Spear and other fishing is different; going back to sharks expending as little energy as needed. If someone has already caught or wounded a fish, then swooping in to snatch the fish requires very little energy for the shark. An angler battling to bring a fish in may suddenly realize most of the fish has bee yanked off the line. This is “paying the shark tax”. Our local Keys radio station has a fishing report three times a day; morning, noon, late afternoon and “Captain Matt” is matter-of-fact about this reality. The one thing that can happen is drawing multiple sharks in to create a feeding frenzy. As Captain Matt says, in that case, just move on to a new location.

They really are a bit of a bother to eat, but we have them about once a month. Hubby splits and grills them and we each have a half. The second meal with them will usually be cacciatore style or hunter which is the onion, celery, carrot, and brown gravy mixture. Both of those versions are even messier to manage – the two-napkin kind of meal.

I suspect my parents never had them because it’s not the kind of thing they would have noticed. Chicken of course in many ways and I’ve mentioned before, it was always the whole chicken to be cut up. That is the most economical and it really doesn’t take long to cut one up. We don’t do it because I’m not a fan of dark meat except I will buy a package of bone-in chicken thighs when I am going to do coq au vin. In fact, I have a few in the freezer and should probably use them soon.

Cousins from our side of the family came from different points and it was good to see them. My sister especially appreciated it as my nephew’s children had never met any of them. As an aside about the church – it is huge with two buildings and it looked to be 3-4 acres for the complex (maybe more). The story is way back, wealthy members had traveled to Europe and been impressed with the churches they saw there. This one went through a major renovation whenever and they have this famous organ that cost like $2 million. It was not played during the service, although apparently organists routinely come to be guest players because it is so well known.

Anyway, it has been a whirl of other commitments since my return and my first day of somewhat calm is likely to be Friday.

The food vendor set-up at the venue was interesting although sitting down to dine in the adjoining Bayshore Grill is a better way to go if leisurely dining is what you want. Not sure how we might go if we attend next year. The point is we understand timing better now. The experience was well worth it and the music was not what we were expecting. Part of that is because we weren’t familiar with the two performers so we had no way of knowing what they were like. Production-wise – as in light and imagery – the second show was impressive. As I think I mentioned in the previous post, the Latin Jazz was the least of my choices and all that was available when I booked. Since we are on the list, there is a chance we will get advance notice for next year. The timing may or may not work, so we’ll see how that goes.

I head back to Houston to help my sister next Thursday and my days are jammed until then and almost the entire week of my return. That has to do with known commitments and a couple of others thrown in. It really can’t be helped and maybe, just maybe, the last week will have some semblance of normal for me.

In choosing to stay within walking distance, let me just say the room price is not as much as we have occasionally paid. We are on the 8th floor and there is a pleasant balcony. Should be nice for coffee tomorrow. The rain has stopped so we should be safe from that.There is a hotel car that can take us, but we do enjoy walking.

The festival is three days and I had wanted the line-up from either Friday or Saturday, but those tickets sold out before I tried to book. It will be Latin Jazz tonight and we do enjoy others we’ve heard. We will not be staying for the 11:30 p.m. jam session. I can absolutely see true night owls loving something like that.

Anyway, this phrase can be used in most applications, although I originally learned it in the Army. When planning operations, this and the phrase, “Good idea cut-off time”, were important. Anyone who has ever organized an event of any size knows the frustration of getting a plan set and having people start making changes, especially as the date comes closer. The “good idea cut-off time” is what it sounds like. Set a date where the plan is locked unless responding to an external emergency. Granted, if there is a boss involved, the boss gets exemption from the date. However, this is where the other phrase comes in.

This can be a bit tricky because it depends on how one defines “perfect” and “good”. Continuing with the event planning as an example. It’s a dinner for 100 people. You (and the committee) decided on simple floral arrangements for the tables and that’s all set. A bud vase and 1 pink and 1 blue carnation plus 1 sprig of baby’s breath. The colors were selected to go with the other decor. You go to pick up the flowers and somehow the order is mixed up and there are no blue carnations; only white along with pink. That particular florist can’t get enough blue in time. There is no other convenient florist so to split the order and try to get blue will require calling the two florists in a town 30 minutes away, and you would have to go pick them up. Guess what? White with pink may not be “perfect”, but it is “good”. And yes, no doubt someone will complain. (There is always someone)

I had a luncheon meeting set up today with two of our Homestead Center for the Arts volunteers to discuss a couple of projects and with the weather we went to the White Lion, a place I love to introduce people to. The husband grew up in Homestead and remembered going to it when he was a teenager; the wife had never been. She fell in love from the moment she stepped inside and sitting outside was even more alluring. They are cat lovers (and rescuers) and so the presence of all the cats was really special. The food of course was great and while they passed on the incredible desserts, they may save room next time.

Prior to their arrival, one of the longtime waitresses asked about HCA because her daughter is a dancer and an artist. Or it may be she is interested in becoming an artist. Anyway, I gave her my card and she will contact me so I can send her all the information. We’ll see how that goes. Have also mapped out a plan for me to have YouTube video done of my books. More to follow.

My sister is a big fan of the Netflix’s show “Suits”. Having watched multiple episodes of it, I can’t say I care for it much. Quite like “Vikings” and Game of Thrones” with constant scheming for power and position; just metaphorical killings instead of real ones and no dragons.

I did pick up a box of cornbread mix at the store yesterday. That’s his preferred accompaniment and corn chips will do if we’ve forgotten the cornbread. No other adds except he will sometimes use shredded cheddar. As you can imagine, cook time is one thing; prep time is definitely more.

Aside from many jokes about having to find our coats and wear closed-toe shoes, there are two genuine bad impacts. Winter crops can be devastated and outdoor events/tourism are disrupted. Yes, each winter we will have a few cold days, but rarely more than three days in a row. Plants can usually withstand that and tourists can find some indoor activities. Prolonged cold as we are currently having means attendance at outdoor events will be lessened and agriculture can face anything from a bad year to a ruinous year if a farm is already struggling. While the concept of iguanas and pythons freezing can seem funny – and we are grateful for any dead pythons – there are those who genuinely like iguanas. The marine environment can also be harmed with fish die-off and damage to the corals. So far, we seem to be okay on that side and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We have a music event Friday that has been on the schedule since late November and we’ll see how many people do show up. We’re trying to pass it off as “come on, let’s party anyway”, but that doesn’t mean others will feel that way. I suspect the servers at the restaurant will not be happy and since this is a place where I am a regular, I intend to tip extra.