Category: Florida

Earning My Stripes

I volunteered for an extra shift at Tallahassee Animal Services this afternoon to help with the monthly rabies vaccination and micro chipping clinic. To start off on the wrong foot I was thirty minutes late–apparently I’d read the directions incorrectly, so by the time I arrived everything was set up and people were already in line with their pets.

After a quick orientation I was placed next to the folks standing in line to help answer questions, provide assistance, and direct traffic. Mainly I held stuff: leashes attached to excited dogs, carriers containing nervous cats, one with a pair of ferrets, and a car seat with a precious baby girl inside. 

I’d expected to be nervous around the larger dogs, but for the most part all the pets were well behaved. A couple had to spend time in the calming area because it was too darned exciting out in the fray.

The most exciting part of my afternoon was being peed on by an English bull dog. Yep. I was standing there holding his leash so his owner could complete the necessary paperwork when I felt this wet warmth on my ankle. Of course then he tried to cover up his pee, so he kicked dirt all over me. Oh, I also stepped in a steaming pile of poo. 

If I tell you I had fun will you think I’m crazy?

Peace, people!

  

Meditation

 

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, Tallahassee, FL

 
I stumble daily:
physically,
emotionally,
spiritually.
Lord,
help me
daily find
the courage,
wisdom, and
strength,
to handle
each stumble
and to
refrain from
judging the
stumbles of
others.

Peace, people.

Volunteering at Tallahassee Animal Services

My second shift as a volunteer at Tallahassee Animal Services went well. We were really busy this afternoon with a great many potential adopters coming through the cat lobby. 

So far, I have resisted the urge to begin adoption procedures, but I find myself being a cheerleader for certain cats. There are several who’ve been at the center since I first signed up to volunteer.

One of my favorites is a pretty adult female named Kandy. She’s got such a sweet personality and loves to talk. Another is Margarita. What a gorgeous darling! She’s also an adult cat with a friendly nature. 

Then there’s Peter Parker. He was surrendered by his owner who became too ill to care for him. Peter loves to be petted, but is nervous about coming out of his kennel. He needs a loving, stable home.

Of course kittens are all the rage, and they’re awfully cute. One sibling pair, Paul and Newman are so playful. I doubt if they’ll still be at the shelter next Wednesday. And that’s a very good thing.

Remember, adopt, don’t shop!

I’m a really lousy cat photographer, but this is Newman. he liked me. He’d love going home with his very own human.

Tookes Hotel: National Historic Landmark

Most Saturday mornings I spend at least an hour wandering around the weekly farmers’ market in downtown Tallahassee. The Downtown Market boasts much more than just local produce. There are usually Tallahassee area artisans with their wares for sale as well as informational booths.

A couple of weeks ago a display at one of the booths caught my eye and I spent a bit of time visiting with the volunteers manning the exhibit. The display was an enlarged copy of a hotel’s registry. On it were the signatures of several famous African Americans: singer Ray Charles, author James Baldwin, and Academy Award winning actress Hattie McDaniel of Gone with the Wind fame, among others. They had all stayed, at various times, at the Tookes Hotel in Tallahassee. 

The Tookes Hotel began in the late 1940’s as Tookes Rooming House, when Dorothy Nash Tookes added three rooms and a bathroom to her home to provide a place for African Americans to stay when visiting the state’s capital. At that time segregation prevented people of color from staying in other Tallahassee hotels.

Ms. Tookes’s grandson, Ronald McCoy is currently planning to operate the former hotel as a museum, bed and breakfast, and luxury function facility, preserving as much of the original furniture as possible. Even the original Tookes Hotel sign, one of the first functional neon signs in Tallahassee, will be refurbished and put to good use.

I can imagine what a welcoming place the Tookes Hotel must have been to weary travelers during the days of segregation. We all just want to be welcomed, after all.

The restoration of the Tookes is an exciting project with great historical significance, and I am eager to see the finished project. 

Want to know more? Go to Tookeshotel.org.

 

The Tookes Hotel as it stands today at 412 West Virginia Street
  
This original neon sign will used once it has been restored.
 
Dorothy Tookes earned degrees in both education and nursing and was Leon County’s first certified teacher. She also founded and served as principal of Bond School. 

 

Dorothy attended nursing school at Florida A&M in the 1920’s.

 

  
Peace, people!

Things That Make You Go “Ewww!”

I ran over a snake this morning.
Ewwwwwwww!
It made me think about other things that bring an ewwwwww to my lips and face and mind:

Things That Make Me Say “Ew!”
(To the tune of My Favorite Things)

Spiders in thick webs and
Baby poop in diapers,
Roaches in corners and
Squished bugs under wipers
Moldy foods in Tupperware
And stinky gym shoes
These are the things that
Can make me say ewwww!

Snakes underneath tires
And hair in my salads
Stepping in dog poo
and John Tesch’s ballads
Splattering sneezes with
Snot infused goo
These are the things that
Can make me say ewwwww!

When the kid pukes
When the farts smell
And I hold my nose
I simply reflect on these
Grossest of things and
All I can say is Ewwwwww!

  
Peace, people!

Doggone Dog

Dogs are among my favorite people, but a couple of evenings ago as I was taking my evening walk an unknown dog made a charge at me.

Doright Manor sits at the bottom of a loop and many evenings when Studly and I have been out and about in the car I’ll have him drop me off at the top of our loop so I can get a walk in before darkness sets in. On the occasion of the charging dog, the weather was so nice that I decided to walk the entire loop, bypassing the manor and trekking up the backside.

It’s a nice walk and great exercise as the loop has a long steady change in elevation. About halfway up the back side of the loop I caught a flash of brown out of the corner of my eye. I knew there was a dog waiting to ambush me, if not to attack, just to assert its authority over its territory.

I continued walking, grateful that I’d seen the dog and wouldn’t be taken by surprise. Then he rushed me, a large apparently angry dog barking a deep growly baritone that caused me to stop dead in my tracks. I commanded him to stop, and he did, while continuing to bark.

The driveway he came running out of belongs to a home that’s set way back on its property and there is no house directly across from it. I raised my voice in a “hello!” hoping the dog’s owner would come and corral him.

No response. I had my phone and dialed Studly. No response. I tried again. Nothing, and I figured he was in the shower. All this time the dog continued to bark. I took a tentative step forward and he came closer and growled more loudly. I knew better than to turn my back, so I began walking slowly backwards. He took another step towards me. Again I sternly commanded him to stop and he did. Finally I heard a female voice as his owner came out to the road. The dog was still barking furiously.

“He won’t hurt you,” she said, sounding miffed.

“I don’t care!” I responded. “I don’t know your dog, and he scares me.”

It took her several minutes to get the dog back up to the house. He kept turning back to bark at me and I’m sure my fear was encouraging that behavior. 

She never apologized, just herded the dog back to her home. I continued my walk and at the top of the loop Studly returned my call. He offered to come get me, but the crisis was over by then. 

Now I’m reluctant to walk my loop. I have a walking stick that would provide some defense, (I didn’t have it that evening) but I’m really nervous. Not long ago a Texas friend was attacked by two large dogs while on a walk, and is still dealing with a nasty bite from that incident.

No punch line in this post. I hate being afraid. 

Peace, people. 

 

On a Mission

Tallahassee has an untrumpeted treasure in an unlikely spot on Tennessee street just across from Panera Bread. For the past year I’ve driven past Mission San Luis thinking that one day I’d visit. On Tuesday I did just that. All I have to say now is what took me so long?

From the brochure: “Mission San Luis functioned as the capital of the western missions in La Florida  from 1656 to 1704. Populated by more than 1500 residents, including one of the most important Apalachee chiefs and the Spanish deputy governor, San Luis was one of early Florida’s larger colonial outposts.”

The members of the Apalachee tribe actually invited the Spanish Friars to build a mission in their midst, thinking it would increase their status. 

The Friars gained a lush environment where crops could be grown and shipped to the larger outpost of St. Augustine. 

When various threats emerged to the Spanish holdings, a fort was built on the site; although, it never housed enough soldiers to properly protect the Spaniards or the Apalachee from other Europeans–namely the French and then the English. 

Mission San Luis is an ongoing archaeological site and includes remnants of the Apalachee council house along with examples of the stockade and church.

If you’re ever in the Tallahassee area, I recommend you stop for a visit. Let me know you’re in town and we’ll tour it together!

On the wall inside the chapel, this guide allowed non-readers to follow the pitch of the music.

  
Inside the stockade and mess hall.
  
One of the knowledgeable docents on site.
  
        
    
   

Peace, people!

Delayed Gratification

In college I took enough psychology classes to make me annoying (ok, more annoying) to my friends and family. I loved reading about experiments and studies into animal and human behavior.

One that has stuck in my mind is an experiment that I believe B.F. Skinner, known as the father of operant conditioning, constructed. Now I tried to google the experiment, but never hit on the exact study I was looking for, so maybe I made it up. Please, if you know of the study correct my errors.

As I recall, in the study some rats were given a treat every time they pressed a lever, while other rats never received a treat, and still others received treats at random. Understandably, the rats receiving no rewards soon gave up pressing the lever, and the rats who always received a treat became complacent. The rats that received treats only now and again, though, were the most eager to press the lever. 

Hmmm. I get this dynamic now; whereas, in college I did not. Let me illustrate:

Once, many years ago, I arrived home from a business trip to find Studly Doright standing outside our home in Melbourne, Florida, with our motorcycles loaded for a trip. He told me to get ready for a weekend ride and to grab anything I might need for a weekend of fun. He refused to tell me where we were headed, just that I might need my swimsuit.

Unbeknownst to me he’d booked us the attic room at the Seven Sisters Inn (A Historical Bed and Breakfast) in Ocala, Florida. It was wonderful and romantic, and ever since that time I’ve fantasized about another such surprise. Had he never treated me to that trip I’d never even entertain the thought, but he did and now, no matter how often I push the button I receive no reward. Well, at least not THAT reward.

Sigh. Better to be the rat that never got the treat? You decide.

 

Seven Sisters Inn
 
Peace, people!

Even Par

Studly Doright shot even par today. Apparently that’s a big deal. 

I took two naps today, surely that trumps anything that happened on the golf course. 

  
Peace, people.

Lightning Strikes

We’ve had some incredible thunderstorms move through our area this past week, but tonight’s was over the top. It made me so thankful to have a roof over my head. 

Of course it also scared the crap out of our younger cat, Patches who scurries for cover at the first rumble. Our big girl, Scout, isn’t bothered by thunder. She and I enjoy snuggling together during storms.

And then there’s this….

http://youtu.be/_BAepxjMxh0
Peace, people.