GLENN'S END-OF-SUMMER NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER

                                                               UP THE CREEK 

      News from the Gainesville Neighborhood Surrounding Rattlesnake Creek,  9-8-26

                                                                     by Glenn Terry

 

       THAR'S GOLD IN THEM THERE TREES!

     I've been living under a goldmine.

 Our front yard is filled with oak trees and they are filled with Spanish Moss. There must be a ton of it up there.

 Shopping at Walmart last Saturday I saw they're selling four-ounce packages for $5.44.

 I must throw out $200 of it (ten pounds) every week after it falls to the ground.

 From now on I'm putting mine on E-bay. I plan to sit back and watch the money roll in. 

 

                  BURNING  MAN   2026

   My son Ian gave me his Burning Man report as he drove home yesterday. Since 2016 we've gone there together five times. Despite a little rain and a few dust storms he and his friends had a blast.

    I started drawing bad portraits of people forty years ago. Ian carried on this family tradition in the Nevada desert last week.

 

That's him on the left with a few happy customers. Below, a few more photos he just sent my way.

His friend, Fabi, peeking out from her dust storm hideaway

 

Tricked out VW camper

                   

There's always a lot of fire. This is shooting out of one of the 200 art cars.

  The Man burning is the biggest show of all

 

 

 

REMINISCING IN THE FLORIDA KEYS

 

  I've enjoyed the Florida Keys my entire life. Two weeks ago I took a solo trip to Key West to take it all in again.  I always stop in Islamorada to marvel at the giant crayfish in front of The Rain Barrel gallery.

 

On Long Key I checked out the house my parents built in the 60's. I was thrilled to see the house number sign I made 55 years ago still affixed to the  wall.

 

 

 

 

Bargain at Key West pier

 

 

    

 

 Biking around the southernmost city is always a treat. 

I stopped by my favorite restaurant, Blue Heaven, to watch the roosters gallivanting about. They seem to run the place. 

 

A friend of mine lives on the water next to the Southernmost House. No one seems to care that he lives in the second most southern house. He stores his stuff in the third.

 

On the right, our country's southernmost house along with #2 and 3.

 

I tried tent camping in Bahia Honda State Park.  While the sunset was lovely,

the no-see-ums were not. Their stings drove me nuts. I considered trying to sleep underwater wearing nothing but a snorkel. I ended up curled in the back of my Prius for the night. It was like sleeping in an air-conditioned coffin.

 

   Thank goodness for St. Augustine. It's North Florida's own Key West. We can drive there in 90 minutes and there are no invisible bugs to bite you.

 

WAY LESS PLEASE

 

On the way home I stopped in Miami. While staying at a friend's house I opened the front gate to a frightening sight, a growling Jaguar robotaxi with  spinning appendages and 29 cameras.   

I didn't order the Waymo, I had my laughable mini-camper (my Prius) for transport. I guess it stopped by mistake as it slowly moved on. 

    As we know, the 'bots have starting operating on their own. Soon they won't need us. After they take over I expect these robocars will be mowing us down. 

If our leaders can't stop global warming I doubt they can stop driverless killer cars.

But others have found success. 

 

Fifteen months ago someone ordered five of them (during the Los Angeles ICE protests)

to come to the same intersection, where

they were promptly set on fire. 

 

 

 

HIGH    FASHION   STATEMENT 

 

The morning after I got home I was delivering a mango to a neighbor. My wife asked why I was wearing pajama bottoms. I told her I saw young men wearing them in Miami.
She told me I looked like I had escaped from a nursing home.

  

HEIDI'S ART SHOW

   My good friend, Heidi Stein, is showing her work at the UCG gallery on NW 5th Avenue until the middle of the month.  Stop by and enjoy the whimsical work of this talented artist. 

 

 

 

    

    At the opening of the show I met her in-laws.  My ears tingled when they told me, "The Flying Pig is the best parade we've ever seen. All others pale in comparison".

 

GLENN'S ART SHOW

   UCG ("The United Church of Gainesville) is having a two-hour art show on Sunday, Sept. 20th. Twenty artist will exhibit their work. Some of it will be for sale.

    I'll be selling lanterns, fish made from palm trees, 

and lamps. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can buy a slice of Francesca's fresh-baked banana bread

for two bucks.  All proceeds go to charity.

 

We'll be there from 10:30 to 12:30. 

 

 THE CHICKEN HAS LANDED 

    Our neighbor, Eli, has donated a 6-foot rooster to our neighborhood park, Rattlesnake Woods. He's standing guard near Rainbow Bridge now. 

     NEW COMMUNITY BAND 

 

Chelsea Carnes has put together Gainesville's new marching ensemble, THE RADICAL RUCKUS MARCHING BAND.

We had our first practice on Sept. 2nd at Heartwood.  Get in touch if you'd like to join the fun. 

 

NO KINGS RALLY  IV, Oct. 17th

    We hope to see you at the next No Kings "GET OUT THE VOTE" Rally Oct. 17th. 

The first three were the largest protests in US history. Now we're showing up again to promote the biggest turnout ever for the midterms.

While Washington is threatening to sabotage the election and our freedom to vote, the best way to protect our rights is to exercise them.

COME to NO KINGS IV on Saturday, Oct. 17th, and help make this important day a huge success. 

 

                       _______

 

 

Don't complain about the future, be the future. 

                                                         -Masha Gersen 

FOR THE LOVE OF COUNTRY

                                     UP THE CREEK  

     GT'S SUMMER NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER, 2026

Ian and I, parading after 9-11

    The heat is on for our country's 250th. When it reaches it's apex on July 4th, I will be quietly engaging in La Selva Beach's sand-castle  competition. These days, that's all the  patriotic spirit that I can muster. 

    It's hard to celebrate a country that's being torn apart. The United States is not so lovable now.

 

     How can you love a country led by a racist, deranged tyrant?  One that starts stupid wars? One with terrorizing ICE agents? A country that takes healthcare away from its citizens and makes it harder for them to vote?

     We all want to love our country again. To do so we will have to get rid of the current president along with the congressmen and government officials who suck up to him.

 

 

      The Big 250 comes up in two weeks.     Once again Gainesville will celebrate with fireworks on the wrong day, July 3d.  I am told this is so we can go to surrounding towns to celebrate on the real day. This makes no sense but neither does our country's current leadership.              

  Hopefully the aging USA will head in a better direction after we vote this fall. Wouldn't it be grand if we could feel proud of our country once more?

 

A MUCH BETTER PRESIDENT

   The country would be much better off if Lars Anderson was our president. That occurred to us when the popular river guide came to the Limestone Stage last month to tell us what it was like growing up in our neighborhood decades ago. 

  

cover photo by John Moran

 Lars spent much of his youth exploring Paynes Prairie. A few years ago he wrote a book about it.  

 

 

 

 While he's happy enough leading us on river trips I also know he'd be a big improvement over the Orange Menace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wouldn't it be great to have someone like Lars sitting in the Oval Office.

IF WALMART HAS A GREETER SO CAN WE 

      Rattlesnake Woods is the secret place in the NW corner of Florida Park. Everyone who goes there is surrounded by nature at the confluence of two creeks. Last week, it even got its own greeter.

 

 

 

   AND YOU THOUGHT THE LINES IN CUBA WERE LONG...

Last year we spent ten marvelous days touring Cuba.  Lines for nine dollar-a-gallon gas were four blocks long. 

Last Wednesday I stopped by Trinity Methodist Church to play softball. They were giving away food to hungry people. The line was six blocks long. 

MIAMI VISIT

 

We dropped down to Miami last weekend to help celebrate our granddaughter's fourth birthday. I knew where I was when -stuck in traffic- we noticed a Rolls Royce SUV in front of me. I later learned that it cost over $500,000. There's too much money down there.

   On a happier note we walked by a coral rock wall I built 50 years ago.

 

 ARCHITECTURAL

FUNERAL 

On a less happy note, across the street the former pride of Coconut Grove, the historic  Grove Playhouse, was draped in black plastic, Cristo-style.

Miami politics continues to be so screwed up the leaders have been unable to figure out what to do with the government-owned site since the theater closed 20 years ago. 

To me it symbolizes one of the many reasons we left seven years ago. 

  

A couple of years from now it'll be another zillion-dollar condo, a good place to park a Rolls or two.

 

NO MOWING NEEDED

A neighbor invited me to tour his yard today. It looks like a wine wonderland as grapevines resembling camouflage netting cover both the front and back yards. 

 

  

paw paw

Fruit trees sagging with ripening pomelos, paw paws, and persimmons and avocados pop up here and there.  

   Bees buzz in their boxes and catfish fill the swimming pool. 

   

 

 

Like everything else, its covered with grape vines!

 

 

 The big feature is a nine-level tree house built around a  35-foot oak tree. The wooden steps were slippery this morning so I only climbed up part way.  

   What fun it is to discover another wild corner of our unique North Florida city.

 

LET'S LIGHT UP THE NIGHT!

     You know Florida Park has a marvelous little Halloween Parade. 

 

   We're going to start another one, a "lantern parade", this fall. We'll fill up the night with volumes of light!

    We had our first workshop two weeks ago to learn how to make them. If you'd like to create your own -and be in our parade- let me know and you can come to the next lantern-making gathering in August.

   Here are photos of some we've already made. 

 

 

IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?

  Six weeks ago I saw some fool had dumped a 150-pound tractor tire into Hogtown Creek. I alerted the neighbors and asked, "How're we gonna get rid of that sucker?".

   The next morning we found it standing in our front yard flower bed. Someone had added "86 47" to one side and the other, "Tired of Trump?".  Tired of it myself, I called the city -and a few neighbors- for suggestions.  

    A half-hour later it was gone.

 

NEW BLOOD FOR THE FLYING PIG

Mariah, Emily, Perrin, Caitlin, and the former Head Hog of the Flying Pig Parade

   A new group of neighbors is producing our next Flying Pig Parade. Co-producing will be Emily Robbins, Mariah Doran, Perrin Sullivan, and Caitlin Butler.

     I'll stick around a bit to help as needed.

We at Parade Central love pigs.  The are very intelligent and have strong personalities.

Congress is trying to pass a farm bill this year that will make it legal to keep pregnant sows in cages so small they can not turn around. They never touch the earth or see the sky. 

This blatant act of animal cruelty will allow the pork industry to make more money by making  cheaper bacon. Call your congressman to complain. 

    The moral costs in incalculable. Pigs are animals not factory machines.

     This could lead to my rant about AI (a CEO was recently quoted as saying, "Of course we're replacing people with robots. They don't take bathroom breaks, complain, or unionize") but I'll save that for another time. We've got the USA's big birthday to consider.

     Each of us can figure out what that means and devise ways to heal our country. Have a meaningful Fourth of July.

        _____________________________