Gone but not golfing

I'm going to take a couple of weeks off ... but will be back.  Best to all of you.  If you live in the US, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  Christmas and Hanukkah will be here soon.  In Florida, this is the perfect time for golf and a lot of my friends will be out on the local courses.  I won't be golfing, however, for several more weeks.

Golfers Only

This is the "start" area for Trilogy's golfers. It's located just off the first tee box and offers a place to rest and relax. Ice cold water is free. Golfer may also help themselves to score cards, golf tees, golf repair tools, pencils, etc.

Freight Train

For many of my readers, especially those who live in countries other than the US, freight trains are no big deal. But we don't see many of them in the U.S. these days because President Dwight D. Eisenhower, under pressure from the formidable auto industry and its supporters in Congress, determined that the U.S. should put its money into interstate highways rather that train tracks.  Thus we chose to do down that road (a terrible mistake, in my opinion, because the U.S., through this decision, became a supporter of toxic global warming.

This train is rumbling through the small town of Wildwood about 60 miles northwest of Orlando. Notice how little graffiti there is.

A Dumper

There are multiple ways to get rid of trash or pouring concrete. This seems to be one of the easiest methods around. It gets my vote.

Barx and Bubbles

If your dog is smelling rather rank these days, just give Barx and Bubbles a call.  They will show up at your door with their mobile grooming truck and within an hour or so your dog will smell like new!

We used a similar service occasionally when our Golden Retriever, Haley, was still with us.

There are at least two of these mobile groomers in the Ocala area that I know of, and probably others of which I am unaware.  I think it's a fine service but it is water intensive.  Plus they use a generator so it's noisy as hell!

Oak House Great Room - Trilogy Resort

The Oak House (see the header photo above) at the Trilogy Resort provides room for a number of activities.  We'll be posting photos of the various spaces occasionally in the future.

The Great Room or Living Room is the focal point of the building.  People gather here for games, learning activities, meeting other residents, craft shows, etc.

The bar (pictured above) is actually not in the Great Room but adjacent to it in the restaurant.

Pool Poop

This is a huge pool float. You might want to consider it if you have a swimming pool.

Nah. It's really crappy any way you look at it!

Coke by any other name...

This is a true story. I was shopping in one of our local stores when I realized I was thirsty. So, before checking out, I located one of those small "refrigerators" used to keep soda pop cold. I reached in, pulled out a bottle of Diet Coke.

To my astonishment, I saw it featured my last name. No, I don't think there was anything sinister or other worldly about this.  It's probably a marketing gimmick. But, strangely, I've not seen any other Coke bottles with personal names on them.

Whatever, the bottle occupies a place of honor on my workbench in the garage.

Gator Mania

The University of Florida is located in Gainesville. Gainesville is a good-sized city about 35 miles north of Ocala.  The Oaks Mall is located in Gainesville.

The alligator is the University of Florida mascot. Gator Mania, in the Oaks Mall,  sells all kinds of items related to the University of Florida's sports teams and all this stuff features alligators.  As I recall, there are two or three Gator Mania stores in the Oaks Mall and UF gator memorabilia is also sold in a large open area of the mall.  You can buy a ton of "Gator" tee shirts featuring a gator engaging in a variety of activities.

It's one heck of a money-making operation which I don't understand at all. A number of years ago, T-shirts were plain, without lettering or advertising.  They were worn primarily as undershirts.  Then some marketing execs got a bright idea.  Let's sell T-shirts that advertise our junk and tell people they don't need any other kind of shirt.

I remember clearly the first T-shirts I saw with advertising on it; Coca-Cola I believe. And I was insulted. Coca-Cola wanted me to buy a T-shirt and advertise their product! How stupid is that? Now, if they want to pay me to wear one of their T-shirts, I'd take that under consideration but I'll be darned if I'm going to wear their T-shirt for nothing.

You can see how well that turned out. Common sense got flipped on its head and people ran out to buy shirts advertising somebody else's product.

Nobody knew it at the time, but that's probably when Gator Mania was born.

Broken Wing - A Bird House Community

This is a relatively new development in the Ocala area. It's known as "Broken Wing" and is for older birds of a certain age who can no longer fly high. Notice the houses are low to the ground.

8th Street Elementary School

8th Street Elementary School is located in Ocala's historic district. It is a high-achieving school, with a diverse mix of students, operating from a beautiful and historic 3-story structure. The original school was built in 1914 but underwent a substantial renovation during the 2000-2001 school year and continues to offer children a wonderful place to grow and learn.

I miss Ike...

I'm old enough to remember President Eisenhower and know that today's Republicans wouldn't give him the time of day. His biggest mistake was to opt for interstate highways instead of rail transportation. But he was basically a good person which we cannot say about the current occupant of the White House.

And hell yes, although quite young, I remember Harry Truman. He was feisty and yet did not beat up on people who were poor or different than he was. He didn't take any guff and when a certain general gave him a problem, like wanting to take the Korean War into China, ol' Harry relieved him of his position. Harry knew that to fight a land war against the Chinese was irredeemably stupid!

I would take either of these two over the orange-headed monster in Washington who oozes evil and terrorizes the world with his crackpot ideas and monumental lies.

Golf Course View

This nice new home backs up to a golf course.  The residents can sit in those comfy red chairs on their patio and watch the golfers as they pass by.  Such a venue is guaranteed to provide lots of laughs.

How much is that kitty in the window?

New Homes in Infrared

Ocala Farm

Cleo - wrapped and ready to go

Cleopatra is my cat.  She has adopted me.  She's very opinionated and very bossy.  She makes her likes and dislikes known.  One of the things she likes to do is play in plastic bags we bring home from the store.

In this case, she's telling me to leave her alone.  I can have the bag back when she's done with it.  I said OK, then went and got my camera.  One of my likes is to take photos of her.

 

Mourning Dove

This morning dove was traveling through Ocala and decided to visit the Trilogy Resort.  It was a beautiful, warm morning; the various exercise groups had not yet arrived to work out in the swimming pool and thus it was the perfect time for a morning dove to contemplate a quick bath before resuming her journey.

Entrance to Oak House (Trilogy Resort)

Two of Ocala's Historic Houses in Infrared

The Jogger

Cattle Egrets on the fence

In my original post here I called these birds, "cowbirds."  I've heard that for years and assumed it was because they hung around cattle.  I was wrong.  These are cattle egrets, a species of heron.  They came to Florida from Canada some years back.

Every house needs a roof

Waiting for the rest of the roof...

...and here it comes.  As my dog would say, "Woof!  Woof!"

Our Lady and the Lizard

Needles at Heathbrook

Heathbrook is a large outdoor mall in Ocala. Although built several years ago, it is just now beginning to take off and I think it will eventually be quite successful.

There is a small green area in the middle of the mall, which contains several beautiful oak trees and a statue of a horse. Some years back, I did a post on this statue. It celebrates the importance of the thoroughbred industry in the Ocala area.

The first thoroughbred farm in the Ocala area was Rosemere, which started up in 1936. But it wasn't until 20 years later when an Ocala thoroughbred by name of "Needles" won the Kentucky Derby that the thoroughbred industry came into its own. Within 10 years, the number of horse farms went from a handful to many hundreds. Today Ocala is known as the "Horse Capital of the World."

This is a statue of Needles, 1956 Kentucky Derby Champion.

Pilgrim Friends

These two Pilgrim friends are waiting patiently for the arrival of Thanksgiving Day when their attire won't be so out-of-place.

The powers-that-be at City Daily Photo have designated the theme for November 1 to be "Friendship."  You can check all the various takes on the theme HERE.