With Sandy and Bill gone from their slip, social distancing in an anchorage, the pigeons have decided to roost under the walkway between our two slips. They are defiant buggers who refuse to budge until you threaten to step directly on their heads. Unfortunately, they have also decided that our cockpit makes a good "Poop Deck" and use our teak handrails as their toilet. I need Sandy to come back!
Clark went to see Mel on "Morning Star II" to thank him for the loan of his magnet fishing line. He explained to him that our day on the water yesterday was a truly bad day for losing things overboard. He apologized that as he was fishing for the lost socket wrench extension bar and the lost Allen wrench, he accidentally dropped the line for the magnet while he was out in the kayak, so that too was now gone.
Mel is a real good sport, and I could hear him laugh at Clark's sorry tale from on our boat. Perhaps he guessed it was an April's Fool's joke because Clark then admitted that he had been trying to spin a tale. Isn't there an adage like 'don't prank a prankster', 'don't con a con artist', or something to that effect? Anyway Clark returned the magnet to Mel and went online and ordered new tools. It cost $50 to replace all that went in the drink!
2 April 2020
Miracle of Miracles! I convinced Clark to join me for a walk to the 7 Miles Bridge today. Of course he had to finish this and then that, so by the time we left it was just before noon and the sunniest and perhaps hottest part of the day. We saw very few people, but every time we saw bicycles or people coming the other way, we diverted from the path slightly to walk through parking lots as we made our way westward.
I have seen stories on television about animals moving into areas that are less traveled with people quarantined. That seems to be true for iguanas around here. Specifically, we saw lots of tiny ones - about 3 inches in length. Man can they move fast, but boy are they stupid! The cement path runs between route 1 and the gulf-side of Marathon with grassy sections along both edges. When we came upon them on the Route 1 side, in the grass, instead of staying there, they darted directly in front of us to their "safety zone" of the water side of the path. I nearly stepped on several as they all seem to be of the same stupid mindset.
As we neared the bridge, I checked out the large bush where I had seen the big, old iguana last time I came here. Instead of one, we found three up there enjoying the view and the breezed. Unfortunately, my presence disturbed them enough that two of the three dove for cover. We were left with only one who remained for the photo op!
We walked all the way to the wall - as far as one can go - and Clark stopped to take a few pictures of the area.
 |
| 7 Mile Bridge, Marathon, FL |
 |
| Looking back towards the marinas |
 |
| Looking down on the park area |
It was interesting to note that construction crews are still diligently working on the bridge.
On the way back to the marina, we passed the "Welcome to Marathon". Clark said, "I've never gotten a good picture of that sign." I remarked that I had taken some but only from the far side of Route 1 as I never wanted to brave the traffic for a picture. Well, that did not stop Clark today as we have never seen so few cars on the highway mid-afternoon! He dashed over to the other side and grabbed a couple of pictures. (The sign is directly in front of the Isla Bella Resort Marketplace.)
Continuing our walk back, we had to watch our step for scurrying, baby brown iguanas. The older ones are less likely to be skittish as evidenced by one that just sat and looked at me while I stood and looked at him.
 |
| Iguana sunning himself beside Route 1 in Marathon, FL |
Just before we got back to our marina, a car turned into a driveway in front of us. The side of the car read "Need Iguana Control? call [phone number]". I wonder what they do with the iguanas they catch.
We got back to the boat around 1:00. After lunch, Clark went up into the pilot house (his man cave on the boat), and I pulled out my paints to start a new project. Yesterday, I looked through the pictures I have collected of things I might want to paint - animals, bridges, landscapes, seascapes, ... Nothing caught my interest, so I dug a bit deeper and came up with the idea of painting a picture of our friend's Makasi aircraft used during in the Congo during the Cold War between 1962 and 1967.
Being late afternoon by the time I found a picture I could work from and transferred the outline to canvas, I did not actually start painting until 4:30. I figured I could get in about 2-hour's worth of time before I had to start dinner. As I worked on my art project, I heard Clark get a call. He talked and talked and talked, so I continued painting. Around 7:00, he said he was leaving to find a sunset picture, so I decided I better finish up and get dinner started.
At 8 o'clock dinner was ready and Clark had not yet returned. I tried calling him and got no answer. I called again about 10 minutes later and then again 15 minutes after that. I also sent a text message that remained unanswered. Because I like to eat my food while it is still hot, I ate without him. As time wore on, however, I started to become concerned.
I do not normally worry about Clark, but two hours to take a sunset picture seemed extreme. Of course, I start wondering if he fell off the dock or some such nonsense. How would I know?! At 9 o'clock I decided I better go looking for him. As I stepped off the boat, I wondered if I should go right or left and decided to head west as he had said sunset as he left.
I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't find him. Many boaters are tucked up in bed by 9:00. I couldn't exactly go around banging on boats looking for him. Fortunately, I found him standing out on one of the docks yakking away with a fellow boater (who stood on his boat to remain 6 feet + away). As I walked up, I said, "You're in big trouble mister with three unanswered calls and an ignored text!"
That broke up the conversation in a hurry. The other boater said, "Oh, it's my fault for keeping him." I know better! Since his food had been sitting around for an hour, I did not know if it was hot, cold, or tepid. He didn't care. As he ate, I explained to him that I was perturbed because I had started to worry.
I told him, "I want you to apologize for making me worry." He explained all about what they talked about and why it was so interesting. "Okay," I said, "but I want you to say 'I'm sorry'." Once again he starts to launch into why the guy was so interesting. 'Uh uh uh," I said. "Say 'I am sorry'. Just those two words!" He laughed. I said, "You can't do it, can you? You can't say 'I'm sorry'!" He shook his head and continued to laugh.
After dinner he asked me to cut his hair. We had been talking about his need of a haircut and then forgetting to do it for several days. I just looked at him for a while and said, "Okay, but I might just scalp you!" He got his haircut; he still has hair.
By the way, he actually did get sunset pictures tonight!
No comments:
Post a Comment