Florida….it’s an adjustment

I have just returned from a 3 city tour of Florida.  It began with Sanibel Island, then over to Jupiter, then up to Winter Park.  I was bitten by every sand flea, no-see-um and mosquito in the state.

What can I say about Florida?  It’s an adjustment.

1.  It’s hot.

2.  There are gators (and I saw one right on the side of the road where I was a-walkin’)

3.  There were stingrays in the Gulf Water.  (ok, they were skates, but still…there were a LOT of them.)

4.  Did I mention it was HOT.  And this was only April.

5.  No one walks.  Anywhere.  There were NO PEOPLE on the streets.  Where is everyone?

Florida pluses:  got to see dolphins, a ton of manatee and some osprey and beautiful egrets and herons.   Despite my fear of “owtside”, we had a great time.   (remember my motto, stolen directly from Bonnie Luria:  “Owtside begins with Ow”).

My friend that I went to college with who I also visited while in Florida now uses a “Jitterbug” phone!   This phone is for old people.  Why?  You can’t text, you can’t get your email, you can’t take pictures you can’t browse the web.

What CAN you do with a Jitterbug?   You can make or receive calls, you can press a button if you’ve fallen and you can’t get up or you can use it as a shoehorn.

(Full disclosure…I have a blackberry, aka crackberry, which I’m kind of addicted to.)

While in Florida I got to visit some of my decorative painted wood pieces.  A “petunia” tray I had painted for my aunt and a “garden” birdhouse I painted for my friends Jim and Kirk, who themselves have a lush garden.   It was fun to see these pieces I had forgotten I had painted and given away.  It was like running into old friends.