From Frost to Frying

 After much debate over whether we were going to risk traveling in this COVID-19 infested world, we decided to make the trip to our winter home in Florida. Early in the summer, we figured that air travel was too dangerous, and that this might be the year we "skipped" going south.  However, as the summer progressed, the cases of Covid drastically increased in Wisconsin just as they started to decrease in Florida.  We finally reached the point where we thought that traveling south to Florida was safer than staying in Wisconsin.

I certainly am glad that we are here since I am not a fan of cold weather.  The last walk we took, on a sunny day in Wisconsin, was in weather that never reached above freezing.  Wisconsin has had three snowstorms this past month, and we generally never get snow until about two weeks after Halloween.  If that was any indication of what is to come, then I am doubly glad we are here.

Our flight down was smooth and uneventful.  The plane was more packed than we would have liked it to be, but everyone was required to wear masks, and Rick and I did not have to share our row of three seats with anyone.  

A break in the clouds mimics the landscape 
of the Fox River as it enters Green Bay.

High winds sweep the top of the towering cloud
to the south.

Owen had asked what the clouds looked like from above, so I took pictures of them as we travelled to Florida.  I really have not paid much attention to the clouds as I generally sit in the middle seat of the row, but this time I was in the window seat, so I got some great shots of the cloud formations.

Distant cloud banks form beautiful images.

This cloud looked like a nuclear bomb exploded.

We arrived at about 4:30 Eastern Time to 90 degree weather and were met by our chauffeur in our hired transportation who quickly got us home.  We had time to run to the grocery store for a few essentials, and then we came back to open up the house.  Thankfully, the car worked great when Rick started it, and everything else switched on with little trouble.  We both were exhausted when we went to bed.

We awoke at 7:14 this morning (6:14 Central Time).  I was surprised that we were up at that hour, especially since neither of us slept all that well.  The sad thing is that three days from now, we switch to Daylight Savings Time, so if we could just stay on our Central Time schedule for a couple more days, we would not have to make any adjustment as we move the clocks back an hour this Saturday.  Ah, well...

Today we spent the morning shopping to restock the house.  We really want to quarantine for 14 days after our air trip, but a person has to eat, so we had to go out.  In the last two days, we have spent $400 on food staples, supplies, and food for planned meals.  We should be set for quite a while now, needing only fresh produce and dairy products in the coming weeks.

This afternoon I tackled scrubbing down the front of the house and trimming the front bushes.  The bushes under the bedroom windows all died in the drought this summer, so out they came.  Once the weather cools a little -- we endured 90 degrees again today -- I will have to find some new bushes to plant.

Although the lanai was filthy, a broom,
shop vacuum, bucket of soapy water, 
a long-handled brush, a hose, and lots
of elbow grease turned it back into a habitable place.
(Thanks, Rick.)

While I worked on the front, Rick cleaned out the gutter and then scrubbed down the lanai.  Those jobs took him about three hours, so we both were finished before dinner.  We still have lots of trimming to do with the backyard landscape, but we will wait until this weekend to tackle that job when temperatures are supposed to be cooler.   Our garbage pick-up is on Monday, so weekend trimming means that we do not have to hang on to the bags of debris for too long.

We are glad to be home in Florida.  Hopefully, the weather will cool into more seasonable 70s and 80s so we can continue to walk each day.  We have plenty to keep us busy for a while, and maybe we even will find some time to relax eventually.