Esther Williams swims into the Sunset

Young Esther on her way to an Andy Hardy picture circa 1942

Who ever thought this little girl would amount to much?  Well she did!  It might not have been Olympic Gold but this girl had chutzpah and took her one talent as far as anyone has before or since.  Esther Jane Williams was born in 1921 and missed the 1940 Olympics because of the war.  She parlayed her talent and her figure into quite a Hollywood empire.  Starring in some the biggest grossing MGM pictures of the late 1940's and early 1950's.  She got involved in marketing bathing suits from the start.  Working with Fred Cole who founded Cole of California line of bathing suits before there were celebrity products.  By the 1990's when I was ending my life in the Fashion Industry Esther had developed her products far and wide through the Cole Catalina Collection.  

Esther in modern setting that could have been the Tropicana Hotel in Havana

Esther in one of her many Hollywood Extravaganzas

Possibly from Neptune's Daughter

Esther swam with anyone who would get in her specially built pool.  She co-starred with  Tom and Jerry, Gene Kelly, Red Skelton, Van Johnson, Howard Keel, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Jeff Chandler, Ricardo Montalban, Gilbert Roland and Fernando Llama whom she married after working with him in Dangerous When Wet.

With Fernando Llamas who subdued her as the archetypal Spanish lover

At the Del Coronado with her Children.  Fernando Jr. was her stepson.

Esther like the rest of us did not lead a perfect life.  She was married four times.  She had three kids with Ben Cage an alcoholic who squandered millions of her hard earned swimming money.  In 1959 Cary Grant played with LSD and recounted his experiences to many of his friends.  Esther decided to try it as well and try and figure out her potential demons.

From Million Dollar Mermaid

I was in a relationship with the critic from Performing Arts Magazine in 1980's Los Angeles.  We were part of the stable of opening night guests to many a performance in the Los Angeles / Long Beach  area.  Amongst the people I often saw at these first night events were people like Ann Miller, Cesar Romero and Esther Williams.  They represented a Hollywood that (at that point) was in the process of disappearing.  Much ballyhoo was offered to these stars from other times and they and their guests would be wined and dined for the purposes of creating Press for the events.  In 1989 Debbie Reynold opened at the Pantages Theater in the stage version of her movie hit The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  As with all of these performances, everyone that could fit into a guest list was there:  including Esther Williams and Cesar Romero, who at this event, were escorting one another (or so it seemed).  After the performance there was the typical opening night party with the cast and guests and lots of shrimps, champagne and buffet lines.  While standing in one of these a woman snuck in line before me.  Turning to my friend I let go a stage whisper "Who does she think she is?  Esther Williams?"  Well, it was, and I knew it, but having seen her at so many other events I felt I knew her when I didn't.  She was not the least bit embarrassed and rather friendly about the whole thing. So today we bid farewell to a Hollywood Siren.  Esther Williams was 91.

Missing Pieces

A recent morning I woke up and discovered "The Girls" hanging around the house.  For all I know they are all boys but in my mind they seem like a bunch of girls who hang around and come to have breakfast and catch up on the news.  These magnificent birds greet and make my days especially when you see how adapted they are to the invasion of people to their paradise.  They are up at the crack of dawn trying to catch whatever earthworms are in our poor deficient soil and whatever other bug they can come across.  They have not quite mastered standing on a cable wire.  This morning two caught the wind wrong and had to fly off to keep from falling.

Kites don't seem to have any problem this time of year when the coastal breezes make them stay aloft.  This time of year you wonder how could it get any better?  No humidity and lovely 80 degree weather.

Brooker Creek Preserve

It is no wonder I have had a parade of friends visiting this year.  As I keep working on the restoration of the house, the upstairs which had served as my non-existing garage, piled with boxes and materials for all matter of projects, is now fully functional as guest quarters. It is still not as posh as the downstairs but no one has complained.  So I have been developing places to take my out of town guests.  Some have come kayaking, others off to the shore for fancy vistas, others to wildlife refuge and all to the great Greek dining on the Sponge Docks. 

The Brooker Creek Preserve is this wonderful facility a few miles from my house that serves as an education center to all those not experienced with native plants and animals so they can understand what this area is all about.  I like going, even though Limo is not allowed.  It has miles of trails.  The Preserve is roughly 9000 acres of unspoiled land filled with magical plants I have not even figured out yet to every manner of bird and gators.  It has been a great place to explore and bring friends to discover the magnificent landscape of Florida.

Gator nursery!

Here was my first Black Crowned Night Heron

Strangely enough this was my first Armadillo since I came to town.

A Pileated Woodpecker

It was four years ago that I started writing this Blog.  My life was devastated by the reality that this Recession and otherwise economic mess would derail great plans that I had for a future.  It would certainly derail my economic well being and retirement plans.  Fortunately, my cautious nature and planning until that point allowed me to revolutionize my life and parlay my assets into a new beginning.  It is more or less documented in this Blog from my disdain for unrealistic taxation that I experienced in New Jersey to exploring places to escape to the events leading to buying the house in Tarpon Spring and selling the Collingswood house.  It is all history now and today I started yet another chapter by applying for Social Security.

Cormorants on the Gulf by Sunset Beach

Years ago the idea of being involved in any religious community would have been a non starter.  Yet, for the past year I have devoted a great deal of time to help my Unitarian Universalist Community here in Tarpon Springs find a new religious leader.  It has been a different journey for me to work with people not to plan a city or create a landscape but rather to have a vision of what will make a richer life experience. It has been very rewarding to help create a  new future for this 127 year old congregation.  Florida is a bit of a backwater in many aspects and it deserves the best that its citizens can offer to bring a new richer vision that is open to possibilities rather than blinded by limited vision.  Our UU Community is just one of those places where we are striving to create a more inclusive and significant place that is slowly making inroads to a better Florida. 

Sunset at Sunset Beach Tarpon Spring

This journey that started not so long in New Jersey is now well on its way here in Florida.  Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that I spent most of my life in California.  All that seems so long ago.  I suspect that the more I live the less that I consider the past and the more I live in the present.

The present is rather pleasant here by this gulf.  The sun setting over the water is very comforting to my California days. It is also very wonderful to be surrounded by all this water that may some day flood and cover all that I currently hold dear if global warming goes on as anticipated.  Three days ago the newspaper recorded that we have now surpassed 400 parts per million of Co2.  This might not mean much to many but it is somehow sad to know that as smart as we are we can't take care of the only planet we have to live on.

Maybe it is these levels that are making our sunsets all that more majestic.  We certainly don't need warmer summers, here anyway, and yet we are experiencing warmer and warmer years.  I still work on reducing my impact on this planet as much as I can.  Meanwhile, I am also planning my summer escape to points cooler and new adventures.  

You may have figured out that I am not writing the Blog on a weekly basis as I when I started.  All things evolve.  I have not developed a new rhythm yet with all my other projects as I been gathering a lot of my missing pieces to make a better whole.  The garden is still high on my list but it has reached a stable point and now is just filling in.  The house needs a lot more work but it will always. Soon I intend to start doing more traveling to far off and exotic places where I have always wanted to go.  I shall continue to journal my life with commentary and travel and garden adventures.  Final note:  Limo who was introduced in this blog turned three years old yesterday.  Happy Birthday boy! And Happy Gardening! 

Heavy Metal: Car Show of a Bygone Era of Wondrous Design

When the Beatles sang "Baby wont you drive my car"  they were not talking about automobiles, but our fascination with these machines still amazes the heck out of me.  Recently, the weather was perfect and ripe for an outdoor event. Tarpon is the home of  several antique automobile dealerships.  It was no surprise that The Tarpon Springs Antique Car show returned to town.  Crowds of people milled around our main street "Tarpon Avenue" to reminisce about their favorite car, listen to classic rock and have a good time.  There were hundreds of cars ranging from early Model T to fancy rare Limousines.  I photographed but a handful.  Take a look for yourself and see if you find a favorite.

For working people there were all manner of pickups

Even a few classic hot rods managed to get into the act.  Of course the owners of all these cars seem to be people who owned them since they were made or had managed to spend a small fortune to re-acquire them and relive an old memory or two.

This marvelous old GMC truck with wood decking I am sure is not used to haul anything other than a packet of memories.

For me, there was never a car more beautiful than this one.  Every detail of this car seemed conceived to seduce you to purchase it.  Any guesses?

Minor details such as the ribbed metal framing the headlights and in air intake on the hood above were part of the elegance and design of these cars where there was attention to every detail in a quest to design  cars and possibly a world that was unique.  Give up?

When this 1966 Thunderbird  was manufactured we were interested in modern and streamline design that was accented with an élan and a flare long since departed from our modern efficient computer managed vehicles.  The fins had gone but the metal remained.  Gasoline was 24.9 cents per gallon.  My first car was a 1964 metallic aqua colored Chevrolet Impala that my father bought me in 1970 for $300.00.  You can't buy tires for that money much less any car these days.

Any teenager in those days would have wanted a Mustang or better yet a convertible Thunderbird!  Here is one that awakened many memories long ago forgotten.

  

There were a multitude of styles showing the long distinguished history of these machines that have allowed us to travel, discover and experience the world in comfort.  I only know a few cars by memory as since my youth I have owned quite an assortment of foreign cars.  My second car was an 1970 MG Midget that was a love.  I followed it with a sensible Fiat 131 sedan, then I had an Oldsmobile Regency 98 for a business car.  I added a second car during richer times and had a 124 Fiat Spider: Quite a honey!  There was a Honda when times got tough and another Oldsmobile 88 wagon with an opera seat for who knows what family?  When that failed I went ultra modern and got a Prius which I have had for eight years.  Recently, the Toyota dealer wanted me to trade in my Prius.  He said they needed used Priuses or is it Prii?  He also informed me that he had recently had a customer checking out a new Prius.  His old one had 250,000 miles.  Upon hearing that news I informed him that I was hopeful that mine would also last that long and said goodby.  It is nice not to have a car payment!

1926 Willys-Knight 70

This 1958 Plymouth Fury Commando was a knockout at the show.  I have never seen such a wonderful effort to restore a car and be so true to its styling.

Beautiful 1933 De Soto

My friend Vori was in town from Philadelphia for the show an explained to me that the two projectiles on the bumper of this 1955 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (above) were called Dagmars after an early 1950's TV personality from a show called Broadway Open House.  Her extensive cleavage and  and low cut-gowns and conical shaped bras managed to get her indirectly into the daily parlance for automobile styling.

1950 Buick 8

1965 Mustang

1929 Essex

Here is a little more interesting  1933 Dodge Brothers Ram Sedan 

Even formula car people were represented.  The St Pete Grand Prix was run last week.

So when I said heavy metal it refers to a world gone by.  These car were built like tanks to offer protection to its passengers.  Nowadays car are designed with technology and electronic sensors to react in a moment of need.  An inflatable air bag and a good seat belt will protect you from bouncing into all the metal or not that is in your car.  Regardless, it was strange being surrounded by all the nostalgia by way of cars and music.  I like the past but try to live in the present as much as I can.  I came across this straggler, who like me also made its way from New Jersey to Tarpon Springs.  With loving care it will live in the memory of many for many years to come.  Happy Gardening!