“Visit to the Florida panhandle”
Our travel back from San Francisco on Monday was smooth. We had an exit row and nobody in the middle seat – so plenty of room to spread out. On entry to our home, I heard a smoke detector beeping to let us know the battery inside was low. Just what I wanted after a 4 hour flight, but I got up on the six step and disconnected it.
We drove from New Orleans to Navarre Beach on Wednesday, covering 4 states enroute – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. It was about a 3.5 hour drive and Kenny, Kara, and Nina rode with us. We were on our way to a funeral service for Anne’s mum, Carolyn, and a celebration of life for Carolyn and her husband, Jack. We broke up the journey with a lunch stop at the Original Oyster House. I remembered it from our last trip to Navarre with Denny and Anne, and it was still very good.
We arrived at Saint Peter church in Mary Ester (just beyond Navarre) in time to have a coffee before the service began. The service seemed to follow a traditional Catholic approach, although apparently the response words have changed since Diana last attended one. We laughed that they do that every decade or so to see when folks were last in church.
Here’s a link to Carolyn’s obituary, she was my blues music buddy:
https://www.daviswatkins.com/obituary/Carolyn-Bauer
After the services we checked into the condo that we had rented. The door code was 10 digits long, and I couldn’t get it to be accepted. At least 5 attempts before I gained access. The girls were happy to point out that they always got it on the first try.
I’m sure Anne was touched that everyone from her friend group made the trip: Alex and Laura, Thom and Libby, Kelly and Fred, Greg and Colleen, Julia, and Jancy, and then all of her local Florida girlfriends, Courtney, Bob, Tammy, and Sue. I enjoyed “facilitating” a conversation between Courtney and Fred.
There was a reception at Juana’s – the divey bar complex next to Carolyn and Jack’s condo. Carolyn had apparently picked out the menu of snacks to be served. Once the reception time ended, the pool tables were placed back in position and everyone enjoyed them. It might not seem appropriate for a celebration of life, but Carolyn would have wanted it that way.
I treated the group to my mini quiches on Thursday morning. They really are a bit of work to complete, but I enjoyed it.
Double red flags were flying at the beach on Thursday, signifying nobody allowed in the water for any reason due to currents and rip tides. It was also pretty windy at the beach. We opted to set up on the “Sound” side behind the condo. It has a beach, you can swim, and it’s nicely sheltered. Jack set up the blue awning and we were all able to avoid too much sun.
After a day in the sun and water, pizza and salad sounded like the perfect dinner. We all ate together at Carolyn and Jack’s condo.
Friday was very much a repeat of Thursday. The girls did spend some time on the beautiful beach – still no swimming. About time to leave to pack up and drive home, Diana suggested staying another night. I called the rental company and we were booked for an extra night. What a weak moment I had. We joined the group at Dewey Destin’s for dinner. We all enjoyed very fresh seafood – excellent shrimp and scallops, and another good Denny recommendation.
We got a decently early start on Saturday for our drive back to New Orleans, deciding to stop for breakfast after clearing the thrombosis that is the Mobile, Alabama tunnel. Diana’s research showed the Breakfast Spot as a good option. We parked, after passing a street pole vaulting competition, but the place was too busy and we didn’t want to wait very long. We had passed Bob’s on the way and remarked on the brass band playing outside – let’s walk over there. We sat outside and enjoyed a yummy breakfast and some great traditional New Orleans music. The band had an eclectic makeup – all ages and ethnicities represented, including an older lady on the tuba (don’t see that often).
The drive was uneventful – the usual slow downs as trucks pass each other, or sit beside each other occupying both lanes and going at almost the same speed, and some very heavy rain for a few minutes on the approach to New Orleans.
We enjoyed a walk/run in Audubon park to stretch out our legs before it got too hot on Sunday.
Our friend Dr. Thom, professor of infectious diseases at Tulane, had this article published this week. It tells a bit of a heartbreaking story about all the years he has spent eradicating malaria around the world, and how funding cuts are impacting that.
https://tulane.edu/research/malaria-control?utm_source=tt&utm_medium=content
I watched an interesting movie this week – “The Way We Speak”.
The movie tells the story of a writer who refuses to cancel a debate with his friend who has died of a heart attack. Instead, he insists on going ahead with a replacement opponent. And then everything starts to come apart…
My read this week was “River is Waiting” by Wally Lamb. Kelly recommended it with this text, “Just finished this book. Absolutely gutted. Dark content but really good book.” She summarized things well. The last paragraph of the first chapter was almost too much for me. And the writing and characters are very good. Not sure I recommend this unless you are ready for some very dark material.
Wally was listening to Irma Thomas when writing and realized that her song, “River is Waiting”, from the wonderful “Simply Grand” album had just inspired his title.
I read about a third of “Letters to John” by Joan Didion as what I hoped would be a bit of a palette cleanser. These are letters to her husband relaying what happened in her weekly therapy sessions. I have a hard time relating to someone who puts this much thought into their thoughts and then rehashes them in written form for her husband. And I have been a huge Didion fan for many years. “The Year of Magical Thinking” is in my top 10.
The annual literature edition of the New Yorker magazine is always a treat. I particularly enjoyed an article on the impact of AI on learning.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/07/07/the-end-of-the-english-paper
A couple of paragraphs that caught my attention:
“One study, published last year, found that fifty-eight percent of students at two Midwestern universities had so much trouble interpreting the opening paragraphs of “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens that “they would not be able to read the novel on their own.” And these were English majors.”
“The London cabdrivers rigorously trained in “the knowledge” famously developed abnormally large posterior hippocampi, the part of the brain crucial for long term memory and spatial awareness. And yet, in the end, most people would probably rather have swifter travel than sharper memories.”
Interestingly, the next story in the magazine had this:
“The taxi-drivers of London, my parents told me, knew every street and lane, every address by heart.”
It’s so strange how things that you haven’t thought about in years come up repeatedly within minutes of each other.
Here’s that Irma song that gave Wally Lamb his title:
This album is wonderful from start to finish. Each track has a different pianist – Norah Jones, Dr. John etc.. It’s fun to try and pick out who is on each track. Who do you think this is?
Such an excellent Randy Newman song.
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.