“Vacay” is a short version of “Vacation”

James and Mandie moved to the Tampa area a few months ago. I was supposed to visit them on their new farm last week but last week imploded, so I re-scheduled.. I decided that a drive to Tampa was not congruous with my goal of driving as little as possible so like a good little new urbanist, I rode my bike to downtown Winter Park and took the train. (video coming soon)

James and Mandie have been living in the northeast for the past several years. Even though they have been back for a few months, I wanted to bring them a gift that is not just a house warming present but a welcome back to Florida present. These two have some trepidation about returning to the hot and humid climate so I want them to have something that provides unadulterated comfort while they transition back into our weather and temperature patterns.

Enter the Banana Hammock Republic.

James loves the new hammock so much that we spent all Friday scavenging around their farm for materials. Our mission: build the most kick-ass tree house/hammock habitat the world has ever seen.

Despite low battery power, bending nails, miss-placed tools, and swarming ants, we conquered the odds and were rewarded with the most excellent location I have ever had the pleasure to hang my hammock.

Due to the raptors that seemed to keep us company while we labored, we named it Hawk's Roost.

I'm still here.

This blog post is mostly just to let you know that I haven't given up the whole endeavor after one introductory post.

If you have been anywhere near me in the last week you would have undoubtedly heard me complaining about how shitty everything was going. I have been working on a post about all that happened last week but it is a slower process than I would like it to be. It turns out that writing about tragedies and other emotional subjects is a difficult process. I am trying to scribe something that is not just an exercise in catharsis but something that is informative and compelling. Maybe a little time is what I need.

This week will be better than last. Sunday was full of bike rides and hammock swaying. We even got a little tipsy on mimosas and beers. Yesterday yielded the first step in some exciting projects that I will be blogging about soon. The rest of the week will contain a new video game and a mini-vacation by train. I'll blog about one and make a video about the other.

I’ll leave you with a photo taken by my friend and tattoo artist, Alder. It is of me and John at the Orlando Museum of Art this past Thursday night.

Pretty cool right? I guess last week wasn’t all death and pestilence.