Piano Update and a BIG Thank You!

This story finally comes to an end…or does it?

After ranting about this incident last week, I thought I'd share with you the conclusion of the story…

The piano was removed when a Palmetto Bay resident hired a salvage company to retrieve the piano after his 10-year-old son thought the piano needed to be rescued. He got there after the original culprit had FINALLY been served with a warning to remove the piano within 24 hours or face a fine.

So, the piano is gone, its 15 minutes of fame diminishing on the horizon,

but wait, what's this?

In his article, Authorities Warn Miami Sandbar Copycats, on ABCnews.com, Kevin Dolak reports,

"A day after a baby grand piano that mysteriously appeared on a Miami sandbar was removed, another odd batch of items has turned up at same location — and authorities are not happy.

A dinner setting for two — including a small table with two chairs, place settings, a bottle of wine and a chef statue — appeared on a Biscayne Bay sandbar on Friday morning.

Local authorities have responded to the pranks, warning that anyone caught leaving items at the sandbar would be arrested, as such activity is illegal.

'The bottom line is that this is completely against the law. People caught doing it will be arrested,' said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."

This is the SAME Jorge Pino that I quoted last week as saying, "it would be highly unlikely that we would cite this young man for anything." The agency "would probably write him a warning and make sure that he understands that that could be construed as littering, obviously. It's not the right thing to do."

Well, Mr. Pino, if you had handled the original situation in this way last week, you would have sent the message loud and clear — Florida does not condone dumping trash in our ocean. You set the stage for copycats to express their "artistic" endeavors, all at the cost of our precious waterways. You are just as guilty as Nicolas Harrington, because you let him off scot-free.

Nicolas Harrington, and all those involved in this atrocity, should face the consequences of illegally dumping garbage AND YOU, Mr. Pino, should loose your job.


We had a glorious weekend here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the skies we blue and the clouds were billowy. Our afternoon temps were in the mid-70s and last night's sunset was spectacular.

I took full advantage of the nice weather and hit a local beach on both days. Yep, I did. I started out early on Saturday and again on Sunday to do a little shelling and to just enjoy being out in the sunshine. I was well-rewarded with some beautiful treasures, but to end todays post and to put this piano story to rest, I thought I would share my "artistic" finds from the shore.

There is a short stretch of beach just minutes from where I live, it has become my go-to place for some beachiness. This beach sits on Tampa Bay, instead of the Gulf of Mexico. There is a beautiful park, but it has gone largely undiscovered by most folks and for reasons I'll discuss in another post, I hope to keep it that way.

As you know, I carry a trash bag with me when I go to the beach to pick up liter left by others. On Saturday, I picked up three full bags of trash. Since the park is close by, trash cans are easily available. I emptied my bag twice, but thought I would show you what was in the third. Here's my "artistic" shot…

It still gets me riled up that Nicolas Harrington thought dumping that piano was an artistic move that would look great on his college application.

How's this for artistic…

Now, as I mentioned before this stretch of beach doesn't get many visitors and I can attest that the vast majority of them are in the park and not in the water. I believe that they throw their trash in the many bins located throughout the park and don't bother to walk down to dump it in the Bay. This leaves the question of where does this much garbage come from?

In this next photo, you can see who I think the culprits are…

Tampa Bay is very popular with boaters and there are several fishing piers in the area. Understand that I'm not saying every boater and fisherman is so thoughtless, I have friends who own boats and I love to fish, but I think this explains why I come upon scenes like this when I'm on this particular beach…

I don't know what it is about the tides and currents here that would cause so many tennis balls and golf balls to show up on this beach all clustered together, but I also don't understand where they originate from. There isn't a golf course or tennis club that backs up to the beach in the Bay. Another mystery to solve?

I google this kind of nonsense and believe I know where so many tennis balls come from. There are numerous websites that explain how to make a "Tennis Ball Fishing Float." The golf balls remain a mystery — are they being used for fishing weights or is someone hitting balls off their boats? I don't know, so if you think you have the answer, let me know.

For now, the piano story is over and this week I'll be returning with some really fun posts! I've received several goodies in the mail recently from other bloggers and I can't wait to share their generosity with you. I also want to tell you about my new secret shelling spot and tell you a story about the craziest place I've ever gone shelling — you won't believe it!

Last week I was obsessed with the piano story and I was working on a deadline, so I have a lot of reading to catch up on. I do want to thank each and everyone of you who commented or sent emails about my piano posts, especially those who put it on Facebook and Tweeted. That post had so many hits! You helped get the word out, enlightened many, and your support just does this old beach gal proud.

Thank you

from the

bottom of my heart

and from the

bottom of our precious oceans.