Scrubbing, Smoothing, and Enjoying the Parks

Once again, we were blessed with a beautiful day outside. After all, isn't that why we live in Florida? I have to admit that Dunedin thought about a small shower this morning, but that thought blew over with the clouds in less than 10 minutes.

We started the day in the front yard by tackling the soffits on the bedroom area of the house. Soffit work consists of five steps: washing everything, scraping off rough surfaces and loose paint, patching rough areas with spackling, sanding and smoothing the repaired surfaces, and applying the primer and two coats of paint. Whew!  I get tired just listing all of that.  Oh, and of course, the job is made even more "fun" by being all overhead.

Rick accomplished the first three of those steps this morning.  Neither of us can believe how much dirt accumulates on the soffits and the aluminum air vents that allow fresh air to enter our rafter space.  I know that Florida is a limestone peninsula loosely covered with dry dirt and sand.  Things get gritty and dirty all of the time; that is just a part of living in Florida.  Yet we were astounded to see that the air vents, when wiped down with warm water, actually changed color from tan to bright white.  Steve and Chris told us that they wash down their soffits each year when they come down, and I can see that will will have to do the same once we get the house repainted.  I guess if we want the sunshine, we have to deal with the dirt.

While Rick worked on the bedroom area, I took a step stool and started to wash the soffits by the front door and kitchen/garage part of the house.  I got the door area done and have the kitchen/garage area yet to finish.  I feel badly that I cannot do more, yet I know that if my doctors knew I was doing even that much, they would probably have a fit and pitch me out of their offices.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another good day, so while Rick works on the sanding/ priming part on the bedroom area, I can hopefully wash the rest of the kitchen/ garage area.  The work is not difficult; in fact, moving the ladder and climbing up and down is more work than the actual scrubbing. Each day we do just a little more to keep going and to keep on target.

Just before noon we received a call from Mike, the mechanic who was installing a new oil pan in our 1999 Toyota Camry, to pick up the completed car.  After 175,000 and about 60 oil changes, the Camry's oil pan plug was stripped.  When we picked up the new oil pan at a Toyota dealer last week, its size and shape reminded me of a certain implement that I usually see in a hospital.  As we walked out, I said, "OK.  So we just bought a $200 bedpan."

Rick replied, "Basically, yes."

In Mike's skilled hands, however, the "bedpan" was positioned correctly and now will complete the job for which it was made.  Mike gave us a great deal on labor costs, so when we deliver the Toyota later this spring to our daughter, it will be mechanically sound.  We had to take the truck back down Highway 19 to Mike's garage, and that was the worst part of this whole transaction.  Highway 19 is a major highway in Pinellas County, and according to one area man, it has been under construction for the last 15 years. I believe him!  The lanes are narrow to begin with, and when the truck travels through the construction zone, it literally fills a lane from edge to edge.  Rick was great and drove the truck both ways while I drove the Camry home.  Even driving the Camry on 19 is no picnic.  It sits low to the road and is not visible to some drivers.  Our safety is one of the reasons we are taking the car back to Wisconsin and getting a higher, more visible SUV when we return to Florida in the fall.

After we got home with the car, we decided to relax a little this afternoon.  Steve and Chris had told us about an area park called John Chestnut, Sr. Park in Palm Harbor.  The park was a delightful mix of trees, wetlands, shoreline, and wildlife.  The park included a lookout tower that had great views of Lake Tarpon.  We sat in a swing near the shoreline for a while and let the beautiful breezes lull us into a state of relaxation. Then we climbed the tower to enjoy the views. Our thanks to Steve and Chris for recommending Chestnut Park.  We definitely will visit it again.

Rick enjoys the views from the Chestnut Park
Observation Tower.

The views are quite nice without Rick
in the way, also!

Once we were finished exploring Chestnut Park, we decided to venture down the road a bit more to Philippe Park. Located in Safety Harbor, Philippe Park is a bit smaller and less developed, but it has great historical significance.  The park is named after Odet Philippe who in 1842 owned 160 acres of land in Safety Harbor, including the land that the park now occupies.  Odet's grave is located somewhere in the park and his significance to the area is detailed on a marker.  His epitaph reads:

Odet Philippe (1787 - 1869)

Odet Philippe
Born Lyon, France, 1787
Died at this Site 1869As the first European
 settler in Pinellas County, 
he established St. Helena 
Plantation, now Philippe Park
. Philippe was the first 
to cultivate grapefruit 
in Florida and introduced
 cigar-making to Tampa. 
His descendants populated 
this frontier. He was
 said to be a doctor
 and of noble birth.

The descendants mentioned included the McMullen and the Booth clans, both prominent frontier families in the area. The fact that Odet brought the citrus industry and cigars to the area's economy made his status and his ancestor's wealth secure. Some of the plantation's grapefruit trees still grow in the park.  But that is not the most significant part of the park.

A path leading up Tocobaga Mound.

Philippe Park also marks the cite of the Tocobaga Mound. The Tocobaga were a Native American tribe that settled in the region from 900 to the late 1500s.  The Tocobaga build their villages around a central meeting area, and that area included a mound made of layers of earth, shells, and stones.  On the top of the mound were spaces for the chief's home and for a village temple. The mound at Philippe Park is thought to be the central mound that marked the capital of the Tocobaga nation. Unfortunately, when the Spanish came to Florida seeking gold, they brought with them diseases against which the Native Americans had no immunities.  By 1600, the Tocobaga nation had vanished.  The mound is a testament to their identity and prowess and a lasting reminder of a culture lost to the area.

We were happy to find two jewels of parks that we will frequent often.  Philippe Park is 6.9 miles from Gladys, straight down Highway 580 (Main Street) to Philippe Parkway.  Chestnut Park is just a little north of Philippe.

Hopefully, we can learn to work in the morning and then relax a bit in the afternoon.  Actually, the weather may guide us into that.  Working previous summers, we learned that the heat forces us to quit by 10:00 a.m. and to not resume outdoor work until after 4:00 p.m.  That gives us plenty of "shade time" in between to sit in the park and to read a good book.