On a Lighter Note

After a day of fishing, the clean up is a real pain. You are hot, sunburned and tired. But, you still have to clean the boat, clean the gear, clean the fish AND clean yourself since seriously, you are super disgusting. But the dockside entertainment lightens the load. The minute the fish cleaning begins, the birds start arriving. Seagulls fly around shrieking "mine, mine, mine" and gorgeous egrets jockey for position with pelicans to receive tidbits. I thought Harry was awfully gassy until I realized that the egret, when annoyed, makes the loudest farting sound ever! I tried a couple of times to grab one of those long tail feathers for our fly tying friend Pete, but no luck. I never tire of how new and fresh experiences "down here" are compared to what I have known the first part of my life.

What's Right vs My Right

I think blogging is like therapy, except that is is totally the opposite of private. It is a soapbox but also a venue for discussion. I want feedback because I hope to continue to grow and improve as I age and not shrink, become narrow minded and brittle. I think about people that I encounter in my daily life, and those that I enjoy spending time with are the ones that can laugh at themselves and the absurdity of life, are accepting, and open minded. Throw in treating their fellow brethren kindly, also, and they rank right up there in my view. Complaining endlessly is a real turn-off to me. I love the glass half-full analogy as it applies to people. I know the Pollyana in me annoys the hell out of some folks, and I try to tone it down, but if we don't look at the bright side of all situations, we will go mad. The world is too cruel. I would walk around in a perpetual state of depression and doom if I wasn't able to see the glory in the sunset, the beauty in the nature around me, the humor of the egret sitting on the side of my pond waiting to eat my goldfish, or the absolute joy in the video I just received of my naked grandchildren playing the drums on all the pots and pans in the kitchen with wild abandon.

This ramble may not make sense other that I struggle with the issue of doing the right thing all of the time. I want to be a good person, a good friend, a good employer, a good citizen of the world and a good neighbor. If I am being rigid, judgemental, unaccepting or controversial, I want to know. I want to be able to analyze and make the decision that is right. I want to be assertive but not overbearing. I want to learn, to grow and to be better. It is hard!

My current dilemma with a neighbor has made think me hard about "rights." The family that lives diagonally across our canal has a very large cage full of parrots. They obtained them several months ago, pull the cage out from under their house where they have a large recreational area set up and the birds sit outside during the daytime. They squawk and screech off and on during the day. It is not a pleasant sound and for me; it is as annoying as a fingernail scratching a chalkboard. It grates on my nerves and I can often hear them through our windows even when the house is closed up with the AC on. So, being outside make it even more difficult for me. I wrote a note to them in the beginning and mentioned that the sound carries across the canal and is disturbing. No response. Harry then called them, and again, and again. Their answers were "well, we pay taxes" (hey, so do I so what the heck does that mean) and later, "do you want to buy them" (indicating to me they are getting fed up also) but other than pull the birds under the house which didn't really change a thing, there was no resolution. I called the Animal Shelter for their advise since this is not the first time we have had a problem with birds in the neighborhood, and they asked me to come file a complaint. So I did. And the Animal Shelter personnel visited the neighbors. And nothing has changed.

So, now what? I keep thinking about my right to peace and quiet and their right to have pets. I think, should I become more tolerant or should they become more considerate? I have placed a judgement on them. I see them as not caring about their neighbors and they may see me as rigid and inflexible. What is right? What is my right? What is their right? What is the right thing to do next? Should I file a complaint with the city? I haven't' figure it out yet, but I do know that the bigger disappointment in this is that as fellow human beings, we could not come to a solution. Isn't this a minuscule scale version of the what is happening all over the world?

Just Plain Low Life

Theft is a huge problem in business, and in the hotel business especially. When Harry and his family owned the hotel in California, I was shocked at the numbers of loss - food from the restaurants, booze from the bar, silverware - and that was just employee theft. Add what guests stash away and you are talking serious money.

At the motel, of course, we have a much smaller scale and a staff that I would trust my grandchildren with. But, guests do steal and it always makes me ponder the state of humanity. Guests will leave behind a lesser quality towel that they have stolen from another property and take ours. Or, if they have traveled with a pillow in a car, they replace their pillow with ours. As if we wouldn't notice when the case is removed and we discover a gross, filthy lump. (How people must live at home is another story.) Just taking towels, using washclothes to clean their cars, removing even blankets, ice buckets, etc. is normal. Fortunately, all of the baggage restrictions on airlines helps because no one wants to lug too much home anymore. But yesterday, I really saw a new low when the housekeeper reported the wastepaper basket missing and even the batteries from the fan and tv remotes. Come on folks! You pay for a room to sleep in which does not include the contents. We even had someone try to take the flat screen TV off of the wall. Duh! Did they think we wouldn't notice it missing??

The Banana Room

The word that Sam used the most through his adolescence was "banana." I don't know why, actually, but it was the answer to many questions, and comments such as "you're a banana" popped out of his mouth. I think if was an avoidance technique and as annoying as when a kid repeats what you say back to you. When we used to go back and forth to the Keys, before moving here, we decorated a downstairs room for Sam and I made this sign. Since Sam has moved into the bigger apartment downstairs, the "Banana Room" is often used for guests who want their own space and privacy. It has all of the amenities, minus a stove. But since I do the cooking around here, no one is complaining.

March hosted an array of guests. First, Matt and his boss came for a long weekend of fishing. In exchange for a plane ticket to paradise, Matt played captain again. Oh, he just hates that. So much that he never stops grinning. We had a very nice visit and three great weather days. The catching wasn't as great as usual but the fishing was.

After Matt's visit, my brother Tom Nord, arrived for his annual trek south. We love having him here and he, Harry and Sam just seem to find endless puttering tasks. I go about my usual routines and leave the boys behind because their conversation has little interest to me. I mean, how can you talk cars for ten days straight? Tom purchased a Saab convertible in Orlando, brought it here and with a very small investment in parts, fixed it to resell for a tidy profit. During Tom's visit, Sam's best friend Susan and two girlfriends arrived for OSU's spring break. Full house and lots of fun.

Now everyone has gone and we are somewhat back to normal. Harry finished yet another idea of mine - a small water lily pond where the sewer installers trashed the front landscaping. Although it needs a plant, and some time to grow mossy, the effort was fantastic. I like this arrangement! I suggest the creation and he does the labor!

So, the "Banana Room" is empty until our next company arrives. In the meantime, I have some ideas for remodeling it also...