Sanibel Journal

December 27, 2014 – The Social Action Committee at my church last year discussed the problem of Styrofoam cups – or, more accurately, polystyrene cups.  We know that polystyrene is bad because we are forbidden to put it in our regular recycling bins in Lee County (where Sanibel and Captiva are located), and the assumption is that it goes to the landfill instead.  Well, that isn’t exactly right, because all household trash in this county is taken to the award-winning trash-burning power plant, where its volume is reduced by 90 percent and it is turned into an inert ash.  The ash is what goes to the landfill. That sounds good, but I remember the problematic trash-burning power plant in Columbus back in the 1980s and 1990s.  It was plagued with emissions containing too much dioxin, as I recall, and perhaps too much mercury, too. But the Lee County trash-burning power plant does not seem to have those emission problems.  In fact, it is held up as a model ...

December 18, 2014 – The busy-ness continues as we surge toward Christmas.  Tom has gigs to play as the various bands are booked for holiday events.  He plays every night this weekend!  Yesterday late afternoon was another Mardi Gras fundraiser planning committee meeting for the below-market-rate housing program on Sanibel.  We actually had fun at the meeting, posing for goofy party-planning photos.  The full committee showed up, having been forewarned that the next meeting, after Christmas, will be only four weeks before the event.  I delighted in watching the few fellow Zontians at the table deal with one difficulty in the committee.  I had to do that at an earlier meeting, with the same difficulty, and now the others were taking up the task, with zeal.  It is nice not to have to do the heavy lifting all the time.  I love being surrounded by other leaders. One of my newer Zonta friends who was there, Joyce, is also joining the Commi...

December 8, 2014 – With each passing week, my Google calendar is filled with more and more colored blocks, some of them overlapping.  ‘Tis the season. Tom has joined another band.  This is number 5 or 6, I think.  It is a concert band that actually rehearses (!) and he attended one of the rehearsals, at Whiskey Creek, two days before Thanksgiving.  He forgot to pick up the Thanksgiving pie on his way home from that, so we hopped in the van together and went to pick it up on that Tuesday, late afternoon. One of the island real estate, McCallion & McCallion, was giving the pies away to all of their customers and colleagues.  When we arrived at that time of day, the place was busy with people popping in to say hello and get a pie.  It turned out to be a pleasant, short social occasion, and we had a nice opportunity to chat with Andy, the surveyor.  We really need for Andy to go back and re-stake our home site at Cooley Hammock, because when t...