Kestrachern

Living in Florida this past year has been most interesting.  I’m living on the west coast of Florida on a peninsula that reaches into the area where Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico meet.  Flatter land and warmer water than in San Francisco.

Shelley and I arrived in Florida May 8, 2008 fresh from our hike along the Appalachian Trail via San Francisco. We were immediately struck by the raw beauty of the area, beaches, sunsets, and calm gorgeous waters.

Our first seven months were spent in Gulfport, a quietish beach town wanting to be a more vibrant art community. While in Gulfport we enjoyed the series of summer thunderstorms and braved two hurricane sideswipes. We fished and cooked blue crab and learned how to make tepache. Shelley was accepted into the Visual Arts program at Eckerd College and also found a great position at the regional utility company, Progress Energy. Finding a steady position was more challenging for me so I took work where I could find it. Designing pages and working with social media to working events like the Tampa Red Bull Flugtag, the TV show Closing Time, the movie Exit 727, and stage managing a fashion show and substitute teaching. One of my goals during my stay in Florida is to have a geographically independent income source so I have been working at writing and blogging as a means to that end, this is moving slower than I’d like.

Our family grew while we were in Gulfport with the additions of Biscuit, Angus, and MooseB8. Each one enriching our lives in one way or another. We also had our share of visitors. Maria and Mike were first, then Shelley’s mom, and a later visit by her dad. Abbey also made it out but that was after we moved to St Petersburg.

Our new apartment, Chez Kitteh, in St. Petersburg is very close to the Tropicana Stadium. It has many of the features we were missing in the Gulfport apartment, central A/C, gas stove, sturdy construction…..and located in a more urban industrial environment.

We’ve gone camping in Fort De Soto National Park where I saw for the first time fiddler crabs doing their little dance. We also made a trip out near lakeland for PreHeat, my first regional burn. Miami was a great adventure for Ultra Music Festival, and we also visited the Ringling Museum in Sarasota as part of Shelley’s course requirements. Speaking of museums the Dali Museum was a great place to explore… I was so into the work I took no photos…. but I discovered in seeing his work in person that photos dramatically reduce the impact of Dali’s work. I also discovered a weekly drum circle at the Treasure Island Beach, and a regular hippy-burneresque gathering at the Blueberry patch. Most recently I found a weekly hooping crew in St. Petersburg that have some of the most exciting and interesting people I have met so far.

Keeping busy when not working has found me biking around the area (much more fun on my new fixed gear GT Gutterball), compiling a study on creative mailboxes in Gulfport, producing two regular events in Gulfport, their Tuesday Fresh Market and the monthly Gulfport Goes Green expo. We also have two kayaks but have not been on the water nearly as much as we should. I’ve also been in my first bicycle accident in many many years that left me a little sore but otherwise seemingly ok. I’ve also seen three space shuttle launches but none up close. I also made it to one day of the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and caught the ending of the St. Petersburg Triathlon. The Pier had a VW show where I saw more VW busses in one place than I had ever experienced before. We also caught then Senator Obama on his campaign tour through Florida.

There are lots and lots of wildlife about, parrots, ibis, squirrels, alligators, manatee, dolphins, blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, stingrays, an assortment of fish, and so many species of birds.

Whew… that was one full yea and that was not by any means all that happened or everyone that I met. 2009 feels more productive and energetic than 2008 so I am excited to see were I will be May 8, 2010.