I labelled this ‘the disaster trip’. But it ain’t.
Anytime you get to leave Ontario in the middle of winter and head somewhere where the average daily temperature is above freezing with no snow on the ground or wind chill to worry about, it’s automatically a good trip.
Proximity to the ocean also dictates I had no right to complain. I still managed to bitch on a few occasions but caught myself pretty quickly.
I wore shoes and socks twice this whole trip.
I was up to my tits in the ocean more often than I wore closed-toed shoes.
Woke up the first morning after a two day drive to being locked off the balcony, where (on trips past) I would sit for hours out of the two weeks we were here and take pictures of the osprey family that hunts our stretch of beach.
But I already have some really good osprey pics. From back in the farm days and here on previous trips. Why do I need more of the same?
The answer is I don’t.
I haven’t even photoshopped or processed the ones from last year.
Problem solved.
Over it.
Second thing?
The almighty saws-all and tile smashing/renovation of the kitchen in the unit next door. Plus the balcony construction noise.
I had a pretty miserable first morning.
Kept screaming SERENITY NOW in my head, and no serenity came. It was too loud.
Some noise cancelling headphones helped and Panda arrived the next day. Plus you couldn’t hear the banging from the pool or the beach so…in effect, I was forced outside. Good place to be when its 70-80 degrees.
Over it.
My travelling companions couldn’t be more opposite. One is big on lounging and napping the other can’t sit still. I am both of those things. They made a point of leaving me be in the early morning hours to write, bless them both.
I vowed I would finish the book. But I didn’t even open the folder.
I forgive myself.
I think, in retrospect, locking myself inside a condo during a rather warm spell in Florida wouldn’t have been the wisest use of my time. As previously stated there was no balcony upon which to write. We had a few cold days and I wrote then, the things you see here. I had some stuff to sort through. This is nothing new and this is how I do it.
New Year’s Eve (which hold a vast amount of superstition for me) was not spent with my toes in the ocean saying goodbye to the things I don’t want. Instead we were in a bar on Flagler beach, an old colonial looking thing, dance music playing, packed in like sardines, making new friends and getting free drinks. So out of my comfort zone, but Panda was with me and I smiled more than I frowned.
That usually would have been classified as one of my levels of hell, but she made it alright and I had a moment where I forced myself to roll with it. Glad I did.
In the days that followed Panda and I did the 3.8 mile walk into town, which could easily be a new tradition if we do this trip again.
That is kinda a theme for this trip. New traditions.
Spent a lot of time at the pool and turned a lovely brownish hue. My freckles came out and my eyes turned turquoise.
I didn’t stay as long at Cassadaga as I would’ve liked, Panda wasn’t feeling so well and also thought we had time traveled into the land of Deliverance. Plus that was a cold day.
But I still got my reading and some witchy things to bring home. Saw Our Sara of lords in the flesh, she said ‘it was worth it for a hug’. She isn’t wrong.
And I got a bootycall from Wolfling after almost a year of silence so, so far her reading wasn’t wrong.
Even our theme park excursions were markedly different. Companion one is a planner/hit every ride and a few twice. Companion two had no problem wandering around willy-nilly getting on whatever we felt like when we felt like it. Again, I am both of those things.
We spent too many days at Universal Studios, which sounds like heresy and sacrilege coming from my mouth. But it’s true, I will get into it tomorrow in a different post, thinking about calling it Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, or the Changeling… although that calls to mind Angelina Jolie dressed in drab clothing yelling a lot.
There was definitely a lot of self-discovery on this trip.
How I deal when things don’t go my way.
Better but not great. Needs improvement.
Time management and how I have absolutely none of that.
Now?
It’s our last theme park day. Panda flies out at 7am tomorrow morning.
For the first time in any of these trips I am really looking forward to going home. There was talk of staying longer and it fell through. Seeing the weather forecast of sunny and 80+ degrees is making me twinge a bit. But I want to go home. Something in me has changed again, as it always seems to do when I come down here. I level up and I want to go home and get back to my new and improved life.
