Back from ten days on the north Florida beaches

Welcome sights at Couchwood upon our return at 7 pm on a Saturday:
--The collected Saline Couriers, the collected mail and the day’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette -- all as scheduled.
--The 43-year-old hydrangeas (facing north) behind the porch swing—even in the heat--are an exquisite show with enormous blue and pink clusters.
--The gardenias are in bloom; one now graces a kitchen window. Tall white tansy blossoms loom over the other plantings.
--The neighbor vet came over and asked if we wanted our boarded cats home now. “No!” I said, “Unless you need the room.” He said he had to make another trip to the clinic and thought surely we would be dying to see our “kitties.”
--Inside plants and porch plants in good condition, thanks to my sis Carolyn. Bedding annuals—pansies, celosia, zinnias were pretty much parched. But it’s time for the pansies to die of the heat anyway.
--The first lilac flowers of the beautyberry are showing.
Unwelcome animals on our return:
--Two black cats/one black kitten. They must eat somewhere else.
--Soon-to-be-gone fleas, this time, real biting, jumping critters which, once the cats were gone, had nowhere else to feed.
Other unwelcome sights and situations:
--A six-inch high lawn, which is already mowed by my daughter.
--The heat. While it was also hot in northern Florida, there was a (nearly) ubiquitous sea breeze. Not so in central Arkansas.
Now, for the vacation scenario.
Our condo was on the second floor of the high-rise Tristan Towers on Fort Pickens Road, the last tall building before the actual fort. The Bay was behind us, but we couldn’t see it. We could, however, get a far-away glimpse of the Gulf from our windows.
A daughter’s family stayed a few blocks away in Starboard Village on the Gulf side, which is where we had family pictures made. We were to wear white shirts and tan/khaki pants/shorts. Those colors blend in well with the sand and water.
A visiting son’s family stayed in “the pink house,” a cottage rebuilt after Ivan, which belongs to friends of the son/d-i-l who live in Gulf Breeze.
Gordon, the one whom we visited, my first-born, will turn fifty next month. (His mother will turn seventy-five the same month), two of the three reasons the entire family caravanned down there at this time. The other was a high school graduation for the Florida granddaughter, Breezy.
There were twenty of us altogether. Dining out as a group, which we did several times, meant finding adjacent tables.
Peg Leg Pete’s (first day and last day), Flounders and McGuire’s Irish Pub were our venues, the latter a long narrow room where we could all be together for our birthday(s) celebration.
I’ll continue describing our family frolic in Florida next week.

c 2011 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press
Check out A Journey of Choice at amazon.com and barnes&noble.com