Greetings from the South

We made it down to the Keys. I finally figured out how to write a blog from a computer other than my own so I thought you might enjoy hearing from me.

For those of you who don't know, Bruce and I owned a second home in the Keys for about 20 years. The first house was on Summerland Key and the second was on Cudjoe Key. Both Keys are located about 20 miles from Key West. We spent our time down here diving, fishing, and maintaining a house. The saltwater environment demands lot of maintenance. Eventaully we sold because we decided it was more fun to travel than to maintain a house.

Like any change in your life, there were pluses and minuses to selling the house. For Bruce and I the biggest minus was our porch. We had a 40 by 12 screened porch that looked over the canal. On each end of the porch, a bedroom had a sliding glass door opening to the porch. In the middle was a four-wide pocket slider that practically doubled the size of our living room. We ate most meals on the porch, we relaxed with the newspaper, and we watched the sunrise. Today we are going over the visit our neighbors and will look at the porch.

Bruce and Ron went out yesterday in the boat. Bruce did one dive but the visibility was terrible. He had about 5 feet. He tried to spear a fish but missed. The lobster were nowhere to be found. So we went down to Key West for dinner.

One of our great priorities while down here is figuring our which restaurant to eat dinner in. Last night it was a Half Shell Raw Bar. Between us all we had conch chowder, Oysters Rockefeller and grouper sandwiches. It was wonderful. After dinner we went over to a local ice cream shop. The ice cream was good but watching people walk by was better. Key West is a great place for people watching especially sitting outside on a warm night.

Today the wind has shifted to the north. It is not a good wind for diving. Bruce and Ron are going to fix something on the boat. There is always something to fix on the boat. Maybe tomorrow the wind will die down and we will all go out. The guys dive and Pat and I are the boat tenders. After 20 years we have lots of stories to tell about these activities.

So I hope you are all enjoying winter at Gunflint. Lee tells me they got another two inches. As I sit here in shorts and tee shirt with bare feet, I feel rather detached from the snow.