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| St. Patrick's Day Bear |
10 March 2026
Today was a typical Tuesday where, for the last few weeks, I have been playing Mah Jongg with fellow boaters here at the marina instead of going to the library for art. Folks that have been playing Mah Jongg for years say, "Oh! It's easy!" Hah! Trying to figure out how to match the tiles to a pattern on the playing card can be nearly impossible.
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| Official Mah Jongg playing card |
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| Sample of the patterns to be matched while playing a hand |
Then to make it more "interesting", players do the "Charleston" to start the game. This phase of the game is the art of selecting 3 tiles you may (or may not) need and pass them to another player. This passing of tiles can occur up to 7 times with at least 3 rotations required.
Every time I play I learn a little more of the obscure rules and how to read the "card". I have decided that I want to teach at least some of my grandchildren how to play this summer (if they don't already know), and I am sure they will quickly surpass me in skillset!
Mah Jongg ended just after 12:30. I thought I had an open calendar for the rest of the day but saw that today was Crafts at the library when I checked the calendar. Twice I had asked in the library what the scheduled craft for today would be, and both times I was told, "Angela's not here today". So, basically, no one could tell me what they had scheduled. I scurried over to the library at a brisk walk and arrived shortly after 1:00 to learn that today's craft was ..... "Painting coconuts"!
Marlin Bay has coconuts on hand to paint every other Thursday, and so far, I have not taken advantage of the opportunity because I do not want a painted coconut to store on the boat. I saw a friend there and said hello and then left for a brisk walk back to the boat. At least I got in some exercise!
I planned to make lunch for Clark when I got back from crafts. He said that would be fine, but when I walked in, he was munching on a bagel. Seems that he forgot to eat breakfast (who does that?) and decided not to wait until I got back from the library to grab something to eat.
Even though the band will not be playing at church this coming Sunday, practice was still scheduled for this afternoon in preparation for church the following Sunday. The band leader would be away on the coming Sunday. Given that, the pastor requested that, instead of the band playing, prerecorded Motown songs would be played for folks to sing along with. They picked songs that could be interpreted with a religious point of view.
Clark left shortly after 2:00 to go to the church for practice. I planned to do some art this afternoon but hadn't started anything yet when I got a text message from Clark. He left his recording device on the boat and needed it for practice. "Can you bring it to me if you can get your bike off the boat?" (insert eye roll here)
I knew what he needed, and the church is only about a mile away. The big question, however, was could I get the bike off the boat. I have managed it when the boat is right next to the dock. Unfortunately, today we had wind pushing the boat away from the dock such that I had no means of safely getting it onto the dock. I packed up what I needed and decided to go in search of assistance, when by chance, a fellow boater walked right by the back of the boat. It took about 5 seconds of his time to grab the bike from me as I handed it up to him, and we were then both on our separate ways. (I told someone later, "I prayed for a miracle and God delivered!"
I had the wind in my face for the ride to the church, so it was a bit of a challenge to go at speed. Again, I thought, "At least I'm getting my exercise today!" I left the boat around 2:30 and I was back on the boat with the recorder delivered at 3:00! With the wind at my back, the ride back was fast and fun.
Clark was very happy to have his recorder for the practice. As it turned out, Vivki (harmony) had car trouble and Nancy (fiddle) and Steve (banjo) never made it to practice. The road construction in front of the airport made the traffic so congested that the cars were not moving. Eventually, they gave up, turned their car around, and went back home. Clark was able to share his recording with them.
I made no attempt to put my bike back on our boat when I got back to the marina. I chained it to a cleat on our pier and walked up to the Club House. There I found my Mah Jongg friend, Francine, playing house with a 5-year old girl, Willow (from boat "Hoppy Trails"). Willow's mom was doing laundry, and Francine was entertaining Willow in Morgan's absence. Playing house sounded like fun, so I joined them for a while. "Hoppy Trails" has been on their Great Loop trip this past few months and stayed at Marlin Bay for the winter.
As I walked back to the boat, I passed the pool bar and found more friends to talk with including Tina, Marcy, Melissa, and Deanne. Marcy had just returned from her cruise to Antarctica with her husband Jeff and regaled us with talk of her time with penguins and seals.
After dinner this evening Clark spent time with his guitar and me with my art supplies.
11 March 2026
Today started out as a typical Wednesday with me at the washer and dryer up at the marina office. The wind had died down and the humidity had gone up, so in the afternoon, Clark and I decided to take a dip in the pool. The weather over the past few days was not conducive to going in the pool with a chilly wind blowing each day.
This evening, the church had a special Lent / Easter event going on. Each Wednesday, our friend Nancy had been leading a gathering of interested participants to immerse themselves into a Bible parable. Tonight's story was "The Good Samaritan". Nancy walked us through, step-by-step, the story line as we pictured ourselves actually there on a dust-covered road seeing the injured person at the side of the road. What were we thinking? What were we doing? What were we feeling? It was an interesting experience.
Although dinner was served at the church beforehand, Clark and I decided to go to Coast To Coast pizza afterwards to grab food.
Sadly, (or maybe not so sadly), I had eaten some cookies at the church and thus had no room for a big meal for dinner afterwards. Clark suggested we try a calzone instead. We had never had one here before. It was huge and looked like a pizza folded over on itself. Needless to say, we had some to carry home with us afterwards.
12 March 2026
Today started out as a typical Thursday with me running off to play Mah Jongg with boating friends, and Clark hanging out at the boat waiting for our turn to have our weekly holding tank pump-out.
When we started playing Mah Jongg, we had two tables of four people. The turnout has been diminishing. Today we had three of us for the first round - Francine, Roni, and myself. Before we started the next round, Sienna joined us. Sienna is a young teenager living on their boat "Still Waters" and being home-schooled as her family travels the Great Loop.
Sienna and her two sisters (Hannah and Tessa) are amazingly smart and well-mannered. I love interacting with them as they remind me of my granddaughters. Today was only the second time Sienna played Mah Jongg, and she did very well indeed. I, on the other hand, had a miserable day as not one of my three games gave me anything concrete to work with, i.e. nothing matched anything on the card! Of all three plays, I only saw one joker! Ah well, maybe next time!
While I was away from the boat, Clark was busy with his church music and, as it is that time of year, taxes!
At 6:00 tonight, we went to the St. Columba church for the Musicians' Dinner put on by the Iona Society of the church. The meal, as with many others provided at the church, was catered by Frank's Grill -- a well-known and respected Italian restaurant here in Marathon. Members of the Iona Society, the choir and the band attended the event. Clark does not appear in the pictures as he was the one running around taking them.
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| Table decorations |
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| Fancy dining tonight |
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| Food from Frank's Grill |
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| Dan, President of Iona Society making presentation |
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| Pastor Deb (right), her husband Kirk (on left), Jodi (next to Pastor Deb) |
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| Music Director - Tom with wife Donna |
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| The Band sans Clark Ev, John, Nancy and Steve |
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| Band Vocalist (Harmonies) Vicki |
We arrived back at Marlin Bay just as the sun was setting. Clark announced that he wanted to go to the west side of the inner basin to say goodbye to the folks on Sunset Seeker - Carole, Ed, and the dog Riley. We found them and our mutual friends, Evie and George, watching the sun go down.
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| Sunset Silhouettes George, Evie, Carole, and Ed |
13 March 2026
The sky was interesting this morning.
Off and on over the past few days / weeks, Clark has been gone from our boat to help a fellow boater with his battery issues, and he has had many issues! Today Clark was on his way over there shortly after scoffing down a bagel for breakfast. I was left to my own devices to do as I pleased.
Thursdays, the marina offers art opportunities for those interested in participating. The weeks alternate - rocks one week then coconuts the next. Before leaving Marathon this season, I wanted to do one more rock-painting session, but it conflicts with Mah Jongg. Our entertainment director, Grace, said she would put a couple of rocks to one side for me, so I could do them on my own time.
I grabbed three and decided to work on them today. I used acrylic marking pens. They are easier to work with, but I still end up with my hands painted along with the rocks. I searched on line for some design ideas and then went to work.
The rock shapes are challenging as they come from Home Depot and are expected to be used for landscapes not art. They have various curves and imperfections that make them "interesting" to work with.
14 March 2026 - Seafood Festival Day
We have found that the best time to hit Publix is Saturday morning. The shelves are well-stocked in preparation for weekly visitors, but the visitors have not arrived in town yet. I took Clark with me this morning to stop at the farmers' market for veggies (we got beautiful tomatoes, baby cucumbers, and baby bok choy) before heading to Publix in search of Killer Dave Bagels and other items of interest.
As we biked down Route 1, the weather made an abrupt change. We biked in bright sunlight. Up ahead, however, we could see a giant, black cloud covering the sky. One minute I was blinded by the light, and the next someone had turned out the lights as it became very dark indeed. Fortunately, we did not get hit with any rain of consequence. We felt very few drips as we waited for the light to change in our favor for the trip back to the boat. I later heard from my friend JoAnn that where she is staying in Key Colony got a brief downpour.
The weather turned steamy just in time for the Seafood Festival. At the "last minute", St. Columba Church was offered the opportunity to use a tent at the festival. Last Sunday, Pastor Deb asked for volunteers to help man the booth. I decided to raise my hand. My friend, JoAnn, is in town for the month of March and agreed to be my booth partner. We were given the 12:00 until 2:00 shift.
Clark went off to work on the boat with the battery issues again today while JoAnn, her husband Jim, our mutual friend Nancy (visiting for a few days), and I went to the festival.
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| Pastor Deb, Cathy, Ev, and JoAnn |
Grace, who works at Marlin Bay in the role of Concierge, could not attend the event and really wanted a t-shirt. She had mentioned it in passing earlier in the week. As I stood in the tent, I remembered her saying she was hoping to find someone to buy her a shirt. I texted her, got her color choice and size, and picked one up for her. She wanted turquoise. I got one for myself at the same time!
JoAnn and I took turns to walk through the booths to see what was for sale.
I saw a couple of things of interest but kept my money in my pocket. A couple of booths down from ours, a group of folks offered a fundraiser for "Marathon Youth". The item being offered as the prize was a picture taken by a man from the "Bryl Electric Co." of the bridge at Bahia Honda. I loved it but it was way too big for the boat. It would take up a large portion of a wall in a living room quite nicely.
I dropped $5 in their collection jar but declined to enter the raffle. In exchange for the donation, I took a picture of the picture!
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| Picture being offered at raffle - Bridge at Bahia Honda |
JoAnn managed to find a painting that she loved and picked it up as a gift for one of her grandchildren who has a birthday coming up.
The art is interesting. From a distance an image becomes clear. Up close the painting looks like random globs of paint. The work is very well done, and JoAnn was very taken with it.
Although our shift ended at 2:00, Cathy had asked me to stay a while longer to overlap with the next couple manning the booth to be sure they were comfortable before I left. Being in the tent for an extended period of time was challenging. Outside the tent the sun beat down but a breeze could be felt. Inside the tent, we had shade but no breeze.
By the time I walked back to the boat in the steamy weather, I was dragging my feet. As I walked towards the dock, I saw our dockhand / banjo-playing friend, Steve. I must have looked bedraggled as he asked if I wanted a ride in the golf cart to our dock. Normally, I would refuse, but today the offer felt too good to resist! Shortly after I climbed on board our air-conditioned boat, I lay down and fell asleep on the couch. I almost never take a nap!
15 March 2026 - Sunday
The weather forecast for today looked pretty ominous with potential for thunder and lightning storms. Given that Clark would not be playing in the church band today (special Motown program), we did not have to be at the church an hour earlier than the 11:00 service and, therefore, begged a ride with Jim and JoAnn.
The following were the Motown songs played / sung at church:
1 - You are the Sunshine of my Life - Stevie Wonder
2 - People Get Ready - Curtis Mayfield
3 - Put a Little Love in your Heart - Jackie Deshannon
4 - Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
5 - What's Going On? - Marvin Gaye
6 - Lean on Me - Bill Withers
7 - Reach Out - Four Tops
As per usual Clark and I hung out after services to chat with folks. Clark and another regular at the 11:00 service share a birthday. I had reminded Pastor Deb that Clark's birthday would be this Monday, so she had folks sing Happy Birthday to him. Given that, our friend, Dan, walked up and said it was also his wife's, Janet, birthday, so we sang the song a second time in her honor. Neither Clark nor Janet want to be singled out like that. Oh well!
Jim, JoAnn, and their visitor, Nancy, sat with us for a while but left well before we did. Since Clark believed the rain threat to have passed, we saw no reason why we could not walk back to Marlin Bay. Clark got into a conversation with two physicists who did nuclear engineering. I walked away from that and sat with Pastor Deb, Nancy, and a man who had once lived at the home of Pastor Deb years ago when he was a troubled youth. Listening to their stories was entertaining to say the least.
As it turned out, the rain threat was coming our way not going away. Looking at the sky, we could see ominous clouds to the west - the direction we were headed. Clark already walks faster than I do or want to, but when I said, "I just saw lightning!" He picked up the pace and was very nearly dragging me down Route 1! Although we were hurrying to seek shelter at the marina, we could see many other people blithely heading towards the Seafood Festival with nary a care in the world.
When we arrived at Marlin Bay, Clark went into the Club House for safety. I, of course, went with him. However, he seemed to want to spend the day there waiting out the storm. I, on the other hand, wanted to get to the boat to get lunch as it was now approaching 2:00. Clark had eaten nothing at the church and I had eaten only cookies. It was not raining, and I finally convinced him to leave.
He took off at high speed to get back to the boat asap with me lagging behind. On the way, I was surprised to see two teenagers swimming in the pool with thunder in the distance. That certainly did not seem safe! Adults nearby did not seem to have any issues with it, so I minded my own business and chased after Clark.
Shortly after we were safely on board our boat, we did get a brief downpour followed by intermittent rainfall. I was glad I managed to get Clark back on board before that or we would have gotten wet for all his efforts to keep us dry and safe.
By 5:00 when the marina had Karaoke and a pot luck dinner planned, the storms / rain had moved on. Other than all the deck furniture being wet, we had pleasant conditions for our party. Our concierge, Maddison, started out singing with the theme song from "Moana". We had some good singers and some not so good singers.
My friend, Celine and her daughter sang a duo. "Killing Me Softly"
We got to sing Happy Birthday to Roxanne from the boat Someday Came at the party.
As the sun began to set, I decided I wanted to head back to the boat. It has been a busy week after all. The sky offered opportunities for photography as we walked through the marina.
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| to the east |
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| to the west near the inner basin |
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| across from the tower |
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| from the dock where our boat is tied |
16 March 2026 - Happy Birthday Clark!
Luckily, since today is Clark's birthday, we had nothing on our calendars - no art, Mah Jongg, guitar practice, boat battery work, etc. Just a day to do nothing! I chose to work on the blog. Clark decided to read the book I gave him for his birthday.
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| "Tone, Twang, and Taste - A Guitar Memoir" |
Since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, my "Vermont Teddy Bear" (given to me by my older son many years ago) decided he better get into the proper attire in preparation! He donned his jacket and hat but felt something was missing, so he rifled through my jewelry box and came up with some beads for the occasion.
Afterwards, Clark chased him around the boat as he (the bear) tried out different spots to find one to his liking! Not being satisfied with staying within the boat, he went out onto the cockpit and sat on the dock box for a while.
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| Naughty Bear! Get down from there before you fall in!! |
I put on a skirt and blouse instead of the usual shorts today in honor of Clark's birthday, and as a consequence, Clark invited me out to dinner. We walked the short distance to El Siboney for a quiet dinner.
After dinner Clark suggested we walk to the west side of the inner basin to check out the sunset. There we found Evie and George and spent a lovely time chatting as we watched the sun drop below the horizon. The show started out looking like it would not be very impressive and got progressively better as the view changed.
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| Fishing boat returning to Keys Fisheries |
An author I follow on Facebook usually posts items with puns or a funny punch line. Today she posted something quite different.
Many a time I have taken advantage of one friend or another for the above reason, and I have greatly appreciated their support that was given without trying to fix anything. A sincere thank you to those folks!
