HERONS AND LIZARDS AND FROGS.....OH MY!

I'm in Sarasota, Florida.   Clearly I did not let any grass grow under my feet once I returned to Afton from Chautauqua.  And truth be told, I did not want to turn around in one week and leave on another trip.

But I'm no longer planning weekly trips to DC to sing in choir.   I can turn around and leave on a dime.  And my siblings called.   Bonnie, my older sister, and Chip, my younger brother and I have not all been together since our mother's memorial service and none of us can remember when that was.   If you're getting the idea that we aren't a particularly close family, that would be partially true.  But it has been years since we've all been in the same room at the same time.

Couple that with the fact that Chip's wife, Sue, is currently undergoing chemo/radiation for a serious cancer, and it became clear that rallying the troops was called for.

So Bonnie and I rented a condo within about 10 minutes of Chip and Sue's house.  I'm staying a week, and Bonnie will be here for two.  And then there was the fact that on the second day here I developed a slight sore throat which is turning into a cold somewhat like I had at the beginning of the Chautauqua season, and I'm not the best person to be too closely around Sue right now.    There must be something about long drives in the car that cause me to catch stuff!

Besides the family time which we are enjoying, and the supporting of our lovely sister-in-law as she goes through this treatment, I am in the market for a place to stay during the month of January.  One of the by-products of being mortgage-free and choir-free is that I'm freed up financially and time-wise to go places.   Florida in January sounds better than Afton in January.   I had perused the VRBO (Vacation rentals by owner) website and narrowed my search to the downtown area of Sarasota.  Last January's trip down here with Sandy, where I took off on my own for several days and explored the Tampa/Sarasota area,  Venice, Fort Myers, and Naples to see what I liked best, resulted in my current love affair with the downtown Sarasota area.   I love being able to walk everywhere. . . . particularly to Whole Foods.  Found the Laurel Park area with excruciatingly charming, funky wildly colored bungalows on palm lined streets.   My first choice of abodes was not available for this January, but the same owners had another place around the corner which will be perfect!  And it will have an extra alcove/bed in case any of my friends want to make the trek for part of the month.  Today I go sign the papers.

In another mystifying stroke of serendipity, the owners of these cottages used to live in Northern Virginia, are big Redskins fans, and the husband listens to Chad on the radio every day.  Imagine his surprise when he discovered that I'm Mama Dukes!!!  However, I don't think a discount is in the works.

Florida is teeming with exotic birds, lizards EVERYWHERE in abundance, and little tiny frogs that we find swimming in the pool with us at our condo.  I don't remember every having that happen in a pool up north.

So buoyed by the Redskins win against the Saints last Sunday, some already meaningful one-on-one time with each of my sibs, the promise of warmth in January, and the Biker Babes' annual trip in a couple of weeks when Sandy and I will again serve as official "sherpants" for the group, I would say that I'm solidly back to moving forward.  Trying not to miss Chautauqua or Choral Arts.  Eager to see what opens up.  With or without a cold, this is living!