#that's not just white noise by the way. that's the unbelievably loud sound of 500 screaming starlings

[lowgardn]

Can't adequately explain how many birds are outside right now so have a video

#that's not just white noise by the way. that's the unbelievably loud sound of 500 screaming starlings #animals #birds

[boondockerblog]

Day 38, 39 - Bradenton, Sarasota

Weekend Started Off Strong

We had our usual yummy breakfast at our favorite Sarasota area breakfast restaraunt, First Watch. It's now in many places across the country (including coming to LOTO this Spring) but this one will always be our true favorite because we eat at it with Elizabeth and George!

Not getting enough time together at breakfast (plus Day 34), we hung out at their 5th Wheel for a few hours before parting until the June 2021 Family Reunion. Next Winter we'll likely be in the SW in the desert so will miss meeting them here in FL.

Took a Dip in the Middle

Chores: we divided and conquered - Bill went to wash weeks of 20 mile road sand out of every crevice of the motorhome and I went to do 2 weeks of laundry. What a great - a super new, super clean, large, brightly lit laundromat. All true but it ended up to be the laundry day from you know where.  5 minutes after arriving he started crying , loudly. And he didn't stop until his mother and brother and he left about 90 minutes later. I am speaking of the 2 yr old who wailed, no exageration, while walking back and forth with his arms held up to his mother as she walked between machines or sat waiting. She never looked at him, never spoke to him. It was strange - but mostly it was infuriating. Crying children, or any constant loud noise sets my teeth on edge and makes me want to scream myself. And no more so than when we've had weeks and weeks of quiet and solitude. I wasn't alone, as all the patrons were commenting, "how can she stand it?", "poor child", "does the owner not get how bad this is for business?", "I think I'm going to lose it", "unbelievable!". And when they left, the silence was like those nights when big flakes of snow are falling, blanketing the earth like a sound damper. It was wonderful. Sadly, we were done about 5 min after they left and off we went in the dark to the church we were staying at.

It wasn't instant calm though because a new, less than wonderful thing happened next.

First time concerned in the motorhome: We have parked in some unusual and interesting places (read as places that many people would have not wanted to park) and met some unusual and interesting people. Here in the beauty of a  parking lot under so many Live Oaks, it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, but in fact were surrounded by the busy Saturday night residential streets on Siesta Key, we were about to go to bed. A car drove in, all the way to the back right past us. Then another, and eventually 5 (one of which had a loud engine and the driver was having fun going fast on the curves). As each arrived, high school age boys got out and walked around and between the cars and near us, drinking from bottles (beer?, likely) and intermittently their faces glowed (their phone screens?, more likely joints). At one point, a couple of cars left and awhile later came back. We're not here to pass judgement or say that teenagers shouldn't have a place to hang out together at midnight on Saturday, but - we used to be those teenagers and know how many times that many people and cars and beers turned into something unplanned. 

We left at 12:30am and ended up back at Deep Creek - middle of nowhere, secluded nature seemed safer (and was definitely quieter).

Weekend Finished Beyond Expectations

Back in Sarasota the next morning, church with our friend and colleague, Barbara, was so uplifting. The Senior Pastor's touching message, delivered with humor, an amazing orchestra and choir, 500 plus people, an architecturally beautiful space were fantastic. But the real joy, the thing that made the morning really special, was sharing all this with our friend who loves her church!

After the usual Winter weekend Siesta Key (beaches) 45 minutes to go 6 miles - we were at Barbara's where she made a perfect lunch overlooking the blindingly white beach and aqua water.

She was moving storage from a large garage to a small closet with carport and we had fun working together to move many things while she organized the shelves. Maddie got a bath from the hose in her parking lot and off we went to that blinding sand.

We walked the super crowded beach. We were so surprised at how many people were here. Since it was unexpected it was like a beach vacation we hadn't planned. The people, the families, the sand art, the colorful umbrellas, the swimmers, the sand so fine and so white it's like powdered sugar. Just delightful! We loved our last walk on this beach with Barbara (see 2018 Day 7) but this was even more spectacular! And all, as always, with deep conversations about things that really matter in life.

Thank you Barbara for a beyond expectations day.