Thursday, February 23, 2012

Wild Florida


After nearly ten hours in the air, during which I watched "On Golden Pond" and "Notes from a Scandal" and read about 250 pages in my current paperback, I landed in Florida late yesterday afternoon.

It's good to be back in a place where I can wear shorts and a t-shirt and not feel cold, even though it's kind of gray and damp -- not unlike England in that respect.


So far, I've just been hanging out with my mom, walking around the yard and through our neighborhood. I do have errands to run and things to accomplish while I'm here, but I'm taking it slow. I need to recover from that plane ride. (Doesn't ten hours seem like an awfully long time to cross the Atlantic? I heard another passenger speculating that the airline had slowed its airspeed to save fuel -- he said the flight used to be about an hour shorter, which is more consistent with what I remember.)


The flight went smoothly, aside from the young Scottish guy who broke into his private stash of whiskey and then stood directly behind my seat, drunkenly chatting up a young blonde American woman, for what seemed like hours. Finally the airline stewards told him to go sit down, reprimanded him for drinking his own booze (which apparently isn't allowed) and began plying him with coffee.

I'm ready for some quiet time!

(Photos: A freshwater mussel shell on my mom's dock, down by the lake; mushrooms growing in the yard; ferns on a swamp maple near the driveway.)

8 comments:

37paddington said...

welcome home!

Gary said...

Welcome home! Enjoy the quiet time.

The Bug said...

On my first transatlantic flight (which was the 3rd flight of my whole life) I had a man and woman behind me who drank champagne the whole time & talked about their conquests. Which sounds more interesting than it was - and kept me from getting any sleep (it was an overnight flight). Nice to know things haven't changed :)

Ms.M said...

Welcome back. Where in FL are you? I grew up in Southern FL. Was there most of my life...so far. Only left 5 years ago.

Ms. M

Linda Sue said...

OW that is a long flight! It takes even longer from Seattle to england...flying is awful but when you weigh the other option...to walk, I guess a few hours is not that demanding.Love the nature shots!

Dave said...

Miss you lots.

e said...

Glad to hear you survived the flight. I hope you get some time to adjust to the time and temperature changes. I just checked and have no contact info for you other than e-mail. Mine is the same. See you soon.

Pauline said...

Love it when grown men make time to hang out with their moms. Makes me miss my own sons. Great mushroom shot - enjoy your stateside time!