I am exhausted. Today I went on a three-hour bike ride around Skidaway Island. I’m not entirely sure of the distance I covered, but it sure feels like a lot. Then again, this was the most exercise I’ve gotten since the last time gym class was mandatory. Senior year of high school?
Nevertheless, I snapped a lot of photos from the voyage, all of which are very small and right below this here text. See for yourself!
I started riding south towards the water (I guess since it’s an island I could have chosen any direction and found water, eventually). I made it about as far in that direction as I could go. I started out by exiting the “deer creek” neighborhood where my aunt and uncle live, and passed through the main gate and rode through an area called Midway. This section is the only one where houses have different building regulations. If you build a second floor to your house, it has to equal 75% of the square footage of the first floor. Houses there are gigantic. Since the island is technically a hurricane zone, several homes are built up so they have long staircases leading to the front entranceway. Other houses have huge columns, at least a handful resemble the White House. My final destination was on the west side of the island, where the new house is located. I haven’t mentioned it much yet because I wanted to have some photographs to accurately describe the place. Now I do, so here we go.
There are maybe ten houses on the street, all of which are patio homes. I don’t know exactly what that means, but it’s a new phrase I’ve added to my vocabulary so I’m not afraid to spit it out without knowing exactly what it means. Here’s what it looks like from the end of the driveway. There’s a nice little iron gate thing that leads to a walkway that takes you through a tiny garden to the front door. Once inside, there’s a dining room area just inside the door (tables but no chairs) and then a big open space that I guess is eventually going to be a living room with a fireplace and library space (some people call them “book shelves”).
In the next room, there’s a chandelier over where the kitchen table will go, and then a den area where the TV and couches will go. By the way, the acoustics in an empty house with high ceilings are incredible. Natural reverb! There’s a master bedroom, two guest rooms and a “bonus room” that can also be a very small bedroom. I’ll spare you those pictures because they’re empty rooms that all look the same. Outside there is a small yard area, then some trees, then the 18th fairway of one of the golf courses. While outside, I gave my new pet Smooshy a proper burial. His grave is marked by a cross I made out of two toothpicks tied together with dental floss. Then I left and started the very long ride home.
Dinner was pasta, meat sauce and the rest of the beer I bought (not including the 18 I’m bringing home). Tomorrow I think I’m going to play some golf or something. I don’t know, they just wake me up and tell me what I’m doing and I do it.
Since I sometimes talk about music on this blog, here’s what my trusty iPod spat out as I rode for three hours or so:
Squirrel Bait – Skag Heaven
The Shins – Oh, Inverted World
Songs: Ohia – Magnolia Electric Co.
Dead Meadow – Howls from the Hills
Polvo – Today’s Active Lifestyles
Four Tet – Rounds
