Spending time with Kelly and Leah, James and Melba in the Panhandle of Florida.
It always seems to me that the beach by the Gulf of Mexico is prettier than by the Atlantic. What do you think?
It's windy.
The area by the State Park on the beach is typically not crowded. You get to enjoy it a whole lot better.
You can camp in the State Park or rent one of the cabins.
This is birdwatching on the beach, where the birds are watching you.
Nice hat!
Debbie looks relaxed here.
Her favorite place, a quiet beach.
Andre and his daughters
White sand, pretty ocean colors, perfect blue sky.
We've seen a few wildlife during those few days. Beside a decent variety of birds, we saw a small shark in the water, a couple of dolphins, schools of fish, stingrays, and a manatee on the last day. Not bad.
There is also a beautiful "dune lake" on the other side (inland) from the beach. A lake with white sand dunes.
Debbie, Kelly and Leah, the day the water was calm.
I've added a short video just to give you the envy to go spend some relaxing time at the beach. If you're on a budget and you want a quiet and pretty beach, go to Grayton Beach State Park. Shh...That's our little secret.
Alabama was hit pretty hard by the recent storm. When nature unleashes its destructive force, very little can stand in her way. We saw it first hand. Instead of me telling you, just watch this short video.
We went to see Connie in Alabama. James and Melba, Ricky and Duane got there before us. I understand that Duane was the first one to come check on Connie. There were down trees all over the place.
Part of Connie's backyard
The Price siblings, with Duane and Jeremy, cut down a lot of tree branches that were hanging and did a preliminary cleanup of removal of the tree debris that were blocking pathways to the house and the driveway. They also removed a good size tree out of the swimming pool! They left on Thursday.
Debbie and I got there on Friday morning to lend a hand. Debbie was a great help in organizing food items and some other practical issues when there is no power. I continued with the outside clean up until Duane and Ricky came back. Ricky went back to work, cleaning the pool. Duane got on phone taking care of logistics.
It's nice to have family around in time of disaster. Everything just seems easier to handle. Connie is pretty strong herself, and Duane was a very good support. But, just the fact to see siblings coming from out of town to help in one way or the other, is certainly a great morale booster. I know Debbie and I were happy to do what we could.
The front yard with the birch tree down
Connie had fallen trees all the the yard. That includes the front yard with the pretty birch tree, the huge mulberry tree in the back is down, the pine, oak, and maple trees were down too, left and right.
At the end of the day, Debbie had a great meal prepared for all to enjoy. No, no time for Rook games that day.
As I was working in the yard, I saw a lot of juvenile birds following their parents asking for food. They seemed a bit frantic to me. The baby Blue Jay was actually cute. A lot of these birds were getting food from the mulberry tree that came down unfortunately. I also saw some picking up nest building materials to start rebuilding. Just like the humans were doing in Tuscaloosa and Cullman county.
Break time! Are you blowing me a kiss?
We caught some breaks, spent some time together, enjoyed Debbie's great cooking, and did a little more work.
While we were still working, Obama came to visit not too far from us. We tried to invite him over but couldn't reach him. I'm sure he would have helped too. Just a little cleaning...with everyone pitching in.
Hey Tiger, it'll be OK.
As you look around after a couple of days, you feel a sense of normalcy returning. No more debris in the immediate areas, the smiles returning, the birds changing from alert stances to more relaxed poses. Connie's laughing again...and a game of Rook!
