Well, what's new? It doesn't seem like much, as we just seem to be settling into life here in our little part of Tampa. We've decided on our favorite grocery store, Wal-Mart, laundromat, and a few restaurants. We're getting increasingly comfortable knowing what streets go where, and what we'll see on them.
We're scoping out places with nice sidewalks for riding our bikes. We haven't been yet, as I've just recovered from my first round of exercising. That took a week of a wrecked back! Yesterday and today I did a few more exercises. I think this time I'll be smarter by doing less and waiting to recover before hurting myself some more.
We went to the community of Brandon Sunday to tour the shopping centers. Brandon seems to be the shopping Mecca of the area. It has an enclosed super mall and strip malls to all sides of it. We spent four hours walking and survived it!
We tried a restaurant called simply enough, Latin Cuisine. The inside was laid out like any mom and pop place with tables covered with plastic table cloths. There was a steamer table where the servers stood ready to fill your plate. The meal was instant like a fast food place, but had the taste and heartiness of a great home cooked meal. I had roasted pork, yellow rice, and black beans. Roy had yellow rice with a mix of chicken and vegetables over it. Both had interesting mild seasonings that were delicious. It's one of those meals that doesn't hit you as spectacular right off, but the flavor haunts you calling you to return for more. The variety of meals seemed to be built around red, black, pinto, and garbanzo beans, as well as, yellow rice. The meats were spiced pork, beef, and chicken. If you get a chance, give Latin food a try. As their motto says: "Not just another Spanish restaurant".
Yesterday driving back to the trailer park, we spotted two wild piglets foraging by the road! They didn't look any different than domestic pigs from what I could see. They were so cute, I just wanted to pick one up to hug. We didn't see mama, but I imagine she was close by. I was surprised seeing them so close to a neighborhood. I'm told by a local that the woods around here are full of them. That gives me a new perspective on why so many of the rural homes, apartment complexes, and neighborhoods are fenced. It's also another reason for not walking the dogs in the woods!
Wild pigs may not be the bigger issue, though. This week I was walking Sugar around the trailer park when two Rottweiller mixes came charging off their owners lot at us. I pulled Sugar up close, as she isn't opposed to giving her all in a fight and I wasn't wanting her to commence the battle. In this case I'm sure she would have been on the losing end with me caught in the middle. One dog in particular seemed to be looking for it's chance to dart in for a nip at her. I did a lot of screeching and dancing from side to side between Sugar and the two dogs. When the lead dog appeared like he was going to make his move, I reached down to swoop Sugar up. Under duress she freaked and bit my arm, but not too badly. Thank goodness the owners came running and caught the dogs before the fight began in earnest! I have to say I've never been so scared. I shook all the way back to the trailer, and couldn't speak upon setting down. I took Sugar for another walk today, and know I won't look at walking where there are dogs in yards the same ever again. A dog attack is an experience I don't want to repeat! It appears the folks with the above mentioned dogs have moved on. When I get nerve enough to walk past their lot again I'll see!
We're relaxing into activities at home. It's interesting that we can feel our bodies trying to drop into a totally relaxed state, but are somehow having trouble letting go. It's almost like a person has to figure out how to just do what they want. I commented to Roy that it's almost like being in paradise, but without the scenery! It should be an interesting feeling when we achieve this new way of being.
That about sums up life here. Our month stay in this park is completed Thursday. We have our reasons for staying and reasons to move one. For all its issues, the park is a study in life. We may stick around a bit more on a week to week basis. For the good and bad of it, it somehow has a feel of home. Marilyn
