A meteor is an example of a rock star.

After working today and meeting the last of the new tenants at the USF house and dealing with a squirrel problem (apparently one snuck into the house when the doors were open during the month and made a home for himself in an old mattress), I loaded up the kayak and headed to the Ruskin area. One of my kayaking acquaintances had set up a group paddle event on the Ruskin Beach near Little Harbor to hopefully paddle out and watch the Perseid meteor shower; supposedly the largest of meteor showers for 2009. Unfortunately, Florida weather found the skies to be somewhat obscured by clouds. In combination with the light pollution of St. Petersburg just 9 miles across the water I didn't get to see a single streak across the sky. I did, however have a really nice time simply paddling around and enjoying the quiet, cool breeze of a summer's eve. The water was fairly flat and it was nicely quiet and made for an enjoyable evening that at least kept me from the house.

Chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.

This morning I headed over to Hillsborough River State Park to meet with members of the Tampa Adventure Group for a morning hike along some of the trails. After hitting the River Rapids Trail we had planned on doing the 3.4 mile loop along the Florida Trail, however as we got part of the way through we got a call that portions of the trail were covered in water, thus ending the little hike. I spent part of the afternoon getting some furniture for the rental house and later decided to finally go see the Harry Potter movie at the Channelside IMAX theater. While the giant screen is nice (along with the 3D beginning portion), I don't think I want to pay $15 too often without the movie getting high reviews and the right graphics to make the extra viewing cost worthwhile. Fortunately, this was one such worth movie and I really did enjoy relaxing under the mega screen and the film itself.

Love many trust few & always paddle your own canoe!

After attending a home party last night, I got up way too early this morning when I had to do my weekend training run and then make it to Riverview Park in time to meet with some other kayakers. We loaded up all the boats in my trailer and piled in to head to the launch point at Alderman's Ford Park. I have done several different portions of the Alafia River in the past, but never in one sitting. Although not as swift as something like the Suwannee River it still makes for a good paddle. The water level was high enough that the shoals or rapids did not present any problems. We all had to get out only once in order to drag our boats around a downed tree that blocked the entire river since all the other obstacles could be ducked under to floated over. The paddle ended up being around 17.6 miles between the two points and took about 5 hours at a leisurely pace. It was a good day to do some paddling, but next time I'll probably look to get out at the Kingsway Boat Ramp since the rest of the paddle after that is pretty slow and filled with homes and boat traffic.

So why does the Vatican actually need to have lightning rods on its churchs?

Heat lightning storm over Tampa. Pictures taken near old Sulphur Springs water tower.

CAUTION: Do not look into laser with remaining eye.

After the picnic, I headed home to get cleaned up and was then off to meet the Tampa Adventure Group for an evening of Q-Zar. I had not played the laser tag game since I was in high school back in Charleston. I remember a summer where my buddy Matt and I even wound up in a tournament. So, for old time's sake I threw on my old play shirt and joined the other 30 adults in a team game. We had 3 games of 20 minutes each and while the group was pretty quiet before the first bout, the rest of the evening was filled with excited chatter as people shared war stories. This was one thing I enjoyed about paintball, when I last played probably over five years ago, the animated chatter and conversations that broke down to essentially being "no kidding, there I was" as any good story would start. It was as much fun as I remembered when coupled with playing with/against other acquaintances, several of whom were also signed up for the trip to Peru in December. I wish I could have had a chance to play paintball earlier this year when it was a bit more cool out and it had the opportunity to be a lot more fun, but sometimes waiting too long sees great opportunities pass by.

My mind kept wandering so I packed it a picnic lunch.

After taking dad to the airport at 5:30 in the morning yesterday and spend the rest of the day working on the rental house, I was ready for the weekend. This first event this morning was a picnic at Edward Medard Park just east of Brandon. The organizer of the event did a great job with planning all the events and food. Most of the expected summer games, such as water-balloon toss, kickball, tug-of-war, and the unfortunately named cornhole, were there. There was plenty of food available and it provided a good way to relax and read for a little while while watching everyone else move around; 'never leave camp chair'. Before heading out I walked around the picnic area a little bit to get some shots of the park. Though I'm not much into fishing, this would be a pretty convenient place to bring the fishing kayak sometime since the stocked reservoir is fairly large and easy to paddle.

Everything will perish, save love and music. (Gaelic proverb)

Last week someone made mention of going to the Hyde Park Music Series event being held today. I had attended this event a couple of times over the years, though it had been a while since I last attended. After working a little late to let traffic settle, I headed over and join a few acquaintances from the social group. The band playing was pretty good and the overcast sky and threatening storm in the distance kept things cool. With tons of other activities going on these days and large social or work functions happening regularly, it was nice to relax and bit and enjoy the evening over a couple of decently cheap beers. While Brandon is a good distance away, the elevated crosstown expressway makes the trip quite manageable and provides lovely views of the Tampa skyline on the way home.

Love your enemies. It'll make 'em crazy and is in itself the best revenge.

If revenge is a dish best served cold, does that mean you should just give your enemy ice cream? That might solve a lot more hurt in this world.

The only two things a pirate will run for is money and public office

Just for kicks and giggles I decided to make a last minute trip to Ybor to take part in the charity 'Half-way to Gasparilla Pub Crawl'. Even with a early start, there were quite a few people there with each bar seeing a pack dance area. The pub crawl included access to The honey Pot, The Castle, Club Skye, and Club Tantra (formally known as the Amphitheater). I was able to run into several friends and had a pretty good time. It had been many, many years since I had been to The Castle and I really liked getting back there and may have to consider visiting again in the future.

Carmen Sandiego, pick up the nearest white courtesy phone, please.

We can try to make the dreams we want in our life happen,
but sometimes no matter what we do,
or how hard we try, the final decision is not ours.
It can take a few seconds to hurt the ones you love, but years or a lifetime to heal.