The Remainder
The death of Cutie on Friday cast a shadow that lingered all weekend long. It was almost like the weather was mimicking my mood with overcast skies and a cold rain for a good portion of Saturday. I got my chores done and then did a quicker than usual errand run with Elsa as I only had to hit Publix after hitting DD. The rain let up mid-afternoon and after verifying with Dark Sky that I had a window of dryness I pumped up the tires on my road bike and headed out for my 10 mile loop, something I shit canned Friday night after burying Cutie.
The ride was weird from a wind perspective. Normally with the way this route is you will have half of the six legs with favorable wind and half without. For whatever reason, perhaps wind direction shifted mid-ride, 3/4 of the ride felt like it was into a headwind. I managed to keep a decent pace, still averaging over 17MPH overall. When I pulled back into the driveway I felt good knowing that I both ran and rode a bike in a three day span, something that has not occurred in years. My goal is to repeat it this week.
I have been watching the new Boba Fett and Peacemaker series on Disney+ and HBO Max respectively. I knew I would like Boba Fett, I was less sure about Peacemaker as his character turned out to be sort of shitty in the second Suicide Squad movie. Well I can tell you that the series so far is great. It’s funny, action filled and entertaining with a HBO appropriate adult theme. Once I got current on Peacemaker I started on Doom Patrol which has been around for three seasons. I am four episodes in and loving that as well. It’s odd, from a movie perspective I like Marvel franchises much, much more than what DC has put out there with a few exceptions. However the DC tv series I have watched lately, Titans, Peacemaker and Doom Patrol have been REALLY good. I have been watching/recording far less network tv and watching shows on Netflix/HBO/Disney+ far more.
On Sunday it was just raw outside, the temps were hovering right around 60 degrees with wind. Ali and Shuggs asked me if I wanted to come visit and check out Babcock Ranch where they are having a house built. I had never been there before but it was described to me as Ave Maria without the god part. I brought Elsa with, she was beyond excited when she stepped foot in the apartment, jumping around like a rabbit on caffeine. We left her there with Sadie and Ferdie while we headed to Babcock.
When we pulled into the place I could understand the Ave Maria comparisons as it is a huge residential area sort of plopped in the middle of not much although I don’t think it is as remote as Ave Maria. Shuggs drove me through various neighborhoods. I immediately appreciated the obvious and deliberate effort that was made to have visual diversity in the place with different styles of houses on streets to avoid the cookie cutter approach. We eventually got to their plot which was basically just a foundation at this point. I told Ali it brought me back to when our house was being built, the excitement of checking on it every week to see the progress (or lack there of) that was made. It’s a cool feeling seeing your house come together. Nearby there was the same model house as theirs that was almost done that we were able to walk through so I saw the layout. I think it is going to be a great place for them, not too big, not too small.
I was really impressed with Babcock Ranch overall, they have a town center with the basics you would need including dining, small stores and a kick ass gym/fitness building. They had a farmers market set up in the town square that we walked through. Babcock features fiber high speed internet and a massive solar farm consisting of over 300,00 solar panels. It seemed really, really nice. It seemed like the type of place I would have little problem adjusting to living there with plenty of what I like and less of what I don’t.
Really the only negative thing about the tour was it was so freaking cold. I had on a hoodie but with cargo shorts. Ali and Shugs under dressed for sure as well. Shugs seemed to be part polar bear and said he didn’t mind the cold, Ali on the other hand was freezing. We grabbed lunch at a place called the Boat House. It reminded me of an upscale and much larger version of the Snook Inn in Marco. The one negative was it was ALL outdoor seating. We got a table next to one of those floor stand heaters that Ali and I flanked. It helped a little but the persistent wind smacking us was far more impactful. The food was good but it was shame we were shivering most of the time while we ate it. I’d like to try the place out again sometime when my legs don’t have goosebumps on them, something I am not sure I ever saw before.
When we got back to their apartment I took Ali and Shugs for a ride in the Model Y. Neither of them had been in a Tesla before. It was a pretty short demo ride but they both thought the car was really cool. It seemed like they both now had a better understanding of what all the fuss is about. I thanked them for the invite. It was nice to do something with friends, an activity that I need to lean into harder to help combat some of the blah that dominates my life otherwise. Elsa loved seeing everyone but she was also excited to hop in the car and get home.
When I got home I got the clippers out and buzzed the top of my head. I had been letting the top grow for months and it had been making me progressively more annoyed. When I woke up in the morning I looked like a mad scientist and was using some hair gel to keep it under control during the work week. I didn’t go hard core buzz, using the longest guard in my clipper set, so it doesn’t look like I just started boot camp. I think the top/sides/back ratio is now more aligned that I can let it grow all together without it getting too freaky.
Tonight it is supposed to drop into the 30’s. It’s going to be an especially miserable chicken coop cleaning session at 5:30 in the morning…..