April Still in Fl

Ty doesn’t add very often to the blog, but I love it when he has something to share.  Below is his contribution on how we spent our time during the “shelter-in-place”.

Greetings from Ty

Other than the fact that we are living in 300 square feet in the middle of an RV park in Florida I realize we are all basically living the same isolated lifestyle.  I still wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you.

I will call this:

 

Life in Slow Motion

Get up early each morning and get the coffee going then start reading the morning political news until depression sets in.  This may not be slow motion more like ground hog day where nothing ever changes except like in slow motion change comes very slowly. Often time tweet by tweet.

Time for exercise, go for a one-hour hike come back and think what a great 2-hour hike that was!  That’s what it feels like when hiking in slow motion around and around in a campground.  To make it interesting I sometimes really shake things up and walk counter clockwise around the park instead of clockwise.  Remember all the parks and beaches are closed.

So now it’s time for lunch…something to do. After lunch time goes by in slow motion again and what am I thinking?  Wonder what there is to eat. I can’t help but think about how slow everything is going now, will be nothing compared to how long it will take to lose all the weight I am gaining, that will really be slow motion.

It seems like months ago since we had great fun visiting with old friends from Michigan in Fort Myers Beach FL….no wait that was only last month, life in slow motion.

Since we have been here there is a flock of 6 or 8 crows hanging around our site.  For entertainment I sit and watch them and no it does not make time move any faster.  I’ll bet you didn’t know that crows make at least 7 distinctly different calls, they also appear to have what I am assuming is a nifty little mating dance. When time moves in slow motion you take your entertainment wherever you can find it.

We did have one incident that definitely speed things up.  We were visited by a Coral snake, it made Jane move very quickly.  Turns out that in addition to being very attractive they are very poisonous but not aggressive so very few bites recorded per year.  Of course, we didn’t know that.

Then of course there are all the isolation internet jokes…new normal day PJs come off at 3 to be replace by night PJs at 3:30.Political ones but I think a little humorous.  Like this one “having some states in lock down and others not locked down is like having a pee section in a swimming pool”.

On the bright side there is always happy hour.  Days in slow motion are so long that happy hour now starts at 2:00, on Sundays at noon.  Have even done a couple of Zoom happy hours that go by too fast.

On a serious note when Jane puts out her blog there are photos of my sister and my sister-in-law with their protective nursing gear on, very sobering.

In closing I hope everyone is staying healthy, stay positive and we will get through this.

TY

Boat Tail Gackle

April 1, we left the Atlantic oceanside and headed inland about 10 miles to find shade, and no salt spray.  While staying ocean side was fun for the month, it takes a terrible toll on the rig, bikes, car, your hair, and body.  The salt spray is relentless, there is always a breeze which is good because we had record highs in the 90’s for March, but it gets on and into everything.  It is good to try something once for a change.

We “sheltered-in-place” at Sunshine Holiday RV Resort.  Big place with nice sized lots and shade.  Beloved shade.  This park has room for well over 250 rigs, but when we got here, there were only about 150 and rigs left everyday (not allowing any newcomers for April).  By the time we left there were maybe 75 rigs left.  Felt very safe here, only ventured out to grocery shop every 10 days, did laundry right here in camp once a week,  lot of bike riding and walking.  We did take a ride to the “The Villages”, which is a well-known 55+ community that has its own shopping area, restaurants, dr’s (even saw a sign for PROCTOLOGY) and it even gets mentioned on the weather channel!  Most people get around on their golf carts which are all souped up and decked out…sort of like the “pimp my ride” sort of thing.  The actual villages are 25 square miles divided into several gated communities;  which we could not get into.  A known fact that The Villages have the highest incidents of STD’s of any 55+ community!

Deserted Camp

The highlight of the entire stay is one late afternoon while Ty and I were eating pizza at our site, a Coral Snake came slithering across in the grass. We chased it a bit, trying to steer it away from our rig then it finally found a hole in the ground and down it went!

 

Coral Snake Pine Needle Basket Crochet Shawl Repairs on Ladder

Our April was pretty much like yours was – did a lot of reading, I made 2 shawls, 3 hats, 3 headbands (will put them in the mail for you Chris for the Volunteer Club), started to write some short stories (anyone want to be a proof reader?) and because we sit under six pine trees in our beloved shade gathered some pine needles, got on YouTube and made a pine needle basket and another in the works.

Ty does the maintenance on the outside of the RV – notice how safety conscience he is when up on the ladder!

Renee

And a big God Bless You to my sister-in-law’s, Renee Stiers and Sandy Fouchey for being on the frontlines taking care of Covid patients.  Giving of yourselves, not being able to be with your families, and comforting the ill doing all you can through this time of great need is overwhelming.  Thank You both and all of your colleagues!

Sandy Barb Grant Smith

Lastly, Barb and Grant Smith, neighbors from the Beverly Beach camp has sent a pic for me to include.

We know that just about all of us knew someone or is 6 degrees from someone who has passed away from Covid-19.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to you for your loss of a family member, friend, or acquaintance.

I know that just about all of us knew someone or is 6 degrees from someone who has passed away from Covid-19.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to you for your loss of a family member, friend, or acquaintance.

 

This is what happens when you forget to bring in the drying when it rains and blows really hard.

Picking up sticks in May and moving northward.  If interested where we are going read about it in Where To Next in 2020