Come Back Anytime

By
April 4, 2016 -- Some people bring joy everywhere they go.  Our friend Dan Barnes was one of those blessed folks.  And so is Holly Downing, his wife.

Tom and I know them from our years living in Columbus.  We were delighted when they came to visit us in Sanibel ten years and two months ago -- January 2006.

We dined al fresco at Doc Ford's the first night of their visit, and the second night, we had accepted an invitation to an open-house cocktail party for prospective members at The Sanctuary Golf Club. We're no golfers, but I'm a serious swimmer, and the pool at the city's recreation center was closed, or about to be closed.  I was hoping that the recent renovations at The Sanctuary included an enlargement of their swimming pool.  If so, we just might have bought a social membership.

Holly, Tom and Dan look at exotic creatures in Periwinkle Park on Sanibel.
Later that day, we partied at The Sanctuary.

We asked Dan and Holly if they would like to go with us to The Sanctuary.  They said yes, with enthusiasm!  After a several minutes at the party, I was worried that we'd made a mistake.  The hosts were not great at conversation.  The party was awkward and stiff.  I finally got people talking about their European vacations.  That was a little better.

But the party still had room for improvement.  As Dan and I stood in conversation with the general manager of the club, Dan eyed the grand piano a few yards away.  The general manager astutely noticed his interest, and said, "We just had that piano tuned three times in a row.  It's perfect now!  Would you like to play it?"

Dan smiled modestly and said, "Yeah, sure."  He sat down and began to play wonderfully, as he always did.  He took requests.  People from the party gathered around.  The people at the bar all came out and joined us, too.  Dan played whatever was requested, including fight songs from various universities.  Holly sang a raunchy and delightful version of "Don't Advertise Your Man."  The party was alive!  Everyone was having fun!  People smiled, laughed, relaxed -- just as people always did at Holly's and Dan's parties back in Columbus, years ago.

At last we were given our tour of The Sanctuary's facilities.  The pool size was unchanged, alas -- too small for real swimmers.

The general manager tried to convince us to stay so Dan could play more, but the four of us had theater tickets.  It was time to go.  The party was over.  "Come back anytime," the general manager said to Dan, handing him one of his cards.  "We'd love to have you play here whenever you're on Sanibel."

Now Dan can only come back in our memories.  He passed away yesterday morning in Ohio.  We shall miss him enormously.

Dining at Doc Ford's on January 30, 2006, with Dan and Holly.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What you can do about red tide

By
Image
  by Barbara Joy Cooley, Chair of the COTI Environment Committee What can you do about red tide?   There is something.   Maybe you have done it, or are already doing it.   Maybe you haven’t done it yet, but you will – hopefully, soon. What is it that you can do?   Go Native!   Get rid of that green, grassy lawn and replace it with native vegetation.   City of Sanibel guidelines state that at least 75 percent of your yard and garden should be planted with native plants.   To meet the guidelines, only 25 percent can be non-natives. In many ways, green, grassy lawns are the worst of the non-natives because, as City Councilman Dr. Scott Crater stated so clearly on March 7, “You can’t grow grass on sand.   You cannot do it.   It is impossible.   The only way to grow grass on sand is to dump chemicals on the ground.” Those chemicals include nutrients that eventually make their way into coastal waters to feed the red tide algae, contributing to red tide blooms like those that are plag
Read more

COVID-19 Surges and Vaccinations Have Begun

By
Assessing the risk posed by COVID-19 on Sanibel and Captiva involves considering the situation at the hospitals in Lee County.  The islands have no hospitals; island residents depend upon hospitals on the mainland.  Those hospitals are on the front line of the epidemic in Lee County. Lee Health, the main hospital system for Lee County, continues to experience high occupancy rates and positivity rates (percent of tests that are positive) for COVID-19 tests processed in Lee Health laboratories.   Over the past week, the occupancy rate was 95% on December 30, and 96% on January 5.   The daily positivity rates were 32.2% on December 30 and 34% on January 5.   Occupancy of adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds was 89% on December 30, and 93% on January 5. Meanwhile, the Lee Health system has been vaccinating its key workers, as well as staff members who are 65 or older.   As more vaccines are received, Lee Health will announce plans for vaccinating residents who are over 65.   National
Read more

Scott and Mike for City Council

By
On March 2, or sooner for those who order mail-in ballots , Sanibel citizens will be able to vote for three new city council members.  Out of the field of six candidates, I know who I will get my vote for two of those positions.  For the third position, I haven’t yet decided. In an outstanding field of candidates, these two really stand out for me:   Mike Miller and Scott Crater.   Both have the kind of expertise and leadership qualities that we need in this somewhat difficult time.   I endorse Mike Miller and Scott Crater for the city council. For the City of Sanibel, there will be economic fallout from the pandemic for some time to come.   The City also needs to continue to take measures to protect against the spread of the virus, as the vaccine rollout is slowed by lack of supply.   We also continue to experience water quality problems due to releases from Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee watershed.   To deal with all of this, we need council members with strong science, f
Read more