Marder Visit-Sarasota

I mentioned in my last post that I'd have more info about my health situation on Thursday. Even though I was able to have more Xrays taken and got to see some doctors I won't know where I stand until Monday. I was able to get a last-minute appointment--miraculously the day before I leave for CR!

So, I'm taking advantage of the long weekend and headed up to visit James' biological dad, Barry Marder, and his wife, Kathy, in Sarasota, Florida. It was about a 4 hr drive north from Ft. Lauderdale. On the way I saw a sign pointing to Venice, FL. where I was stationed 44 years ago at a Coast Guard Loran station, so I had to detour over there for a look.
Couldn't recognize anything at all! The Loran (Long Range Navigation system) has been replaced by GPS now, so the station is probably long gone. Venice used to be a quaint little town...

Here's a photo of Kathy and Barry in front of their house with one of their two lil' doggies.
They live in huge gated community which surrounds a private lake. Here's the dock near their home. There are alligators, bass, birds and all sorts of critters living in it.
Along the lakeside path I saw a blossoming tree with these fire-engine-red seeds. Kathy explained that it was a Magnolia. I'm taking some of them home to see if they'll take!

Kathy's an amazing cook! She prepared a delicious dinner for us which included a yummy broccoli cornbread, and Barry cooked some marinated chicken on the patio BBQ.

The next morning I took off for Orlando and on down to Ft. Pierce where Ali gave me a tour of his shop and his house there. We had a great day together on Saturday and then drove down to Ft. Lauderdale. Here's one of the typical steel posts which his company makes for the housing projects in the area (the redish primer colored post): While Ali showered after work at home I was reviewing his great collection of Baha'i books. Here they are with his excercise equipment and typical bachelor clutter:
I didn't show the outside view of Ali's Ft. Lauderdale house, so here it is. It's in a very centralized location which some day with be prime territory and probably worth a pile. The white Dodge "Caliber" in front of the house is the car I've been renting all month. The other car belongs to Ali's half-sister, Deanie.

That night we got together again with Osmond and Darren and dined on a scrumptious Persian meal: