake Woods.  Let's enjoy and preserve the nature around us for generations to come.

Diggers be gone.

    The city is deepening Hogtown Creek west of NW

22 St. I guess this will make it easier to take summer dips in the creek's pristine street run off.

 

 

SPRING PICNIC

140 people -and five dogs- came to our UPNA (University Park Neighborhood Association) neighborhood picnic in the Parker Park pavilion two weeks ago. 

 

 

Events like the Halloween parade and our two annual picnics give neighbors a chance to enjoy each other.

 

Paul Ortiz telling it like it is.  He and Sheila will be moving to New York's Cornell University this summer.  It's a big loss for the UF which seems to slowly becoming a no-diversity-allowed, Bible-based institution.

Dave grabs the last piece of raspberry pie

Our dear friends Gaurav and Alpa

One woman contributed $100 saying, "UPNA saved me when the college kids' parties next door were driving me batty".   We say, "we're neighbors helping neighbors".

 

WATCH OUT

Foxes and a coyote were spotted in Florida Park this month.  Don't let them eat your cats.  Keep your cars locked at night too. Otherwise the Midnight Creeper will be checking for spare change.

 

NEW BOOK STORE

The Lynx Book Store has its grand opening on
Saturday along with its neighbor, Grand Scheme Brewery. Visit both, enjoy a beer and a book at the soon-to-be gem, South Main Station. It's where SW 6th meets Main, just north of Depot Park.

HOT MUSIC

Few people take advantage of the outstanding live music that shows up on the UF campus.  We heard the amazing Johnathan Scales Fourcestra perform twice last week.

 

 

 

CABLE GUYS

It burns me up when people portray immigrants as bad people. Hear the pop-pop-pop of air-nailers installing your neighbor's roof? 

 

See the men digging hundreds of holes to install the new orange cable pipe all over town? 

 

 Take time to thank the men who dig our holes

 

I spoke to them. They came from Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua because life was intolerable there. They're doing the hard work the rest of avoid. They should be thanked and thanked again.

 

 

 

 

 

EARTH DAY

It came and went with a few meaningful events last Saturday.  We attended the Sustainability Festival at the farmers market on north 441.  The vegetable plants we bought will help sustain Francesca and me.

G'ville's second annual water festival in Depot Park

wasn't anything to brag about. Few people attended.  Booths were mostly selling stuff like Kayaks and summer camps.

When my King Mango friends put on the world's first water festival 20 years ago we actually had water to enjoy (and there was a lot to brag about).

   Our antique sprinkler exhibit sprayed anyone who got near. Yes, we had colored water fights, a mermaid competition, water music, and ice sculpture demonstrations as well.  Hungry? We served shaved ice.  Thirsty? Our water bar featured 18 varieties including melted iceberg. 

We celebrated water and made it fun.  The Gainesville festival should have more of that too.

 

Next, we enjoyed a water-themed art exhibit at the Cade Museum.  It included a painting by our friend, Maple Canner.  It depicts the lotus flowers that pop up on Payne's Prairie every year. Here are a few other entries,

"Woman Watering At The Villages"

Illuminated glass  mosaic

 

 

Our favorite Earth Day event had to be the Trashin' Show at the Re-Purpose Project on NW 23d.

 

 

   Girl Scouts, Brownies, and their leaders strutted their stuff wearing newspapers, bottle caps, and yellow soda straws.

Madison's blueprint dress and leader Celia Herrell's soda straw design

 

Taliana went Hawaiian

 

 

 

 

 

"Going Places", created from maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This show had a monopoly on originality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was perfect, lookin' good for Mother Earth.

Let's preserve this planet so these kids, and their kids, can enjoy it.

                    _______________________