Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

We are home.  After three years of hard work, we have finally gotten Gladys to the point that when we walk through the front door, she feels just as much like "home" as does our long-time home in Green Bay.  And being able to fit into the contours of our own bed last night was pure bliss.  We both slept very well, although the Eastern Time clock still only said 6:15 when we awoke this morning.

Thursday was a long, long day for both of us.  The third day on any trip is a killer, and since Rick had already driven 1000 miles, he told me that he just dreaded getting back behind the wheel of the truck.  Neither of us had a particularly restful night, so that added to the problem.  Once again, we arose early and headed down the road before stopping for breakfast.

Coming out of Montgomery, we faced several miles of stoplights and limited access road before we crossed the border into Florida to get back on the interstate.  The drive to Florida seemed to take forever.  There are no major cities along the route and traffic was manageable, but anticipation of getting home and just plain fatigue made the trip seem endless.  We took breaks to stretch when we needed to, but we did not loiter either to eat a long lunch or to purchase local delicacies such as freshly boiled peanuts. (Ugh!)

On Thursday we started a count of how many Snowbird campers we passed.  Thursday's total actually surprised us because we thought that most Birds would be down here by now.  Not so.  We passed eight 5th wheel trailers, seven motorhomes, and no travel trailers.  I guess trailers are starting to be out of vogue as people find 5th wheel trailers easier to tow.  Today, we counted four 5th wheels, four motorhomes, and one die-hard travel-trailer.  We both agreed that we are glad we no longer have the care and storage issues of a trailer, and with my achey muscles, I am glad that I do not have to climb up into a trailer at the end of the day.  Eh! Gad!  I really am starting to sound old!!

Once we crossed the Florida border, we were able to see our first palm trees.  That is always my brain's signal that we are again in Florida.  For the first time, however, we experienced a new sight.  As we got into southern Alabama yesterday morning, we saw cotton fields in bloom.  We have never travelled through the Southern United States at this time of year, so this was a new sight for both of us.  The plants themselves had reddish-brown bark. Do they start to die off as the cotton ripens, or is that their natural color? I will have to look that up.  The cotton bolls themselves were plump and white.  We smiled because along the shoulder, we could see clumps of cotton bolls lining the road.  We do not know if they blew from the fields or if they blew off a truck of picked cotton.  The fields were quite a sight, so we have fun learning something new about a product that we end up wearing each day.

This morning we awoke well-rested, but I soon learned that my desire to do something and my energy to accomplish those tasks are still miles apart.  After showers this morning, we started some laundry, and then I decided to scrub down the two bathrooms.  Ha!  I cleaned the toilet, sink, and mirror in the master bath, and I was exhausted. Remember what I said earlier about "plans"?  Rick reminded me that we had only left Mayo Clinic a week ago, and that I have to take things easy.  The physical therapist told me that I should do my stretches, "live life" -- that is, do what I can with the energy that I have -- and then rest.  I wanted to do more, but God was laughing.

A trip over to Steve and Chris' house was a great respite.  The fruits of their labors in their yard really paid off.  It looks great, and we hope to be in their position some day.  We enjoyed seeing them and hearing about their plans for this year. They took time from their busy schedules to help us get the car ready to drive when we arrived, so we are eternally grateful for their help.

We took a walk around the house when we got back home.  Our yard service has done a great job with the trimming and grass, so much so that the temporary patio blocks that make up our front sidewalk now have trimmed greenery (read: weeds) that will prevent the path from turning into a mud patch in the rain.  A paver sidewalk, therefore, is on hold until next year.

The leaning live oak presents a fencing issue.

Our biggest (literally!) issue is the live oak tree in the back yard.  It is on the back edge of our property, and the canopy is split into two major branches since power lines go through it.  The tree is leaning over the neighbor's house behind us, and the whole thing will make putting in a fence a royal nightmare.  The tree is humongous, so we expect that we will have to pay a king's ransom to take it down... if we are even able to do so.  Dunedin protects live oaks, so we may need special permission to even remove it.  We would love to do so because then we could put in a fence and plant new shade trees in the back yard in more appropriate locations.  That may mean spending more time than we originally wanted to down here to make sure the trees last through the summer, but those plans are all in the future right now.  We are having our tree service come in on Monday to learn if we are able to remove the tree and, if so, what the cost estimate will be.  I may have to lie down after I hear of that expense!

The rickety old wooden fence on the north side of our property is falling down, so that will be one of the tasks that we would like to tackle while we are here.  Saws-All to the rescue!  Once the fence pieces are at the curb, we can figure out how to add a new fence to the yard to get us our privacy back.  We have wanted a new fence for two years now; the time is now right to install one.

Our north side fence has partially fallen
once, and it needs to come down.

The walk-around also revealed our need to paint the exterior of the house. Rick has high hopes of getting the house washed, primed, and covered with two coats of paint yet this year.  I feel weary just hearing about it all.  I will do what I can to help, even if that is only being a cheerleader-in-a-chair holding his water bottle as he works.  He needs to listen to himself as he talks to me by remembering that if he does just a little each day without working himself to exhaustion, the task will be completed in the end.

Painting, new furniture, a new water softener, and a fence will be our goals for this year.  That list is ambitious considering I do not know how much I will be able to help.  The other plans for remodeled bathrooms, lanai patios, re-landscaped yards, and a remodeled garage all will have to wait until later.

After all, we have lots of plans, but we don't want God to laugh at us too loudly.