Tuesday July 29 - Still in Florida

First the photo. It’s been a long time since I wandered in a large city with camera in hand. It seems like everywhere I looked there was a photo op. These legs / shoes were over a bar (at least I think it was a bar and not something else). Besides the graphic design, the colors were eye catching – not to mention the pigeon poop!

As the Chinese saying goes, “May you live in interesting times.” We are definitely living in some of those times. Besides the on-going saga of house repairs (will it ever end?) and preparing for our 2-month RV trip (starting on August 10th), we have learned that we will have two sets of company before we leave. Not sure where everyone is going to sleep if the house repairs don’t get done. Fortunately our neighbor, Deborah, has graciously offered room in her home if we need it.

The first visitors, Alan and Carolyn, are both childhood friends. They married about 3 months before Margaret and I. They currently live in Tennessee and are arriving tonight. The first few nights they will be in Jacksonville and staying near the Mayo clinic where they will have some medical testing performed. I’m not sure, but I think they will be with us either Friday or Saturday. We haven’t seen them for several years so it will be good to catch up on news and common acquaintances.

The second couple, Kathy and Gary, are also childhood friends. They married one year after Margaret and I and currently live in the Washington, DC area. He is still working for Lockheed (I think) and expects to retire this year. Their pastime is sailing out of Chesapeake Bay. We have a standing offer to sail with them if we can ever get our schedules together. They are expected here the night of August 8th.

We made our first “packing” / organizational trip to the RV yesterday. Although the 10th is still several days away, there is so much happening we decided it was best to start organizing now rather than try to do everything at the last minute.

Finally, what else are we doing with our “spare” time? Because of house repairs, we are relegated to three rooms. Everywhere else is covered with brown paper, tape, or fresh plaster / paint! At my urging, Margaret is reading the Kim Stanley Robinson trilogy; a fictional account of living during global warming and how folks might deal with it. The three books are: 1) Forty Signs of Rain, 2) Fifty Degrees Below, and 3) Sixty Days and Counting. To use the cliché, she can’t put it down is nearly correct. Once Margaret gets into a book she likes, everything else is secondary! (When do we eat?)

For myself, I am learning to print Black and White (again). My photo class in Vermont in September is Black and White printing. I’m trying to get as much first-hand experience before going to the class so I can better understand what the instructors are talking about. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I attend a class without knowing at least a little about the subject, I have a hard time assimilating what I hear. This usually means I remember very little when I finally get home and try the things myself. I have had this happen more than once when I attend a Photoshop seminar and then try to duplicate what I heard the next week!