Have a Seat....

Two weeks here and I'm more familiar with the place.  And although I'm not fond of too much routine in my life, so can't say "here's what I do every morning", I can show you some of my favorite spots for reading, meditation, and vegging out.  (Click to enlarge)

This bench is down the block from my rental condo.  It overlooks a pond on the golf course and then further, Choctawhatchee Bay, the marina, and Sandestin's village, Baytowne Wharf.  First time I took a biking break to sit here, I had to outrun the sprinklers, which caught me by surprise!

Close up

;)

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS

by Portia Nelson

I

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I fall in.

I am lost ... I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes me forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe I am in the same place

but, it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in ... it's a habit.

My eyes are open

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

This is one of my favorite poems.   It has helped me through several past situations in my life.  I need to apply it now to a current issue.   Maybe it speaks to you, too. 

Just this.  No visuals tonight.  Sleep well.

A Beach Day

After having spent almost two hours figuring out how to get my PIN number for the city condo so I could pay out of state and online my second installment of property taxes (oh, joy) I had an uneventful, but nice day nonetheless.

Being the sole "in-between lunch and dinner" diner at Landry's on Hwy. 98, I had all the conversation I could want with the 19 year-old server, learning how he moved down here in January to be with his girlfriend, lived with her for a short time before breaking up, then moved into an apartment with a female co-worker (27) on a purely platonic level and how she cleans the place and he fixes stuff, including her car.  Now why can't I find a roommate like that?!  Ah, the younger generation.............

Afterward, a drive along the beach enticed me to park (scads of free parking here versus St. Pete/Clearwater and being off-season now...) and plop down my beach chair 10 feet from the waves.  Although it was 70, the coolish breeze from the Gulf had me (in capris and a short-sleeved shirt) shivering after a short while.  But I hung in there until sunset, a more tame-ish ball of orange sinking below the horizon than previous sunsets I've witnessed.  Also found a cute and jumpin' (live music) seafood place that I made a note of for a future dinner.  (Click, click, click on the photos to really see them...)

Two kids surfing the water's edge...

Shhhhhhh, quiet please.

Even though this year I thought ahead and brought down an entire box of books from home (books I've read and want to reread and books I've only partially read), I still felt the need to know where the Destin Library was.  So this morning after breakfast, I found it very near the spot in which I ate.  It's really fairly charming.  (Click away...)

Walk up to the front doors and....

have a chat with Mark Twain.

Or "set a spell" yourself on the library porch....

and gaze at the landscaping....I just love this pink ornamental grass they have down here!

Fore!

To entice my son to bring down the family.....photos of parts of the two golf courses on the Sandestin property.  Pat, are you reading this?  (Click photos to see details/golfers much better)

Watch your slice, because there's water everywhere!

My favorite view...see the bay in the distance?

How's this for sand traps?  (Click to see it up close!)

Totally "Un"chronological

Looking through photos tonight and wanted to share Halloween '09 photos of my sweet Madison (4) and Cayden (2 1/2).  That's all.  Totally out of chronological order, but who cares!  (Thanks for the photos, Kate!)  By the way, these don't enlarge when clicked upon.

Grandchildren..............couldn't you just eat them up?  They are so delicious!

My New Find

How can it be that beach areas have so few restaurants on the beach?  Or even with beach views?  I encountered this situation the years I spent winters in the St. Pete/Clearwater area and am finding it true here in the Panhandle, too.  Sure, there are a few, but way too few to have much of a choice (in my not-so-humble opinion) when daily breakfast out is one's desire.  (Coffee, my every day crossword, and people-watching always get me going.....)

Add to that fact that it is not high season here anymore and many places are closed or will be closing for the winter, and the pickin's get slim, Slim!

So imagine my delight upon finding a little eatery on the water in Destin this morning.  It's a very casual place, but with $3.99 breakfast, I know I'll become a regular there.  (Click away....by now you know the photos are always better bigger!)