Photos: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Photos: ZooTampa at Lowry Park

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For more pictures of my visit to ZooTampa, see my travel blog at badmousephotography.wordpress.com

Big things ahead

In my previous post, I said I wanted to “eat healthier, catch up on travel and rely less on ‘convenience apps.” The first one is going well enough, and I’m working on the second one as I type this (I might have something fun planned for the second half of this month)… and the third is a work in progress.

What I didn’t mention was, I want to stop living in fear of my previous editors and get my novel out there. I also want to put out a shorter book about my life in Baltimore which has the added benefit of enabling to delete all or part of my blog posts from 2009-2014 (as, believe me, no-one is reading them) which would free up a considerable amount of space for future writing/photos. The problem is, I don’t know if I have enough material for the latter book (as the copies of said posts on my laptop are long gone due to a transfer error on my previous computer. #techisfun), and it’s a bit late to start adding to it now.

I have other plans, some of which I can’t make yet due to the pandemic (I think have or, at least, had COVID at some point) as many events are either cancelled or postponed. For instance, Universal Orlando has not announced the dates for its Mardi Gras celebration (though Busch Gardens has :p), and Family Kingdom in Myrtle Beach, SC has no operating hours through the end of April.

Unfortunately, I just spent the past hour trying to fit multiple attraction visits for the second half of the month into my itinerary and my budget. I wasn’t accounting for “we downsized our routes to smaller airports” wall. All I want to do is fly into Sanford on my return trip so I can get some pictures of the Central Florida Zoo (that closed the day I came back from Baltimore last year) and then take the Sunrail back to downtown so I can transfer to… you know, I think I’ll just fly into MCO and be done with it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my groceries are here…

Good news from the tropics

So after an anxiety inducing weekend of watching the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issue reports of Tropical Storm Eta meandering the Gulf of Mexico and then making a hit on land anywhere from Fort Myers to Tampa Bay, the NOAA issued a new report (4pm) saying that it’s path has straightened slightly and it will likely not landfall as a TS but as a weakened “Tropical Depression” somewhere between Tallahassee and the Alabama border sometime on Friday.

I will continue watching this as this capricious storm may switch trajectories again (as the 4pm graphic was significantly different from their 1pm one). In the meantime, I’m just glad I don’t have to write one of those annoying semi “live-blogs” about the storm. Stay safe. Stay dry.

Tropical Storm possibly hitting S. Florida next week?

It’s just after 7pm on the day after Election Day, and while the state of Florida was called for Trump sometime last night, the rest of the country is still waiting on results. However, since I have a headache from switching between tabs (for a “live blog” that doesn’t look like it will be happening, just like this morning’s).

I did find something else to write about, even if it isn’t happening for another week… but that hasn’t stopped the breathless media coverage of Tropical Depression Eta as it crawls through Central America before returning – and potentially re-strengthening – over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico before possibly making landfall in South Florida.

Obviously, the various computer models disagree wildly on its projected path, but, at the moment, they all of them point to some kind of impact on Florida. Will it happen? Probably not, but it beats the boring, relentlessly repetitive election coverage.

 

No so happiest place on Earth

This week’s post was going to be a happy column about how this weekend’s reopenings of both Gatorland and LEGOLAND Florida (Winter Haven) and next week’s openings of Universal and the just announced reopenings of SeaWorld Orlando/Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and the Walt Disney World Resort (in phases) meant that live in Central Florida is slowly returning to normal.

Well, it’s not.

The virus remains as dangerous as ever, but so does being a person of color in the United States. Yes, I’ve been the victim of both racial and homophobic discrimination (including assault and property damage) both in Florida and Maryland, but the difference is I’m actually able to type this, George Floyd is not. Neither is Trayvon Martin or Tamir Rice or even Freddie Gray.

Sure, I could go into detail about being harassed for doing as little as they did, but having my camera ripped away from me and taunted as it’s broken in front of me is considerably different than being held against the ground with a knee to the throat and dying of asphyxiation as three other officers hold him down. To even compare the two experiences is an insult to the memories of all the victims of needless police violence.

So would equally vapid, ineffective forms of “solidarity” I’ve seen online like changing my profile photo for the day or posting some memes with a viral hashtag. It didn’t heal Paris, and it’s not rebuilding Minneapolis. Such lazy, feel good activism doesn’t do anyone any good.

However, with the massive crowds of people protesting in the street across the country – and around the world – there are now fears of spreading the virus that has kept these same people inside for the past two months, maybe lazy, ineffective means of protest aren’t all bad.

Yes, waving signs in a public place is a perfectly valid form of communication… but so is staying at home and typing from the safety of my sofa. The parks will open whether I’m there to cover them or not…

 

Happy International Museum Day

I bet you think this post is about that stupid “stamp rally” in a certain popular video game, but it’s not. As you know, I love going to museums. In fact, I used to review art and science exhibits on a regular basis) as well as zoos and aquariums (I really liked Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, but Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is small and overrated).

What you don’t know is that I used to work for one. I wasn’t a docent. I worked as an intern in the Research Department for the Jay I Kislak Foundation which was in turn creating a new Latin America exhibit for UM’s Lowe Art Museum (part of the organization’s extensive collection was donated to the university permanently upon Mr. Kislak’s death in 2017).

I got a more hands-on approach to artifact handling a year later when I spent the summer working for the university’s discontinued field school in North Port (roughly halfway between Sarasota and Fort Meyers). I was only doing basic “processing” artifacts (washing, sorting and photographing) which, while extremely important in its own right, doesn’t provide any actual “marketable” skills needed to get a contract archaeology job.

I wasn’t upset by this because literally half of the dozen or so participants were on lab duty, but I found it extremely odd that they wouldn’t let me participate in their “Media Day” in the final week. I was a Communications student (Photography and Journalism) for cripes sake!

I now realize this was likely a form of ableism… but at the time it was just “normal” for employers, classmates in group projects (IF they told me about our group sessions at all) and volunteer coordinators to keep me as far “out of sight” as possible (I always thought was just a “fat” thing as this was the University of MIAMI after all).

I have applied to multiple zoos, museums and aquariums since graduation… but none have hired me. I have, however, done two “Archaeology Labs” here in Florida (one in Tampa and the second at UM), have not they led to any more field opportunities? No, and I’ve applied to multiple field schools across the country, but I have either gotten extremely sick at the last minute (2016/2014), hit by a car (2018)… or it was cancelled at the last moment due to either financial (2015/2017) or global pandemic issues (2020).

Maybe someday, I’ll get back to working in a museum again, but as writing this blog has taught me: The more time I spend interacting with people the more abuse I take from them. On the plus side, at least, Blathers doesn’t charge for admission…

 

Photo: Somber statistics

Live blog: Michael in Central Florida (3)

9:32am – Woken up by an automated call from my doctor’s office. At least, it isn’t “Rachel from Cardholder Services.”

10am – Tropical Storm/Surge Watches are now in effect for Coastal North Carolina… but have been lifted for the Alabama/Mississippi border region.

11:20am – A still graphic from TWC shows Tampa Bay is out of immediate danger, though strong outlying bands are still expected throughout the day into Thursday.

11:57am – However, NWC office in Tampa says that while most of Central Florida will be “uneffected” by Michael, Tampa Bay can still get “high storm surge, extensive coastal flooding and severe damage to docks, marinas and coastal dunes.”

12:04pm – Eyewall of Michael coming ashore along the coast of the Florida Panhandle…life threatening storm surge and catastrophic winds moving onshore.

12:37pm – Thank you to people calling/texting me, but as I said above, “Central Florida is under no immediate threat due to this storm” (I’m just bored, lol)

1pm – Hurricane Michael intensifies (cat 4) as it makes landfall near Mexico Beach Florida (nowhere near me) with life-threatening storm surge, hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall occurring over the Florida panhandle…

1:09pm – Duke Energy is predicting that at least 100k customers will lose power due to the storm.

1:13pm – Gov. Rick Scott activated the Florida Disaster Fund to help with the aftermath of the storm

1:37pm – Unfortunately, all the news stories I’m seeing now are “live coverage” (which do me exactly zero good, lol) so, I may have to end today’s live blog a bit early…

Live blog: Michael in Central Florida (2)

10am: While Central Florida is not expected to see a direct hit (aside from periphery rain/wind), the governor warned that the Panhandle, Big Bend and Gulf Coast cities as far south as Tampa could see dangerous storm surges of 8-12’ as the storm approaches.

Noon: Yahoo News is reporting that Michael is now a category 2 storm.

1:04pm – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Georgia has declared a “State of Emergency”

1:45pm – Governor Rick Scott orders mandatory evacuations for 11 Floridian counties.

1:50pm – The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that, with winds of 110mph, Michael is “nearing a category 3 storm” with winds tomorrow topping 125mph.

2:14pm – United Airlines has canceled flights scheduled for Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon to three airports in Florida — Pensacola, Panama City and Destin.

2:21pm – Radar on TWC shows small bands of moderate rain are moving through southern Orlando. The sky over SeaWorld is dark, but the steady winds seem relatively calm… for now anyway.

2:39pm – Orlando Weekly is reporting that Florida Democrats are suing to extend the voter registration deadlines due to the hurricane.

3:12pm – The Washington Examiner is reporting that Hurricane Michael could cause “13 billion in property damages”

4pm – Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Eastern/Southern Georgia with Tropical Storm Watches in effect for both North and South Carolina (neither of which need this after the pounding they took from Florence).

4:08pm – USA Today is saying Michael could be one of the worst storms on record to hit the Florida Panhandle.

4:28pm – A larger swath of heavy rain has just descended upon Orange County, but Central Florida is still slated to get less than 3” of rain out of this storm (a change from their previous estimate of 1-2”)

5:19pm – The rain band from the previous line appears to have moved offshore as sunlight barely pokes its way through the clouds. Yet, landfall in Northern Florida is still a day away…