A little over five years ago, our home -- like the homes of thousands of others -- was devastated by Hurricane Charley.  The repairs to the house itself were easier to deal with; new roof, new flooring, some new ceilings, new paint inside and out were all paid for by excellent insurance (through Florida Farm Bureau, in case you're wondering -- or shopping) so the only real cost to us was time and minor inconvenience.

Some of the losses outside were a little more difficult.  I've never since seen the flying squirrels who nested in the tall trees at the front of our property; I no longer hear the quail or the Chuck-wills-widow (a cousin of the whippoorwill) who resided nearby.  The huge oak on our vacant lot was split in two.  We had to remove several pines that had fallen or threatened to fall on the house or power lines.  There's another pine that died some months afterward, and I've been knowing all this time that it really should be taken out too.  But trees -- even dead ones -- give life.  Today was my reaffirmation and my reward.  Look who came to dine at the dead pine!

But there's lots more than Christmas preparations going on here in the Celtic Heritage Productions office, and sometimes I find it hard not to get ahead of myself!  Greg and I are feverishly working on the 7th Annual Caloosahatchee Celtic Festival which, incredibly, is only six weeks away from today.  Peace River Celtic Festival demands a little of our attention too, as do the Haggis Bash, St. Paddy's events, and Tartan Day.  We're also working on my 2010 solo appearance schedule.  And as if there were not enough exciting things in the works -- we're producing another Celtic festival, this one in North Carolina.

So ... announcing the First Annual WNC Highlands Celtic Festival, to be held on June 18-19, 2010 on the grounds of the Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, one of our favorite towns!  Musical acts will be Burning Bridget Cleary, Brendan Nolan, and Marcille Wallis & Friends.  There'll be a heavy athletics demonstration team directed by Mike Link of the Foothills Highland Games.  There's talk of a fiddle competition.  Cameron's British Food and Imports (from Fort Myers, FL) will provide authentic Celtic fare.  And Pisgah Brewing will offer their award-winning brews, including, perhaps, a special concoction in honor of the Celtic festival.  Is it any wonder that I'm having trouble staying focused these days?  But I'm lovin' it! 

Would you look at that view!  We are here in Jacksonville, for tomorrow's Riverside Arts Market.  And tonight, the organizers of the Arts Market are putting us up in the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.  This is the view from our 7th floor room.  It's not often that a Celtic musician gets accommodations like rock-star royalty, and I'm lapping it up!

But I still can't help feeling a little like Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies: "Hot dog!"  I'll confess that I could not bring myself to pay Hyatt prices for an Italian grinder that I knew I'd enjoy no better than the one from the deli/comedy club around the corner, so Greg and I took a little evening stroll for our dinner.  Jacksonville has enjoyed a Renaissance of sorts over the last couple of decades.  For years, it had suffered urban decay, and had even unfortunately earned a reputation for air quality that was so poor, Jacksonville led the nation in incidence of lung cancer.  Today's Jacksonville is sort of the "Hartford of the South," as many insurance companies are headquartered in its high-rise business district.  Almost a hundred years ago, my grandmother spent some of her growing-up years in Jacksonville.  According to her memoirs, the house was located on West Monroe Street, which is only a couple of blocks over from the riverfront where the Hyatt stands.  I wonder if she'd even vaguely recognize her old Riverside neighborhood, which at one time she "knew by heart," or would she be slightly ga-ga, like Jethro's Granny?

The thumbnail at right is another view from our balcony, looking upriver (the St. Johns River flows north) toward the location of the Riverwalk and the Arts Market.  Notice the beautiful sidewalk and the tree-lined street toward the lower right-hand corner of the photo.  Tomorrow will be cold and rainy all day, but tonight it's nice and cozy in our sumptuous space here at the Hyatt.  I could get used to this!     

For some reason, ever since we've gotten home, I've been craving a good Irish stew.  Don't ask me where this came from; the last time I had Irish stew was years ago, possibly as long ago as when I was playing at the Celtic Ray (in Punta Gorda, FL) on a weekly basis.  I Googled the words Irish stew Guinness and found this recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_beef_stew/  Tonight was a perfect night for stew -- we're experiencing a little cool snap in Southwest Florida.  Preparation was a little more labor-intensive than I'd anticipated (maybe I was over-doing just a bit, as I always do when trying a new recipe) but that stew was even better than anything that I remember having at "The Ray."  With winter coming on, maybe some of my friends will want to try it, too.     

On the last two days of our stay in Atlantic Beach, Maggie Muggins and I took strolls along the beach near sunset.  A front had brought cool weather into North Florida, and the wind really whipped along the beach, churning up the surf.  In conditions like that, it's really easy to understand what a crucial role the dunes play in protecting the inlands!  Even in the howling wind -- or perhaps because of the howling wind -- Maggie's senses were heightened.  She picked up scent after scent -- of what, I can only imagine.  She acted as if she would chase the little sandpipers scurrying along the sand.  She actually did try to chase the seafoam that had collected at the tide mark!

My senses were heightened too, especially by the beautiful colors produced by the setting sun.  I was thrilled to see that my camera actually captured some of it:

Notice the setting sun reflected on the wave


Though the waves were not particularly high, they were strong


Turning to the west to look back over the dunes, the clouds were a glorious mix of pinks and yellows and oranges 

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the beach!  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of visits to Florida's beaches and islands.  Just now, I've been pondering which ones were my favorites, so that I could name them in this blog, but honestly, the more I thought about it, the more "favorites" I came up with!  I can't even decide which coast is my favorite -- the Gulf Coast, with its sugar-sand beaches and calm, warm waters, or the Atlantic Coast, with its wild dunes (where development hasn't flattened them) and pounding surf.  

So when we were booked into Jacksonville's Riverside Arts Market and Greg suggested that we base ourselves for a week at Jacksonville's Hanna Park, directly on Atlantic Beach, I did not hesitate in saying yes!  We've stayed here at Hanna Park a couple of other times, and appreciate the peaceful, natural surroundings.  Thick tree cover helps to keep us cool during the day and provides something of a buffer between us and our neighbors.  Off in the distance we hear the roar, not of traffic, but of the ocean.  Sometimes, gazing into a thicket of oak and palmetto, I think this must be Paradise.

           
Our campsite ... view from one of the hiking trails ... the beach at low tide ... the dunes (the sign reads, "No Dune Access Stay Out")

         
View toward the US Naval Base, just north of us, at Mayport ... two beach bums ... view toward Neptune Beach, just south of us

   
After our morning walk on the beach, we visited Singleton's in Mayport, ordering a seafood sampler for two -- hah! -- my camera's lens did not have a wide enough angle to capture all of the food we were served.  (By the way, the green stuff in the little cup at left is collard greens -- yum, yum!)