Another Beautiful Day in the Central Florida Neighborhood...

 Here we are well into the month of October.  But all around us in Central Florida, it seems like a summer time paradise.

I am always impressed by the semi tropical landscape that we have here in Central Floirida.  One of the joys of living in our neighborhood is that we see some great examples of landscaping. Without having to go out of our way. Here is a series of photos I stopped to take, yesterday, at the entrance to our neighborhood, on my way back from running an errand.

Yes, I know it is still somewhat balmy in Pennsylvania and other northern areas right now.  And October brings its own joys of autumn leaves drifting by the window, and on to the lawn, where they need to be raked up...  I also know the there is about a week and a half left before the grey and damp of the third weekend of October sets in, and then, it is like going into a long dark tunnel, more grey and lack of sunshine, not to mention cold and ice, until April or May.

Having lived in Central Florida for 23 plus years the last time, and in northern climes most of the remainder of my life, I have to say I will not miss: raking the leaves, smelling the dampness of the decomposing leaves, scraping layers of ice off the windshield, shoveling lanes of snow off the driveway, wearing bulky coats, gloves and scarves, and mostly, the grey grey skies that are the same color as the pavement for months at a stretch.

While I shall always cherish memories of Pennsylvania and Indiana living, and I have learned like St. Paul, whatever state I am in to be content; nevertheless, Florida is hard to beat.  But so many of you knew that already, since you spend a portion of the bleak midwinter down here among the sheltering palms.

So, when you folks up there in your gloomy and frigid Chicagoland condo, or the like, find yourselves in the throes of the unremitting cold and dreariness, take a longing lingering look at this post.  And think of me fondly. Spare a thought for me.  As I let the sunshine in!

Looking at the Neighborhood...

 The past week or so has brought several occasions for me to take admiring glances at our neighborhood.

As you can see, it is very park like and lovely.  We enjoyed these same landscapes for 23 plus years when we lived here previously.  Those who follow me know that I enjoy what nature has to offer, whether here or elsewhere.  Some of my posts over that past several years have to do with northern scenery.  Which I also enjoy.  But every visit we made back to Florida over the past three years reminded me of how very lovely Central Florida is, both naturally and as planned by developers down the decades.

Both of our neighborhoods are what you would call planned suburban.  The one we lived in previously  was designed in the late 1970s, with a golf course at its center.  No, I do not golf.  But there is nothing as pretty as a well maintained course.  Our current neighborhood does not have that same feature in it, but it may have learned some things from earlier neighborhoods in the area.  Certainly by the early 1990s, the number of people golfing on a regular basis slacked way off.  And those who live here in Central Florida can rattle off the names of a number of courses that were here then and are here no longer, including Sabal Point Country Club, our son John leaded to golf, and Sweetwater Country Club.  Bothe of th one are now in fact newer streets with newly built homes and other amenities.

But as I said in an earlier post, I don't know of anywhere else where the general scenery as one drives along is so parklike and soothing.  Retention ponds are both necessary and mandated by local governments for the soughing off of excess water when we get our Florida rains.  Most of those are situated so that they not only reflect the blue skies and palm trees, but are also home to many water birds, and usually have a fountain feature somewhere in the middle of them.  And this is available to enjoy all yer long, since the pipes don't freeze and the ponds don't ice over.

This week, several neighbors reported seeing mama bears with their cubs, in they yards, not far from ours.  Annie and Steven see them on nearly a weekly basis on their ring camera.  And they live within walking distance of the high school in a neighborhood, not out in the country.  Red shouldered hawks, osprey, and bald eagles are all around (we like looking at the bald eagle nest when we go to Arby's for a fast meal).  Yes, natural beauty is available to people in many other places, but it seems more generally accessible here.  And it is one of the many reasons I enjoy living in Central Florida.

Inspiration? You bet!

 One of the joys of living in Central Florida all those years we were on Coble Drive was this...

Whenever there was a launch from over at the Cape, we could see it.  I don't mean that we hopped in our car and headed over to the coast to see it up close and personal.  Although we did that from time to time.  I don't mean that I took a ride in a private plane that was given a heading to track the launch from no more than 10 miles away, and up there in the sky.  Although I had the joy of doing that, too.

No I mean that we could step out our front door and watch the launch from our own little corner...

We hardly missed a launch in all of those years. Our usual pattern was to watch the countdown on WESH, and then when we heard them say, "Lift off", we went out the door and looked to the east, and a bright light appeared in the sky, signifying that the launch was happening.  And there it would go.  Up, up, and away!

It NEVER got old.

It was just as thrilling the 30th time as it was the first.

And then the Space Shuttle program ended.  The eastern skies became quieter.  Oh there were satellite launches from Patrick AFB and so forth.  But it wasn't quite the same.

And then we had a few years in Pittsburgh.  As much as we enjoyed our time beging back in the Burgh, there was no possible way we could watch a launch in the skies overhead.  We were simply too far away.

All that has changed.  We are back in Central Florida, living in our new house which is only a few miles from our old  house.  This past week was when the first all non-professional crew went up and went into orbit for several days.  We did our usual thing.  WESH was on.  The countdown happened.  We stepped out the door.  And there it was for us to see.  Inspiration4, on its September 16, 2021 Space Launch; SpaceX Dragon, in the sky over Central Florida.

The launch from our front yard.

Wow!  Wonderful!  What a thrill!

We are looking forward to watching many more such launches as time unfolds.  

A few moments later - booster separation

Photographs and text: Copyright © 2021, John A. Dalles.  All rights reserved.

This week is moving week.

This week is moving week.

In order to be ready for the move. We needed both my car and Judy‘s car to drive those things that are not going on the moving van. Not to mention Bendix, and we ourselves!

The biggest issue with that is that my car was T-boned the first Sunday in May. And has been in the body shop ever since.   Even though I let the people fixing the car understand that I had to have the car back no later than 11 July, the work dragged on and on and on and on.

In fact, we were not able to pick up the car until this Friday at 4:30 in the afternoon. Talk about getting it just under the wire!  We do not seem to do things in simple ways around here.

Those of you who follow me will recall that this is a new car. That is, new to me. It is a 2014 model, that we found in Rochester, New York, with the help of our nephew, from whose car dealership we bought it. We owned it exactly 2 weeks, when the accident occurred.

Here's how it happened...

Mom and I were on our way to worship at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, when as we went through a green light at the intersection of N. Negley Ave. and Stanton Avenue, were T-boned. The other driver had run the red light. We were fortunate that no one was injured. I later learned that this particular model gets a five out of five for crash safety. I believe we would not have fared as well had we been in my old car.

So now, all we have to do is wait for the movers to pack up the house. 

And then we will head for Florida.

Mount Dora Pottery

Do you know about Mount Dora Pottery?  You should! 

Mount Dora Pottery is created by Steve Gordon, a Central Florida master potter, who makes his pottery vases, bottles, bowls, platters, and mugs on a potters wheel, using 2-3 pounds of clay for each vessel.  Steve uses a range of glazes on his pieces, but most of the time they have a crystalline effect. 

Mount Dora Pottery can be found for sale at a display area in the Country Cottage Crafts collective gift shop in downtown Mount Dora.  We understand it can also be found for sale at the Funky Trunk in DeLand.  Moreover, it can be found in the pottery collections ranging from yours truly to Martha Stewart.  Yes, the Martha Stewart.

What could be nicer than to have something hand made and made right here in Florida to enjoy and to give.

I will include some photos of Steve's handsome and collectible Mount Dora Pottery with this post.