A Brief Visit To My Florida Towns Before Sailing Across The Equator On The Mayflower
November 24, 2013 by admin
It seems as if I’m staying just one jump ahead of the cold weather which is now barrelling across Arizona where I just attended the International Living conference and spent two days with my brother and his family. It was actually hot last week in Phoenix and it has been in the eighties here in Dunedin and Clearwater, Florida. But that changes tonight as temperatures drop into the sixties.
In case you heard about the Florida sinkhole that swallowed two houses last week in Dunedin, Florida……. that happened just three blocks away from the house where I am staying now. My good friend, Fawn Germer, met me at the airport and brought me home where CNN helicopters were hovering overhead and police had a nearby street cordoned off so the demolition crew could quickly get the damaged houses off the delicate surface. We stood beside the traumatized owners while their roofs and walls were knocked down and eighty-five dump truck loads of brown dirt replaced their lives. Today, those two home lots are simply fenced-in, smoothed over dirt fields, looking as if they’re ready for planting.
While I drag all my possessions around in two heavy packs and study lists of duties to see to before jumping off to a life in Uruguay; these families are lucky to have their lives, in spite of the ripping violence that swallowed swimming pools and half the houses into a 56-foot deep sinkhole.
Life goes on in this neighborhood and I must admit, that I haven’t even worried that Fawn’s house might go too. I moved to an already-scheduled Airbnb and took care of many business duties in town, such as banking and medical stuff like inoculations and getting things from the shed at the old house, now rented long-term. Fawn simply increased her insurance coverage and went on a scheduled kayaking/camping trip, bringing me back to housesit for her beautiful pets, who are also not the least bit worried.
Florida sinkholes are extremely random events.
But, I do believe that I shall fly out from under that messy Arizona weather right about the time that it slices into Florida next Wednesday. American Airlines will send me south to Miami and then, to Montevideo’s summertime, where I shall land on Thanksgiving Morning, like the Mayflower Pilgrim that I am.
My relatives, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, landed in America almost 400 years ago. Now, I shall do that in SOUTH America. Of course, they didn’t immediately celebrate with a big Thanksgiving feast. That came much later after surviving sickness and terribly harsh winter weather. But, I know they said prayers of gratitude upon landing, as I shall.
Tell you what! After I have survived the rigors of locating a great place to rent; have found the expat community and made a bunch of Uruguayan buddies (some of the friendliest people on the planet); and when I have learned a little Spanish; and gotten my permanent visa applied for….. then, I’m gonna cook a turkey with all the trimmings and have a Thanksgiving party of my own. That could happen at the end of May, 2014, which is the equivalent of November in the southern hemisphere. After all, it’s the arrival of the modern-day MAYflower that we’re celebrating!
All of these new adventures are going to be captured on my new camcorder in short postings that you will see here. It’s bound to be very wiggly photography, as I don’t know how to use this object, but things will improve with practice, as will my Espanol. Stay tuned!
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