This was a fabulous day in southwest Florida.  Bright sunshine, warm air, and a fresh breeze off the Gulf made the water sparkle.  Anne, Mom and Dad joined the Gallup’s early.  I arrived in mid-afternoon.  Everyone had a wonderful week.  Great tans, not too much burn. 

The sun shines and a warm breeze blows across south Florida distracting us from the turmoil of the world.  I am at the condo working on chores.  Anne has taken Mom and Dad to the beach to join the Gallups.  We are retired but still seem to be the generation in the middle.  Mom was anxious to leave this morning, apparently concerned that the family needed her as soon as possible.  Dad was concerned because the water was turned off in the condo for some kind of maintenance.

cute bird

The two of us made a three-day, two-night excursion across the Everglades beginning last Thursday.  We awoke early and shivered in the 50 degree weather to get started in the darkness.  It took us twelve hours to cross the peninsula and turn south to Homestead where we had motel reservations.  Most of our stops were in the Big Cypress Swamp and Shark River Slough areas where we spotted the usual wading birds and studied the tropical trees.  We made our last stop at the Chekika entrance to Everglades National Park, but a volunteer was closing the gate as we arrived.