Hudson Beach

Being in Florida brings back a lot of memories.  I only lived here for about 18 months, but it is the only other country I have ever lived in other than Virginia.  As I remembered it, it was full of old people, although I do need to confess that they do not look nearly as old now.  But after seeing Steph this morning I got in my rental car and headed for good old Spring Hill.

Spring Hill is really the same as Weeki Wachi, you know where the mermaids all lived.  I used to have one in the parish I worked in, St. Andrew’s (Episcopal) but I cannot remember her name.  She didn’t wear a tail at church, nor did she try to make me believe it was real.  She was just another talented actress at a Florida tourist attraction.  It was nothing like Indiana.

But Spring Hill has changed, as well as the church.  I stopped by and was given a tour of everything by Father Lance Wallace, St. Andrew’s Rector, who I found to be a spectacular guy.  He was very gracious and helpful to me, and it was a very enjoyable time.  And after my tour, I went a spent a little time in the graveyard where amongst some of the people I helped bury were now many more saints that I knew.  It was a sobering experience.

St. Andrew’s where I was priested……

I then started to wind my way down to Tampa where I am now.  But in passing through New Port Richey I stopped at Hudson Beach.  My grandma, my dad’s mom, had moved to New Port Richey from New York when I was a kid, and she used to take me to Hudson Beach.  I remember stepping on a crab there and bolting out of the water, and I SAW THE SPOT.  But the other thing that makes it a special place was that her ashes were spread in the Gulf there (not on the beach but out off the shore….by a funeral home), so visiting Hudson Beach was something I often did when I lived there.  It was the closest thing to a cemetery I have.

Anyway it was an interesting experience.  I realized that many of the retired who live there now were my age now when I lived there.  Life goes quickly, but it was nice to remember some old important things in a more modern context.

Off to bed!  Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+