Sanibel Journal

Yesterday's sunrise on Dinkins Bayou. November 11, 2015 -- All the exterior painting on our house came to a grinding halt last Thursday.  Our paint contractor had unwittingly allowed his Sanibel license to expire.  A competing painter reported him in to the city. A competing painter gave us an estimate of $21,000 last spring for the exterior painting. Understandably, we sought other estimates and hired a different painter -- one that was not so expensive. Yet as our painter's crew was working away last week, a competing painter's truck and car were seen multiple times lurking near our house -- even though the road is posted "private."  Once, the snooping driver of the vehicle even had the nerve to turn around in our driveway!   A competing painter's timing was impeccable.  He probably called in the complaint on the day before the  city's contractor review board met.  The city inspector showed up at our property on the day of the monthly contra...

November 3, 2015 -- The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) came out with a report this year that confirms something I've long believed:  it isn't the chlorine in a swimming pool that makes your eyes sting; it is the chemical formed by the combination of chlorine and urine that does that.  (See Newsweek article about the CDC report by clicking here .) Swimming in public pools has always made my eyes sting.  I swim laps for a full sixty minutes every day, so my eyes have much exposure to the water.  Of course, when swimming laps in public pools I would wear goggles.  But goggles do leak.  Or, if they don't, they're so tight that they're uncomfortable. Now I swim in a pool that is used my nobody but me and my husband.  I don't wear goggles.  I still swim laps for 60 minutes or more, and voila.  My eyes do not sting at all. Yes, our pool has chlorine.  The company that built the pool is the company who maintains it weekly...

November 1, 2015 -- The painters are here.  The house has been stripped of its pseudo shutters, plantings have been cut away from its walls, and it is about to washed with pressurized water.  The house is getting the attention it deserves.  Soon it will be light gray, with a little brown and black here and there.  Gray, with the red tile roof -- Buckeye colors! Bill finished the travertine floor in the foyer during the week before my birthday.  His work is impeccable.  We look forward to his return! Then last week I celebrated making it to 60 all week long.  Already we had three parties to attend that week, so I didn't feel the need to have a birthday bash.  Already I had purchased a new computer and a new phone, so I didn't want any more presents. Besides, every day is a gift.  We love to wake up before sunrise so we can watch the bayou coming to life.  The water is loaded with fish, manatees, dolphins, and crabs.  Circular, ...