A merry 'spongy' christmas was had

We're back on Emerald Isle just in time for the New Year celebrations. The drive from Florida was uneventful and the 10 hours gave me an opportunity to reflect on our visit to Florida and our visit with my two readers and maybe a third reader in Tarpon Springs. One thing that became obvious during our drive was that it seemed we were heading the wrong direction since most of the traffic was heading South. Lucky for us, it made for an easy drive but made me wonder about the logic of going against the current. Maybe the fish (and the birds) are right about migrating SOUTH for the winter... And we claim to be so smart!

During our stay in Florida we dropped by to visit my sister and her husband in Tarpon Springs, FL. Tarpon Springs is just a few miles north of Tampa but it seemed like a world away when you take some time to explore it's history and read the names on anyone that would be in the Who is Who list of the city. I have a feeling that if you have a Greek surname you'd feel right at home in Tarpon Springs. On Christmas Eve we took advantage of not having little ones in our group so we had a wonderful early dinner (AARP-approved around 4PM) and then went for a nice walk to the historic waterfront. It was perfect since all the shops were already closed by the time we got there and the visit didn't seem as commercialized as everything else seemed on the last few hours before Santa was to arrive from the North Pole. Being Tarpon Springs after all, the walk was a lot about fishing boats, sponge diving and Greek souvenirs, but the town did manage to adapt some of its sights to a more seasonal theme. A very festive-looking sponge christmas tree (go figure). I have to admit that this was my very first Sponge Christmas Tree. I'll keep that in mind for next year's christmas celebration in Emerald Isle... A flounder tree? A bluefish tree? Well, I have a year to think about it.

My brother-in-law must have been bitten by the sponge-diving bug since he has launched a business catering to the SCUBA diving crowd. I just wanted to put a plug-in for them so if my two readers were inclined to go off diving for sponges, or anything else for that matter, they would know where to go.

I was in a rush to get back to the beach to bring some level of control to "all the fish in the Atlantic Ocean". I am happy to report that the water level was still more or less where we left it, but the fish must be going wild since I haven't seen a single fisherman on the surf in the last two days. Yesterday I even equiped myself with more tools (rod, lures) at our friendly outdoors store so the few fish that I caught earlier have become significantly more expensive than before, probably around $40 a pound. Let's think of it as an investment in the future of mankind.

Today I had to get down to the beach for a little while to at least try to fish but sadly my patient wasn't enough to wait for those hungry fish to swallow my bait and I came back empty handed. I could think of many reasons (excuses, really) for not catching anything but probably the heavy surf contributed to my inability to make the connection. I'll try again tomorrow if the temperature continues mild.

To close, here are a couple of pictures of other creatures -of the feathered kind- that I found during our visit to Florida. A Sandhill Crane that my dad and I found walking in a farm nearby. It was part of a family of 4 cranes that were walking around. The other one is a red-tailed Hawk that was looking me over as I got closer to the tree where it was just resting. It didn't seem to be too bothered since it let me take the picture from about 10' away and stayed there until I left.