Pinecraft-Sarasota: May 2017

Tuesday Night's Shuffleboard

Tonight there were enough people around to have one shuffleboard going.

Jonas Miller and Henry Wagler

Bill and Wayne Mast

Daniel Yoder on the sideline.

The glow of the setting sun.

Atlee Coblentz Clan

Atlee Coblentz with three of his granddaughters

More family members.

This is Eli, age one. He walked right up to me and we became friends. He introduced me to his Mother on the previous photo, the one on the right.

I have no clue if this is his Daddy.

Sweet Bell Pepper

Some years ago I was told from a gardening expert that this pepper is a female because it has four sections. The peppers with the three sections are the males and have less seeds than the females do.

Not only do the females have more seeds, they also taste sweeter.

So yesterday I decided to buy a female Bell Pepper at Yoder's Market and see for myself. It is true, it has more seeds and their taste is sweet, very sweet.

Olan's Memorial Services

Olan died of cancer on April 24, 2017. For a few of years he was homeless although within the last two years his nephew or cousin opened his home for Olan.

There is a memorial service planned for Olan at the Pinecraft Park. Everybody is welcome to attend.

Pioneer Bus Loading

Sam Hostetler and Marvin Mast, a bus driver are waiting for the passengers to arrive and get the luggage stowed away.

The first ones start coming.

And then they came by leaps and bounds.

John and Mattie Miller headed north after spending the winter down here.

The bus was going to be loaded going north.

Barbara (Raber) and her husband Ray Troyer and their family spent two weeks of vacation in Sarasota. Today it was time to start home again. Barbara and I are second cousins. We share the same great-grandfather which was Honsamony.

Thick angry clouds started rolling in from the west and so everyone scrambled to get loaded and seated before the rains came.

I headed for home and made it with a few minutes to spare before the clouds opened up. The downpour didn't last long but came with high winds and pouring rain.

The Best of Shuffleboard or the Worse

Jonas Miller plays black with Wayne Mast.

Henry Detweiler plays yellow with Albert Miller.

The scoreboard with Albert Miller on the bottom left.

I am sure all that know Albert recognizes the determination on his face.

Albert plays yellow and Wayne black.

In this round Albert must decide to get himself out of the kitchen or knock Wayne off the board. He knocked Wayne off.

And this was how they scored. One more round finished the game. Yellow was the winner with Albert and Henry. And I like Wayne's look at the bottom right corner.

Shuffleboard Game

There is only one board going tonight.

Wayne and John won this game.

The second game's players.

Flowers

Wild flowers down by the Phillippi Creek.

Wild looking garden flowers.

Both have their own beauty.

Nature

I love "Street Photography" but there is not many people around, so I turn to nature which is every bit as beautiful.

The wild Trumpet Vines are in bloom.

This squirrel is not so much watching me as seeing another squirrel climb into my bike basket and helping himself to a peanut.

I finally got a photo of the elusive Brown Thrasher. Lately the pair has been more quiet and doesn't sing anymore. But tonight for the first time I saw where they have their nest. I actually was a bit too close for comfort so they both left the nesting area and tried to distract my attention.

Usually I throw one peanut at a time to various squirrels, but tonight I set my container on the ground. The first squirrel to come around tipped the coffee can and after that they helped themselves.

Rainy Season, to Come

I watched these clouds. All of us watched these clouds that were out and about. We decided it is not going to rain and went about our way. I was at Big Olaf waiting on my ice cream when a few heavy drops of rain came from the sky. It won't last. Much to everybody's surprise the drops turned into enough rain to have all of us go for cover. We all smiled and licked our ice cream. One older woman said, "This is the beginning of more to come." We welcome the rains to come.

In Remembrance of Chet Stoltzfus

I was out and about biking and met up with these Anna Mary Stoltzfus, her daughter Ony and her family and her mother Katie Beiler. Today would have been Chet's 71st birthday. A year ago all of Chet and Anna Mary's children came to Pinecraft to surprise Chet for his 70th birthday, never realizing two months later their Daddy would die of a heart attack.

Ony, Matt and their three children came down to be with their Mother over this weekend.

Today at a specific set time the rest of the family living in Pennsylvania gathered at Chet's burial place and together at the same time released 71 balloons in memory of Chet.

Bitter sweet

Photos

I marvel at how well this squirrel blends into the dead grass.

Naked Power at Big Olaf

We had a beautiful sunset barely enough rain to wet the street under the tree. According to the forecast there is no more rain in Sarasota until who knows when.

Bloom Where We are Planted

I looked down the street and saw red on the right...

and blue on the left.

So I biked down that street to take a look. These blooming

bushes face each other and they sure brighten up the area.

Shuffleboard Tournament

Tonight I watched the shuffleboard tournament. The players were all locals except Kenny from Illinois.

Bill and Amos

Freeman Byler, Joe Weaver, Wayne Mast and Kenny

Mattie, Ida, Ada and Sara. Mattie and Sara are sisters.

Jonas Miller and Albert Miller both have gold in their beards. I don't know who won the tournament as I didn't stay until they were finished.

Pioneer Trail's First Summer Run

Waiting for the Pioneer Trails bus to arrive. During the Summer months Sam helps with unloading the luggage and then cleaning the bus for the returning trip up north. In the background is Noah who is waiting for his wife's return.