We are back from the Tampa/St.Petersburg area in Florida. The tourist season is slow and the tourist beaches were not crowded. The daily to weekly rental places were busy, but the rental houses and condos were all empty.We spent a Friday morning in St. Petersburg and were surprised to see the contrast in activity from our nearby city. The streets were quiet and parking was easy to find. Downtown Tampa was not much busier. Clearly the recession is here.
While we were happy to see many relatives from my husband's family we also were reminded about the difference in culture of the area. One of hubby's nephews is 55 and drives a florist truck for a living (his fourth career move) and another is living in subsidized housing at the age of 58 and has been drug and alcohol free finally for a year. Their children (adults) also seem to have no interest in anything other than hanging out while drifting from job to job.
The wife of one of the nephews brags that she has been a bartender at the same hotel bar for over 30 years. Several of the youngest are also divorced or working on their third marriage. None of this means they are terrible people. It is just a culture that my husband and I are not a part of. I do not denigrate this blue-color culture but the transient nature of the work means that no one really develops a skill...except for making drinks. It seems that the warmth and easy living of Florida does not encourage motivation to better oneself beyond a string of retail jobs. It was also a little bit of a surprise that the more successful members of the family did not cross the state to pay their respects.
You cannot pick your relatives and we all come from the same ancestral tree and they were all very polite.
This photo below is the famous Sunshine Bridge that crosses Tampa Bay. Many years ago a barge hit one of the supports to this bridge and it was shut down for some time.
Below is a photo I took in the park across the street from the art museum in the city. It turned out pretty balanced in composition and it actually might make a nice poster...no?
Florida temperatures were in the 90's and the days were very humid and we spent much time searching for shade...even at the beach. It is good to get back to the 70 degree weather here and to try and catch up on blog reading.
That tree photo is very well composed and would make a beautiful poster. As for families, what can I say. Our families are another kind of composition and I guess that's why we have friends too, to balance the structure of our lives.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is excellent!!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about families. We have some doozies in each of ours, and we'd be glad if they didn't come to the reunions....LOL
I think the hot, humid weather of the South fosters a laid back life style and that's why the North became industrialized while the South partied and let their slaves do the work.
ReplyDeleteAs they say in Tucson, Manana. (Wish I could make the tilde)
The greener grass is blue in this case.
ReplyDeleteThe Sunshine Bridge looks very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice visiting on my blog. You are always welcome!
"You choose your friends and your family you're lumbered with"
ReplyDeleteAnother platitude: "It takes all sorts to make a world".
You want to see some of mine! I am fiercely (almost obsessively) finicky with language and some of my relatives can barely string a literate sentence together!
Glad to have you back. Btw, your attempt to become a follower ended up as a link on a comment. I'd love to have you as my follower, I love your take on life and nature; would you please try again? I hope you won't mind me following you and I shall shortly have a go the other way round.
Yes, the photo would make a nice post card. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteDarlene - to add a tilde (if you have a PC) hold your Alt key down and type 0224 - or 0225 from the number keypad. I am not sure which tilde you need, and I am not certain how to do it with a mac.
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It amuses me to think that wakes are like mini-reunions: gathering and getting to know the relatives. In our close-knit clan, sometimes I would meet a distant relative for the first time in a wake or funeral.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures Tabor! :)
I really like the picture entitled post3.jpg.
ReplyDeleteAs for familes, I think we can all relate to your standpoint.
Pleased you are safely home. Love the pictures. On the family issue I wish I was brave enough to write about mine and children's father relatives. I surely understand and believe sometime "was I left in a basket on a porch". lol I do know that from a union that did not last that I surely have great kids and grandchildren. They must all take after me!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou take better Florida pictures than I do! I love the one you took at the part with the beautiful trees and the bright blue sky. My landscape artist friend would probably love to paint that!
ReplyDeleteSometimes our own flesh and blood can disappoint us or make us feel uneasy. That's why I love that I can choose my friends. :)
Tabor, those pictures are beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about families, but I have to add that you never know when you'll find a diamond in what you thought was a lump of coal. Rare, but most rare things are treasures, don't you think?
Anyway - thats just my positive thinking kicking in - most times I think I found a diamond, it turns out to be fake - but you never know!
I'll end this by saying it takes all kinds - I am pretty quirky myself and probably considered odd by a few people! :)
I don't know if you are interested in such things, but I've left a "meme" on my blog for you. Please collect it if you wish.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos you took. As for family, they're the gift that keeps on giving. Who else would amuse us so? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to catch up on all the blog posts I've missed. I had to come back to this one of yours and defend your nephew's wife. 30 years as a bartender has to qualify her among the most highly educated members of your family.
ReplyDelete