Life Logs, Day 19: Hanging Out with Friends and Family
Date: Sunday, January 19, 2020
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 78 degrees, Low 60 degrees F
Location: At Home with Linda and Mike Stuart, Bonita Springs, FL
It was a day of just hanging out with friends and family. Add to that clear, blue skies, bright sunshine, and a high temperature in the upper 70’s, and it equals a totally delightful day. Linda and Mike are here in southern Florida taking a winter break from their bicycle trip around the world. Their next destination is Europe, and weather dictated that they should wait until March to begin that leg of their journey. They had planned to stay here in Florida in a condo owned by Linda’s sister until the first of February, spend a month in northern New York where most of Linda’s family lives, and then head to Spain. But Linda has fallen in love with the weather here in southern Florida and made arrangements to stay here for one more month, making a short trip to northern New York. And I can certainly see why. 
The weather here is just perfect right now and it seduces you into thinking that you never want to leave. I have one more day and then I head back to Cape Cod. I’m not looking forward to the winter weather, but I have really missed Shadow and Heather and family. Today Heather sent a photo of my boys—Shadow, Sam, Jonah, and Ollie—going for a walk, and it jolted me back into reality. Even if it is cold, I really can’t wait to return home to be with them.
This morning Linda and I did an hour of water aerobics in a warm swimming pool and then I just sat in the sun while Linda swam laps. We went to Mark’s sister Mary Ellen’s home for lunch and visited with Mary Ellen and Lee and their son Dan and his two teenagers, Noah and Danny. We returned home to watch the Titans play Kansas City in a game that decided that Kansas City will be going to the Super Bowl (not my choice), and then we prepared a welcome dinner for Mike and Linda’s son Garrett. Garrett flew in from San Jose late this evening to spend a week with his mom and dad and his wife Katie will arrive on Friday morning to spend the weekend with them. The dinner tonight was another fantastic meal—salmon stuffed with spinach and Fontina cheese, roasted sweet potatoes, stir-fried oyster mushrooms, and homemade applesauce. I have not seen Garrett for years, so it wonderful to reconnect with him. He has to work during the days while he is here, so tomorrow after water aerobics, Linda and I will head to the beach for a couple of hours while Mike plays pickleball. Then we’ll return home and get ready for another fantastic dinner, this time with Linda’s brother and his wife who live nearby. It’s tough life down here, but someone has to do it.
