I was up early on Wednesday morning.
Downstairs at the dining room table, my usual routine took place.
I skim the Bible verse of the day from Bible Gateway. My prayer script/prayer lists traveled with me as did the Upper Room.
I honestly don’t know if my prayers make a difference. Some days, I ask myself—why do you keep this regimen?
My answer is my old heart. Its softness will not let me cease this daily ritual.
Besides someone must keep poking at God before this rotten old world wears us out. I hope, and yes, I pray we wake up.
Slowly, the house wakes. Butch and Dan are early risers, but not as early as me.
That quietness in the early morning is like my comfort zone. I cherish those minutes.
This morning, the landscape is gray at Tranquility Bay on Marathon Key, Florida.
Much cooler air is in place. Gray clouds block the sun. Blustery winds ripple through the palm trees.
Dressed in shorts and layers above my waist, I make sure I have everything I need to make the short stroll to the sandy path that leads to a boardwalk.
At the edge of the boardwalk is a small cove. The cove is fed by a restless channel with water from the Gulf of Mexico.
This conduit is not wide and probably not very deep. Yet, I’m hoping the rip it creates might send fish into the cove
In prepping to leave Richmond, I thought I had packed three small fishing rods in my new carrying case. In the hectic atmosphere of packing, I brought three reels, but with my moony mind I only packed two rods.
This morning, the lure I was casting worked well. Sometimes, the wind caught the lure and carried it further into the cove. Fortunately, my casts were accurate, and the lure skimmed across the water.
On a point across the channel, I noticed what appeared to be a night heron. This bird had been keeping a watchful eye on me.
The heron’s posture reminded me of commuters standing on the subzero shoulders of a Chicago street corner. The bird’s hunched stance aligned it with the uncomfortable commuters on this unseasonably cool Florida morning.
Overhead, pelicans glided with the stiff wind, and a couple of seagulls teased my lure by diving down for a closer look.
While I enjoyed my hopeful casting, no fish was foolish enough to chase the lure on this chilly morning.
As I walked back to the condo, I hoped Butch would fix a pot of his rib sticking oatmeal. He did, and the winter intrusion I felt while fishing was melted by the hearty oatmeal.
While eating breakfast, we noted some activity out on the lawn. Turns out a photo shoot was taking place on the grounds today. Models were wearing summer clothing to promote a fashion line. It was interesting to note all of the preparation taking place behind the camera to capture just the right photo.
After breakfast, Butch and Marian took the short walk to a store on our side of U.S. 1 named Mr. Beans Books and Beans. It is a bookstore and coffee shop. They browsed around and asked the owner about local restaurant recommendations. He told them about Burdines.
As lunch time approached, we piled in the car and made the short drive to Burdines. In this industrial looking section of Marathon, we found a place to park.
At the top of the stairs, we entered Burdines to find a nice, but open to the elements restaurant. The breeze whipping into the seating area was too cool for our aging bodies who were looking for warm Florida weather, so we departed.
Back in the car, in the same neighborhood, we found another tucked away restaurant, Castaway Water Front Restaurant and Sushi Bar. The good news was the main sitting area was inside, protected from the unfriendly chilly wind and gray clouds.
We hustled in where we were greeted by a friendly staff. With our lunches ordered, we admired the cluttered, but interesting interior. Additionally, we learned that on warm days manatees show up in the waters just off the dock of Castaway.
After lunch, we did a bit more exploring, and then we drove back to Tranquil Harbor.
The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Yet some comparative chatter did surface about the three restaurants where we had eaten. Our comments noted what worked and didn’t work in each unique setting.
Gradually, the afternoon slipped away. Before we knew it, we needed to figure out dinner. Once again the winter like feel in Marathon pushed us to order pizza. An order was placed at Driftwood Pizza.
Though it took Butch and me a second call to our braintrust to verify the location, we were not disappointed in the pizzas.
Toward the end of dinner, we were given in depth insights about the need for airplanes to be de-iced in harsh winter weather. Our resident private pilot, Dan, knew the technology and science behind how important it is to keep airplane wings ice free. The ingenuity of how engineers design these safety systems varies in each airplane, but getting this snapshot was fascinating.
Since we are all older, health is another topic that surfaces into our conversations. Again, we learn from each other’s experiences in coping with the ups and downs of aging.
Before drifting off into sleep, we reviewed the weather forecast. Not until Saturday would the sun fully return, so we worked on a plan for the next two days.
Unwilling to let the weather hinder us, we made alternative suggestions to counter the weathers gods for Thursday and Friday.
In our over fifty years of friendship, I’ve developed an appreciation for how we ponder and respond to the inconveniences of life. I’m reminded of Dan’s important aviation wisdom for emergency situations—aviate, navigate, and communicate.
Figuring out a plan for Thursday and Friday, required us to aviate—keep flying the plane, or in this case keep the focus on our trip—keep it moving.
For the pilot, navigate means know your location. The same applies to us in planning. We need to know the options that will be available for us in the Florida Keys.
And with communicate, the pilot talks with the people who are monitoring his flying. Knowing our local options for tourists helps us to communicate what will best meet our needs and get us moving in this non-typical Florida weather.
Of course, in this planning for two days of sightseeing, it helps to be flexible.
I like this quote from former Xerox CEO, Anne M. Mulcahy: “Even under the most difficult circumstances you can have creative flexibility.”
Granted our inclement Florida Keys weather wasn’t a trip ender, but this nuisance did require us to assert our “creative flexibility” and we did.
might be baloney 