Agreeable Strangers III
Dave, Perkins Memorial Dr.
David lives in Pennsylvania and was visiting family. We met at the top of Bear Mountain - me driving, him biking. The 2 miles to the top is a steep, treacherous, heart-in-your-throat experience either way. The reward is a spectacular view of 4 states, and the faint outline of Manhattan for both of us, and a lot of exercise for David. The first section of the Appalachian trail opened here in 1923.
Now the perilous high speed ride down.
David was the first person I made a photo of for the Agreeable Strangers project.
Anthony, gelato!
Last Veterans day Brianna and I went to a celebration in Clearwater. The Seminole HS Warhawk Band was playing as was Clearwater HS. Walking the plaza we passed the gelato stand and Brianna looked at me and we stopped. From Anthony’s “hello” all I heard was “joisey’. Two years ago Anthony bought a house in Anona.
He came to Florida after surviving a rare illness, losing 70 lbs in muscle weight in a 2 week period - a harrowing story.
At 71 years old he moved to be with his grandkids, Sloane, 15, and Trip, 8. and opened a gelato shop nearby called "Slipps"
Yankee
Walking the aisles of the International Flea market in Central Florida, I came across his jam and jelly stand. Yankee grows his own fruit trees, then makes and cans the jellies. All organic and he substitutes stevia and monk fruit for sugar.
I've attempted to grow a kumquat tree I got from him but have yet to defeat the squirrel that gnaws on the little sapling.
Yankee is a Navy vet - he flew helicopters ferrying Marines off the USS Iwo Jima - the pilots are nicknamed "gators" .
Dave, coin wholesaler
51 years of selling coins! He is primarily a wholesaler of coins and has a ntwork of 16 dealers he supplies. He spends much of his day sifting through large batches of coins searching for the "gold" and primarily finds "errors", very worthwhile. Dave was reluctant for me to take his picture - coin collectors get robbed! 13 out of 16 dealers he distributes to have been robbed.
By the way, Dave is a black belt karate master - as you spend a little time you start to identify various "weapons" stashed and easily accessible. ou quickly get the vibe - a nice guy, not to be trifled with.
Andrew
Walking through Constitution Green in Orlando, I met Andrew sitting on a bench under the historical oak trees. He's been homeless for about 9 years. He talked about his life on the street, (tough if you’re gay), and one of things he does is gets his teeth cleaned every 6 months. He offered that his fiancee tried to murder him, although curious, I opted to let the comment pass!.
When I asked to make a picture - he immediately stood up and moved away from his cart, "I can't have that in the picture."
Mark
A band parent! We both volunteer at the FMEA convention in Tampa, so spent many hours side-by-side.
He is a proud, retired, navy veteran . " I joined the navy, had a successful career, saw the world and did things I never could have done"!
I think he misses the Navy
Fred and his bike
Late December I was volunteering at the fireworks tent - a band fundraiser. About 10pm. up rode Fred on electric bike from Baycare Field - a 12 mile ride. He travels all over Tampa Bay on his bike and began listing his bike jaunts.
He'd come to the Largo Mall to get some shoes. He wears size 14 and says they are difficult to find - and the store didn't have them.
Fred advised me to get on social media - "instagram, you tube, etc." He also wanted me to include his whole bicycle in the picture. I’m still contemplating both ideas.
John
John also volunteered at Seminole Sound - his daughter was in Band and graduated from Clearwater HS. He often volunteers at various band events regardless of the schools participating..
For his real job he is head of video services for Fox News Tampa and has spent 28 years in photography.
Chris
He was just arriving, as I was leaving - we met in parking garage.at Bay Pines VA. We stopped, talked for awhile - he was also in infantry in Bamberg, Germany from 1987 to 1997. He is convinced that being in the military has been one of his best decisions.
The topic of "kids today" came up... he encourages all the young kids he knows to go into the military and has met with moderate success convincing some. We discussed how tough it is for kids, especially black kids, parted acknowledging that he is doing all he can to make a difference.