Florida!

This is what greeted me when I landed at Tampa International Airport yesterday -- a gigantic and somewhat menacing flamingo, which had apparently penetrated the roof of the building. Clearly things have changed in Florida since I was last here. Genetic engineering? A radiation leak? Who knows?!

So, yes, I did get on my plane yesterday. I decided I was just being overly anxious more than anything, and now that I'm here I feel perfectly fine. I think I was stewing (somewhat subconsciously) over the possibility of bringing Covid to my vulnerable 84-year-old mother when I visit her this week, and that made my hypersensitive to any sign of illness, real or imagined. As I said yesterday, my own personal neurosis.

This sometimes happens to me when I travel -- I have a medical freak-out at the last minute that causes me to consider canceling the trip. Whatever anxiety I have about the lack of control that comes with traveling seems to come out in hypochondria. It doesn't happen every time, thank goodness, and it's interesting because I also love to travel. There's a fine line between fear and exhilaration, right?

Now I'm at Dunkin' Donuts down the street from my stepmother's guest house, where I'm staying. You may remember that house has no Internet, so I come to Dunkin' to do my blogging. On my visit last summer I got so frustrated with this place because it was never open when it said it would be. Things have changed! Apparently it's now under new management and believe it or not, my nephew even has a job here. He's working back in the kitchen as I type. I still had to pay for my coffee and my Boston Creme donut, though.

My flight was fine. I finished "Prick Up Your Ears," John Lahr's biography of playwright Joe Orton, which was good but a little too forensic in its dissection of Orton's plays and in relating every detail of the plots. Also, the lettering in my copy is TINY -- it looks like fleas hopping across the page. Even my boss commented on it when she saw me reading it at work -- "Look at the size of that type!" So that made the reading a challenge. But I survived.

I also watched Ridley Scott's movie "The House of Gucci," with Lady Gaga, and I really enjoyed it. I'm sure I've read all that stuff about Gucci before -- I used to regularly read Vanity Fair and W magazines, after all -- but I'd forgotten the murder and intrigue.

I'll be here in Tampa for another night, then up to Jacksonville for three nights to see my mom and brother, then back to Tampa for a few more before flying home next Sunday. I may not be reading blogs as much as usual, but I'll keep posting. Stay tuned!