A tribe of four is sitting in the corner of the lawn on the hill where years ago stairs descended to the lake and Grampa Macmillan’s shaving table stood nailed to a tree. They are talking about plans and futures as the breeze blows up the hill. There are sailing lessons going on, one kid […]
Tag Archives: vacation
We Slept Hard
Sat, 6 Aug 2011, 07:14 AM (-06:00)
It was breezy that day, the wind blowing gently out of the northwest. The sky was bluer than it had been. The sheets and sleeping bags were hanging out to dry, and the windows of the tents were open to let the air in. The storm had missed us the night before, marching to the […]
End of the Road
Tue, 12 Jul 2011, 11:12 PM (-06:00)
The road ends at the ocean. If you stand near the crashing waves on Playalinda Beach at Canaveral National Seashore and look south, you can see Launch Complex 39. Built for Saturns, for the last 30 years it has been used for Space Shuttles—until last Friday when the last one flew. Standing on the seashore, you […]
Mosquito Lagoon
Tue, 12 Jul 2011, 03:37 PM (-06:00)
We were here a couple years ago—just up the shore a bit on a pine tree trail where we found ourselves enswarmed by mosquitos setting upon us with such ferocity that we could not swap fast enough. And here we are again—taking a road that we didn’t take back then but along which the mosquitos swarm just as ferociously. […]
Not Much of That
Tue, 12 Jul 2011, 06:37 AM (-06:00)
I was sitting outside our motel room trying to read a book. Sitting in the shade. Looking up periodically at the crashing waves. Trying to ignore the woman sitting in front of the next room who has many issues. I looked up and saw something flying overhead, An Osprey. Flying low. Just above the palm […]
Motel Wireless
Tue, 12 Jul 2011, 06:29 AM (-06:00)
So we finally managed to connect to the motel wireless in Cocoa Beach. It turned out that we just needed to sit outside by the picnic tables so that we were closer to the base station—too many brick walls in the way, otherwise. Mind you, it’s not that we were jittery without a fix or […]
One Hour Photo
Mon, 11 Jul 2011, 08:08 PM (-06:00)
1. The Kid on the Sidewalk We were on our way to Waffle House for breakfast. (We always have breakfast there when we’re in Cocoa Beach. It’s a kind of addiction.) So we were driving north, and we passed a kid on the sidewalk. He was holding a plain white sign that said, “Launch Photos” […]
STS-135
Mon, 11 Jul 2011, 10:53 AM (-06:00)
1. Pre-Dawn “The fishing pier’s almost full, but there’s still room.” We were the last people on the pier with a front row seat and a clear view of Launch Complex 39. It was small but clearly visible, shining on the horizon with pencils of white light shooting up into the darkness. Everyone else arriving […]
Motel in Cocoa Beach
Fri, 8 Jul 2011, 07:00 PM (-06:00)
1. The Bad News Her face went blank. Something was not right. The fair and industrious Trudy was on her cell phone with the Sea Aire [link] in Cocoa Beach letting them know that we were two hours away. She wanted to ask them if they’d still be in the office when we arrived. She closed her […]