Sanibel Journal

September 30, 2016 -- My new Autumn routine includes a 3-mile walk early in the morning, in addition to my usual 2-kilometer swim in the pool at mid-day.  The walk always includes at least a few minutes on the beach; the rest is along the shared-use path. If conditions are good (low-ish tide, no rainstorms threatening, not too much hot sun), I will walk on the beach the entire way to the trail head on Silver Key.  There, I can either take the trail or continue along the beach. Continuing along the beach requires some nimble maneuvering around, through, and over some dead trees -- trees whose lives were claimed by the Gulf of Mexico. Looking out at the Gulf from the opening at Old Blind Pass this morning The great reward, after maneuvering through the trees-turned-into-driftwood-statues, is that I reach the point where Clam Bayou/Old Blind Pass now meet the Gulf of Mexico.  For years, this meeting of the waters did not exist; the sandy beach separated the bayous f...

May 16, 2015 --  A few days ago, I mentioned the stressful nature of living in the University District in Columbus.  That same day, I saw an announcement about a recently published book , The Ohio State University District: A Neighborhood History , by Emily Foster. The information posted online included quotes from the book, all by people I knew when I lived there.  Tom and I knew Emily Foster, too.  Despite the stress of football weekends, I have many fond memories of the years in the University District.  Reading the quotes made me so nostalgic that I ordered the book online.  Such a book about a place in Ohio is not likely to be found in any local bookstore in southwest Florida. The book arrived two days ago; this morning I had some time to peruse its pages.  The second paragraph of the acknowledgements contained a shocker:  my friend Linda Ridihalgh died in 2011.  I had no idea. An Autumn view of our old house on East Oakland ...

May 3, 2015 -- The Bailey Tract on Tarpon Bay Road is a wonderland owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), who generously allows the public to visit it.  It is part of the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge properties on Sanibel Island.  People are fortunate that FWS allows them to park and visit, because wildlife refuges usually are just that:  refuges for wildlife – a place for wildlife to be able to avoid humans. In a fact sheet available on the FWS web site, the fact that this Bailey Tract was once owned by the Bailey family is stated right up front, at the beginning.  The tract’s 100 acres is just a small portion of what the Bailey family once owned on Sanibel, but they still do own plenty – including the shopping center at Tarpon Bay Road and Periwinkle Way – smack in the middle of Sanibel’s “downtown.” They also owned a commercially zoned parcel across Tarpon Bay Road from the shopping center.  That piece was sold to Tarpon Bay R...