Farther south on I-75

Goodbyes and hellos today.  Goodbye to our sweet Wesley Chapel family as the work and school week began.  Hello to my mother's brother and his wife in Punta Gorda.  For Tal and me another goodbye there was followed by wonderful reconnection with our hello to a dear friend in Lakewood Ranch, wintering there from Philadelphia.

Florida's spring is significantly ahead of South Carolina's.  The maples seem to be in full bloom, showing a deep red.  It's the more local flora, however, that has claimed my attention, in particular, the palms and palmettos.

Next to Lyn's driveway her neighbor has an amazing tree, which Lyn calls a fan palm.  In additional to their dramatic shape the fronds are a nice blue green.  It's just one example of intriguing growing things I cannot identify in this part of the world.

Our afternoon included walking with Lyn, becoming acclimated to the neighborhood and its place in the larger development.  We also enjoyed the cool breezes on the lanai, each of us with a book.  

When evening began to fall so did the temperature.  I hated to have to move inside.  But, Lyn's tilapia supper dish made it all worthwhile!  Oh my, how delicious.

Plan B

"Welcome to Moe's!"  That was Plan B.

Plan A had been taking in the Kumquat Festival in Dade City.  (Yes, there IS such an event; check out the link for details.)  After a breakfast of sausage and pancakes we were off in two cars -- knowing, in general terms, where we were going.

Well, turns out the Kumquat Festival is a one-day, Saturday-only event, a detail not quite made clear in the newspaper article that got us interested in the first place.  We toured the center of Dade City, noting carefully stacked street barricades, row upon row of porta-johns and almost empty streets.  We weren't alone in our confusion; others like us cruising through town stopped pedestrians who shook their heads and gave us the bad news.  No kumquat smoothies for us this year. 

Instead, we had an energetic lunch at Moe's.

It was a good afternoon for photography both outside and in. 

Tal and I walked back to Alex's school where the palmetto trees have been carefully dressed.  This image is pretty in color, but I like the way the black and white treatment allows the spiral of the outgrown fronds to show.

During the late afternoon the sun cast shadows, thanks to the vertical blinds, almost the length of the living room.

And, before the start of the Pro Bowl, Mom and Lizzie tended to Lizzie's music homework.  Given a 4/4 time signature, they worked out note and rest values and even wrote properly conposed measures.  In fact, they were supposed to tap their feet and sing some of what they wrote, but both drew the line at that bit of instruction.  I don't want to sound melodramatic, but I think Dad would have taken sublime pleasure at this particular sight.

Saturday and soccer

This time of year in Lucia and Andy's household Saturday equals soccer!  Not only do Lizzie and Alex play, but Andy is serving as assistant coach for Alex's team.  Our number one intention on rising this morning was getting to the Wesley Chapel District Park on time and with everything everyone might need -- from soccer gear to chairs for us spectators.  Success!

I hope these photos illustrate the intensity of the games we watched as well as what I takes to make it all happen in my sister's household.



Hard to see, I realize ... Andy is the big guy in an orange jersey standing at the left end of the goal.
Alex, in a really long white shirt, is goalie.



Alex

Lizzie in the forefront



Mom looks a little weary during Lizzie's game.

The afternoon included long walks, reading, naps.  Our supper of pizza wasn't the end, though.  A couple rousing hands of Go Fish (which I lost miserably) and a buzzing, jangled-nerve session of Operation pretty well finished off the day.

Day off dreams

We all laughed.  It's Friday.  Both children were in school.  Since we were visiting, Lucia had taken the day off, her first in six months or so.  The weekend was to be child oriented, so Lucia thought it would be fun for the five of us to go somewhere for lunch, to enjoy quiet, adult conversation. 

Shortly after were were seated at the very attractive Grille Smith in the mall near Lucia and Andy's home, we noticed a child, a quiet child, seated with a group at a table near the windows.  We smiled -- gratefully.  As the dining room began to fill, however, a table just across the aisle from us became occupied by two women and a child who, let's say, made his presence known.  So much for that ... As I already said, we all laughed and had our adult conversation anyway, not to mention a delicious meal.

Lucia, Alex and Mom at Alex's school

A quiet lunch wasn't the only thing Lucia wanted out of her day off.  She wanted to make the half-mile-each-way walk to meet Alex as his school day ended, a walk that includes greeting friends and being obedient to a very clear crossing guard.  It's something Lucia's normal work day doesn't allow her to do.  That wish came true, which she shared with Mom, Tal and me.  The best part, though, and her real reward had to have been Alex's unguarded joy at spotting her in the crowd waiting outside the gate.

The day ended with at least one other notable event.  Lucia was starting supper when Alex wanted to play Wii bowling.  Guess who volunteered?  Our mother bowling in the living room with her grandson was a point of deep delight for me.  I suspect Lucia quietly gathered that sight into her memory, a treasure she can savor sweetly for a very long time.

Yes, the six-year-old "won,", but I think my mother was the real winner.
What a good sport!
And, how's this for an action shot -- with the bowler blured?

It has been a day I enjoyed.  I hope it was a good day off for Lucia.

Welcome

And, I thought yesterday was long! 

Our travel today from Mom's to Lucia and Andy's  was some 500 miles (US17 to US17A to I-95 to I-295 to I-10 to US301 to I-75).  We were on the road in Mom's Buick long before daylight.  The upside to that beyond the mere satisfaction of being underway -- something of a Tarbox tradition -- is that with minimal but adequate stops we arrived before 3:30.  In fact, Lizzie was the only one home, and in the driveway, when we pulled through the gate.  After that three more arrivals -- Andy bringing Alex in from school and Lucia home from work -- filled out the house's population for the weekend.

It is good to be here.  But, I'm so tired and the house is quiet.  Since Lizzie's given up her room and bed, I'm going to receive her offering with gratitude.  Closing the book, capping the pen, turning out the light.

One of those days

We had coffee and breakfast, packed, closed the house, dropped Whitby and Belle at All God's Creatures and headed to Pawleys Island this morning.  Our destination, along with my mother, is to points in Florida -- Wesley Chapel, Lakewood Ranch and Punta Gorda, to visit family and friends. 

This morning's routine and our travel route Tal and I (and even the car) know by heart.  So many of the minutes of the day were taken up with immediate chores that there's little in particular to offer as this evening winds to a close.  The getting ready and the getting here required a lot.  The cameras stayed stowed, as did the journal and the book I'm reading.

But, what a sight we did see.  It was an overcast day and very windy.  We approached North SC and were surprised to see a lone C-17 (Globemaster III) airborne.  Touch and go in a cross wind being the lesson of the day, I suppose.  We lost sight of it for a time.  Beyond the airfield Tal slowed to make a left turn and there it was huge and hanging over Bull Swamp in a low, slow turn, landing gear down.

My closing thought as sleep beckons is of Whitby and Belle.  They approached being dropped off with grace.  In fact, I handed Belle's leash to Tara and Belle headed up the steps and into the building.  Cassie took Whitby and he set out on an exploratory walk.  Neither of our dogs looked back.  Well adjusted and secure, I suppose.  But, I sigh a little sadly anyway.  I wonder if they'll miss us.

Seminar

Today's activity was out of the ordinary for me.  Since having retired nearly three years ago, no longer does my schedule include seminars.

This one was worth my time. 

• Title:  On Reclaiming Our Creative Selves
• Speaker:  Robert C Dykstra, Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary
• Location:  St Mark's United Methodist Church, Greenwood SC
• Sponsor:  Self Regional Healthcare Clergy Staff
• #1 take away:  A quote on boredom from Jennifer Schussler, author of "Our Boredom, Ourselves"

But boredom itself may be a highly useful human capacity, at least according to some psychologists and neuroscientists, who have begun examining it not just as an accomplice to depression and addiction but as an important source of creativity, well-being and our very sense of self.

A child announces boredom to a parent.  The mother says, "Go rake the yard."  Meaning: be busy, cover it up, deny it.  Or, the father sets out to entertain or by means of purchasing something to distract the child from the distress of being bored.  Perhaps the most instructive thing for the child, within limits of course, would be to hear a "gee, I'm sorry" and to live with the boredom and into some self-discovery.

An adult is bored.  Rather than self-medicating with pills or alcohol or drugs, perhaps the best thing for that person would be to live in and with that bored state.  There may well be essential truth on the far side of that troublesome boredom that will instruct that life. 

I am comforted, as one who offers pastoral care still, by the idea that it is not my job in such a setting or relationship to take away a person's boredom and to know that the boredom can lead to discovery and to direction if we are patient and welcoming.