Last week the Tumbleweeds were off the road and out of the truck. We spent a few days with family in Sarasota, where we swam right after eating during a tornado because we're rebels like that. We had our own bathroom and we saw lots of old people, but not in our bathroom. That's just creepy.
 |
| Turtle Beach on Siesta Key |
Sarasota, Florida has more old people per square mile than anywhere on Earth. Restaurants are crowded at 4pm and if you come here during Snow Bird Season, any point between Labor Day and Easter, you will hear more wise-guy accents than in Jersey or Brooklyn. No one is from Sarasota; to move here you need to have lived in the North East or at least been an extra on the Sopranos. I think it's a law.
The sand here is very shell-y and coarse while just a couple of miles north the sand is powdery and white. The white sand is soft and cool but the Tumbleweeds like the rough, scratchy feel of the shells on our feet.
It was a beautiful stormy day, my favorite time to be at the beach. Just up the coast they were having tornado warnings, but here it just made lovely clouds and kept away the crowds.
 |
Himself and Mr. Blue. The bus has been in the family
since 1978 and is all original.
|
 |
| Great Blue Heron giving me the beady eye. |
These birds stand guard all along the beach and will let you get quite close before taking off.
The other bird that is common here is the Snow Bird. They arrive in great swarms during the winter months, drive their Buicks 20 mph under the speed limit, make left turns from the right lane and wear sweaters when the temperature dips below 80 degrees.
 |
| Tumbleweed Toes |
 |
| Bird Toes |
 |
Himself and a Great Blue Heron in a staring contest.
Do not engage in a staring contest
with a Snow Bird. They will
call the police. |
