Wrap up

I’m catching up the rest of the Florida trip well into the future, so it will be a perfunctory trip down recent memory lane.

Here is one of two photos I took on the Florida trip.
Mom is sitting on the porch off the living room. Behind the porch is a pool and beyond that a lake. More on that later.

Friday, 23rd, lunch with mom’s friend Jenny and our hostess Janis. Janis was born in January, which was named for the Greek god Janus. So her name is her mother’s feminisation of a Greek god. Jenny, for reasons unclear to me, drove us to Marcos Island for lunch. Maybe an hour each way. We would have passed 1000s of restaurants to go to this one. Whatever.

Saturday, lunch with Rick and Anne, my friends who split their time between Crawfordsburn, N.I., and Naples. Like yesterday, we ate at a waterfront restaurant, MiraMare, but it wasn’t a long drive this time. What cracked me up was the people going in and out of the bay, right next to our dining deck, on expensive yachts. They were obviously posing for the diners--really eager to be seen on their big boats. Anne took us to an art show in Naples that was fun. OMG the talent. One of my favourites was a Peruvian folk artist who reinterpreted the miniature altars of traveling priests as miniature social commentary tableaus.

Sunday, we went to a massive Presbyterian church where professional singers performed selections from Phantom of the Opera. I’ve never seen Phantom so I enjoyed hearing the songs performed together, with abbreviated scenes from the play. In this era of grooming of young girls and #metoo, I found the plot fairly creepy. Is the Phantom’s manipulation of the woman meant to be romantic? I’m a bit unclear on how the whole thing ends.

On our final full day in the Sunshine State, we went for a long walk on beach. I was really pleased that mom can handle a long walk. Her recently deceased dog had been infirm for a long time, so she hasn’t been walking much. Plus, a tough winter. We went back to Janis’s and, because it was really warm--high 80s all week--I talked mom into getting into Janis’s pool. While we were in the pool, I saw something gliding along in the lake that is maybe 10 yards from the pool. I got out of the pool and confirmed it was an alligator. So mom and I went inside and I closed the sliding glass doors. Freaky.

On Tuesday the 27th, we flew home, uneventfully. Thankfully.

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