Florida, Oddly Enough

I need a little break in the great outdoors. I have done nothing but sit for weeks and weeks. Walking Sandy doesn't quite amount to exercise because of the stopping and sniffing. Finally fed up with increasing aches and pains I bought a bicycle at the local Goodwill, a 3 speed. The only time it's reasonable to go out and expend energy is early morning or at dusk. It's lovely then, cooler and fragrant. The terrain is totally flat and it's mostly golf carts on the little lanes. On breezy days the beach is nice and the water on this particular day was cooler than tepid. Which is not cold enough for me. The family playing in the water played happily, speaking Spanish to the mother, on the beach. The video above was really supposed to be a photograph, but in the bright sun I sometimes cannot read the settings.

I was supposed to visit St. Louis and Columbus this summer but my stepdad's health has been poor, so I've had to postpone my plans. I'm not looking forward to the start of school, August 12, and wonder if we really will be teaching in the classroom, or if they'll change their minds at the last minute. Many teachers are retiring, but that's not an option got me. I find myself watching all this, unable to commit to any emotions. The world is too strange.

So while we are all in our own private limbos, and surviving according to our own comfort levels, I share the following escapes that have served me well in these sedentary days: audiobook of Circe, by Madeline Miller (very good story, and you can't help wondering about the etymology...is Glaucus going to have anything to do with glaucoma? Don't tell me. I just started it.)

Violet gelato. Calypso, by David Sedaris... wherein I learned he named his NC seaside home, Sea Section. Naps with chihuahuas. Every day. The occasional delicious cocktail at a seaside bar (I know, I am careful). Up next: Louise Erdrich's, Four Souls.  I was so happy to find this at the library. I'll get to revisit the Kashpaws and learn more about Fleur Pillager. Stretching out the last season of Schitt's Creek. Playing with eye makeup.

Wishing you well and happy/ ~ Oldgirl