What’s this? Tony posting again? What’s happened to Lisa? I assure you that Lisa is just fine and you’ll hear from her again in the near future. It’s just that I have a bit more time on my hands because…wait for it…I’m a fulltime retiree again. I had already renewed my contract with Principal far longer than I had originally intended and decided the time was right to step away from software development again, at least as a profession.

With the cold weather behind us, we had a couple of outings this past weekend. First on our agenda was a Saturday trip with Paul and Rox (long time friends from Iowa) to the 77 Flea Market in Brownsville. I wasn’t able to find out exactly how many acres it covers, but trust me when I say it is HUGE. It’s an open-air market with several long roof-covered walkways plus many vendors completely out in the open. Catering to the local clientele, most of the signs and spoken language were in Spanish. It reminded Lisa and I of our recent ports of call in Central America this past fall. It really makes me want to take Spanish lessons again.

On Sunday, Lisa and I took our weekly trip to the SPI Farmer’s Market. Kettle corn, salsa, fresh pecans, and bread — so good! From there we took a short walk to the beach for another sea turtle release. Dozens of turtles, some big and some small, were returned to the sea after the recent cold snap. The same thing happened while we were on the island a year ago. A large crowd gathered again and cheered on all the volunteers braving the cold gulf water as they walked the turtles out beyond the rougher surf.