Guest Blogger - Dave Kaiser

My brother Dave  wrote this about today's beach activities. He is a science teacher - 6th grade. (You know how it is, younger brothers always wanting to get in on your fun when your growing up!) Just kidding Dave.

Today on The Gulf

By Dave Kaiser

What a beautiful day along the Gulf Coast near Navarre. The family was going to spend time on the beach and I was going to get in some boogie board time on the waves. Walked out on the beach, carrying all the supplies we needed for the day and began to set up base camp. We have a shelter that puts up rather quickly and easily except today. There is a good swift breeze blowing off the gulf trying to turn our shelter into a kite. It took all four of us to complete the installation of the structure when most days I could do it by myself. I could not help but think of John Candy in his film, Summer Rental, as we discovered on our first attempt we had somehow had one side right side up and the other end upside down. This should have been an easy fix yet somehow it was not. Three more tries later and the shelter was established.

Mom was settled in her beach chair prepared to watch over the water, Dad was on his way down to the water line to hunt for shells, Peggy was checking over supplies and then would join Dad, and I grabbed my board and headed out towards the waves.

The water was a beautiful emerald green close to shore and then a little further out it turned into a deep blue. Across the water sporadic white caps were the promise of waves to ride. The water felt cool at first but in no way caused one to pull back from entering. The waves invited me out to play and yet tried to push me back to shore. I made my way through the shoulder high water to reach the sand bar where the waves first broke. With the boogie board in hand I look over the approaching waves and begin the patient search for the right wave. I knew the spot I chose would be a good spot for I saw many breaking waves hit that area as I made my way out into the water. Now that I am here I can see great waves crash to the left and right of me and a few break after they pass me. These are all just tricks of the water to tempt you away so that you will be out of position to catch the great wave. If you succumb and go to those other spots the waves will surely die and the wave meant for you will pass by because you are not there. The important part of experiencing life is being there to experience it. So I stay put and waited for that wave. I am hanging onto the board and the waves have me bobbing up and down. At times I see what must be the wave heading my way. I can just see it looming over the waves in front of it. I set my timing and go… but no I don’t have it right yet. Too late in leaving and the wave pushes past me. Trying to recover and a wave equal to the one missed collapses no top of me, having had my back to it.

The water, she loves it when you turn your back to her, she will make you pay for that mistake. Fighting my way back to my chosen spot I struggle through sister waves of the one I mistimed. Now I go back to the routine of watching the coming waves. While I look across the water I wonder what ships are passing far from my site, what life swims by me unseen, did the kid down the way pee in the water? Ah here comes my wave. It is building and the wave is holding together. The curl grows but does not collapse. I can feel the water pulling past me to feed the coming wave. I struggle to fight against the tug of water and build up speed with my board. The wave picks me up and propels me forward. I can hear the water flowing under my board and feel the spray of saltwater in my face as the curl breaks and the white water continues to push my board towards the beach. Yes, it all came together and I had a good ride. The best ride this month and now, after wiping the water from my face, it is time to hustle back out to my spot to get the next wave meant for me.

One Year

Sunday is the one year anniversary of our Pensacola Dream.  I am going to state some thoughts......no pictures.........about this last year.

• We were brave enough to take off and live a dream that my family has had for years.   I am proud of my parents for having the strength and drive to do this even though they are in their late seventies.   They are living every day to the most and taking me right along with them.
• I miss teaching.   I miss being a band director every day.   One day my brother and I were at a flea market and I was looking at a used tenor saxophone.   He said "You are not a band director anymore.   Why are you looking at that?"  My answer was - I am a band director!   I may not be teaching right now but a teacher of band is what I am.    I strongly feel that way and I am sure I will always feel that way.
• Miss my friends.  Thanks goodness for texting and cell phones.
• I have learned that good friends stay close no matter how far apart you live from each other. 
• People who live in this area call it paradise.    It is.
• The Gulf of Mexico and the beach, tropical plants and trees, and restaurants serving fresh seafood make for an incredible place to call home.
• I won't rehash the wonderful things I and my family have done and experienced this past year.  Much of this is mentioned and pictured in past blogs.  But the beach and Disney World are at the top of my paradise memories.

If you have followed my blog this last year, I hope you have enjoyed some of my stories and pictures.   But I really do this for me.   Kathy Cox asked me if I am going to print all these blogs and put them in book form.   What a wonderful idea!  So here we begin year two......hmmmmmm........what will paradise offer us next year?

Blue Angels

One of the perks of living  in the Pensacola area is that you live where the Blue Angels live.   They practice Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and we can go watch them whenever we wish but the big show of the year is always the week-end after the 4th of July - The Blue Angels Airshow!  The show is directly over Pensacola Beach and brings in people from all over......very crowded.    Matter of fact, most people are arriving between 6 and 8 a.m. to find parking.   The Angels do two practice shows - one on Friday and one on Thursday.   We went to the Thursday show and here is how it went.

We stopped at Shaggy's for lunch on the beach first.  It was so hot and I realized we should of brought the beach umbrella.   Once we got to the beach I knew we needed the beach umbrella.   As I said, it was hot, hot, hot!!!!   There were some umbrellas with chairs set up for rental purposes and I said we are taking these no matter the cost.   Well, it turned out the cost was only $15.00.    That umbrella saved us from the extreme heat.

So we (Ron, Dave, Mike, and myself) had about an hour wait for the show.   But the people themselves are a show to watch.   Interesting bathing suits, colorful umbrellas and tents set up throughout the beach.   Everyone wants to see the Blue Angles.

And then there was a loud roar and the excitement began.  

They often fly 18inches from each other.   Imagine. 

This is a picture from PNJ that shows one pilot's view of Pensacola Beach and other jet.

The next day was Mike and Ron's last day of vacation.   Don't leave!   But they both had to go back to work.   So we had a relaxing day of a bit of shopping, walking on the beach, and good food.   They took off after dinner and drove during the night.   It is so hard to do that but cuts time off the trip and makes going though the big cities so much easier.
We miss Ron and love him lots.   Come down here more!   We enjoyed Mike's company so much for the week.   Come back Mike!   Sage was so cute and fun.   Come back to visit Sage!

Ok Kacey!   I know you really didn't mind Sage chasing you when you did not want to be chased, playing with your toys, and eating your food.    I think Kacey likes cousin Sage to stay up in Indiana.

Whole Family Is Here .......part 2

First I will start with today's activities before I go on with last week's family get together.   After doing some paper work this morning, we took off for the beach.  It was hot, hot, hot!  But we used the tent that Betty and Kirk bought us and it helped a great deal.   The water had lots of the seaweed in it so you had to walk around through that if you wanted to enjoy the waves.  Tonight we ran out to a barbecue restaurant and then stopped at Belks to pick up some pink flip flops that I wanted.  Yes, another pair.   I like the silver ones so well that I picked up a pair of hot pink.
So on to last week......

We were entertained by the Greyhound Dog Races one evening.   There are 13 races to bet on and we all have our own system of choosing which dog to bet on.   Mike's system was just choose number 7 in each race.   It worked as well as anything.

Ron looks happy  doesn't he?   We were at Flounders.   The week was so busy we never made it down to Fort Pickens with Mike.   Actually, the reason for that is that Thursday and Friday the beach was crowded because of the Blue Angels practices.  

The beach is just minutes from our house and this time of year the beach umbrellas decorate it like ornaments on a Christmas tree.  

Kacey spent the week trying to get away from Sage - Ron's black lab.    Sage just wanted to play but Kacey does not like a big lab walking over her so she was not always so happy.  I think she is saying here "tell this pup to quit playing with my toys, drinking my water, and following me around!"

Tomorrows blog will be about the Blue Angels show.  We had ring side seats!  

The Whole Family Is Here (part one)

We just had a wonderful week with Dave, Ron, Mom, Dad, myself, and our friend Mike.   All were here all week and busy isn't the word for our days.  So this blog will cover some of what we did and tomorrow I will continue with more of the week.  Ron and Mike drove all night to get here and arrived before lunch so we all ran over to the beach for lunch.   (Dave had been here for over a week already.)  They brought along with them Sage - Ron's black lab.   She is so cute and very energetic and need I say that Kacey was not thrilled with Sage running here and there.   They also brought with them a gift from Betty and Kirk.

This is the greatest beach tent to keep you out of the hot sun.  Dave set it up in the yard so we knew what we were doing when we take it to the beach.   THANKS BETTY AND KIRK!!!!

On Monday Dad, Mike, and Dave spent the day at the Navy Aviation Museum, the lighthouse (Yes, they climbed to the top) and visited the fort on the Navy Base.   Ron and I headed down to Destin and ate lunch at Bubba Shrimps.  Great fish sandwich and strawberry slushies.  Oh, and the glasses light up.

 That night we had one of our famous shrimp boils - shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cob all cooked in the same pot.   Here Dave is pouring off the water and we are ready to feed our faces - which we did. 

Hey!  Where is the music?   The picture above is of some of us waiting for the  Bands at the Beach concert to begin.  What you don't see is the other side of us is the Gulf of Mexico.  What a view!!

Tuesday the guys spent time at the beach and Mom and I ran out to the mall.   (I had a coupon for Belks. We each got a new purse and I got new flip-flops.)   After a dinner of homemade chicken enchiladas we took off for the Bands at the Beach concert at Pensacola Beach.     Afterwards, Dave, Ron, Mike, and I stopped at Peg Leg Petes for a drink - a favorite spot for everyone on Pensacola Beach.

Here is a picture of Mike, Ron, and Dave at Flounders.  Yes, I was there but never in the pictures because I am taking the pictures.  They look like a happy crew, don't they?

Ron, Mike, and I ran down to Destin to the kite shop on the boardwalk.   Mike already owns some pretty fancy kites and bought another to add to his collection.  This is not the usual one stringed kite, this takes a bit more work to fly with two strings attached for flying.  

Wednesday was again beach day, some shopping, and then off to the Greyhound Races.   We had a blast!!!   Everyone has their own system of picking their dog in each race and sometimes we won but more often not.   It did not cost too much more than going to the movies and it was great fun for everyone.
Our family is very close and love doing things together so the week went too, too fast.   Mike fits right in - he is as crazy and silly as my brothers.  Sage and Kacey spent the week with Sage wanting to play with Kacey and Kacey saying "Hey pup, get away from me!"   I just talked to Ron and slept a bit this afternoon after driving all night.  Even though driving all night is not fun, it is quicker and you drive right through Nashville and Birmingham - the two cities that tend to back up during the day time.   
We love sharing our new home with friends and family.  So much to do and never have enough time to do it all.  More pictures and stories to tell.........
    Continued tomorrow.......

Beach and My Sore Back

My brother Dave is here for the next month and we got beach busy right away.   So Friday was a beautiful day and the waves were not too rough so off we went.   Let's see....what to take.

My favorite beach bag, of course.   I bought that five or six years ago on one of our Pensacola Beach trips.  Beach towels, chair, shell nets, shell bucket, sun tan lotion, cell phone, sandals, and my boogie board.

No, I don't actually boogie board.  I am not crazy but I do use it in the water to help balance me against the waves that seem insistant on knocking me down.  Dave carried most of these items down to the beach because I woke up with a sore back.   But after walking on the sand, I had a very sore back by evening and I have been walking bent over since.   That is not the worse part though.   I have had some muscle spasms with this and let me tell you, it isn't fun!  Oh well, back to the beach.

Here is a picture of Mom baking in the sun and Dave is drying off after spending time in with the waves and shells.  We got a few shells but it just has not been good shelling for the past two months.   Tropical Storm Debbie sent shells up but they were crushed and in pieces.

Here is another picture of Dad out shelling.   I know I have posted lots of pictures of Dad doing this but....he does this a lot.   He is the king of shelling!

I am always the one taking the pictures so I seldom show up in a picture.   So I took a picture of myself while on the beach.  I love my new sunglasses that I can wear with my new contacts.

Well, the last two days I am trying to straighten my back out.   Very, very slow and painful - let me tell you.   Ron and Mike come in Saturday for a week and I want to be in good shape by then, I hope.  My friend Nicole has offered the use of her paddle boards while they are here and her family is on vacation.   I know the guys will enjoy the boards so much.

  Some final information about Gulf Breeze:
   Temperature high today - 92
   Water temperature  - 86
    Humidity - high.   Too high.    Way too high.
    Tourist - Lots of people here for their summer vacations.  Gee, just like we used to do.
    4th of July - July 3rd we are going to a picnic down the street.  So fun!   We will picnic in our  own yard on the 4th.
   Tonight's TV Programing -  The Olympic Trials of course.

Take care all and enjoy the fireworks!