May/June 2002
Wednesday Last round of good-bye dinners with snowbird friends. Better start hitting the gym hard. Friday Early tennis, then out to the theater with S. First time alone in months! Saturday Drove to Arcadia to go antiquing with M&E. Obligatory pie at Wheeler’s blew at least one day in the gym. Sunday Sailed a regatta with T. Haven’t been on a sailboat in ages; great fun! Monday Sunburned like a first-timer. How can this happen after 13 years here? Wednesday Joined S at the pool bar for a late-afternoon “business” meeting. Thursday R&G arrived from Italy. Yippee! Big plans to do nothing on upper islands this weekend. Saturday Great lunch at Barnacle Phil’s, then shelling on Cayo, and beers at Cabbage. Life is tough. Sunday Scrabble on the back porch with R (Italian words allowed) after a big lunch with wine. How do you say “nap” in Italia? Monday Reality rears its head, but is squashed by 3:30 when we head for the movies. Wednesday Poinciana trees around the island are all on fire—blossoms so bright they almost hurt! If I were a painter… Thursday Found a huge fish on our dock; dropped by an overly ambitious bird, no doubt. Friday Dolphins cruised by just before dinner; bayou is loaded with mullet these days. Saturday Up early for a day of flying with S. Circled the islands, then up the coast to St. Pete for lunch on the Pier. Sunday Persuaded S to go to Beach Bowl with me; we had a blast. Tuesday J is in town; we got out the video cam and shot our annual five-minute movie. This year’s topic: lizards. Thursday Five hours of yard work, then fresh lemonade and a hot shower. Wake me up by Monday. Friday Research note: What do the words “piña colada” mean? Sunday Just got home from an unexpected weekend in Naples. Always fun to gallery hop and stay on Fifth. Wednesday R&G leaving soon; said we must come back to Italy. Hmmm…twist my arm. Thursday Took a Captiva Village golf cart tour with S. No traffic. Stopped by Jensen’s to enjoy the moonlight. I love the islands when they’re quiet. Friday Awoke to a new bird song. Spent the morning trying to identify it, but haven’t got it yet. Wish Mimi were here to help. Saturday Nemo is in his full-moon wild phase. I like it that he is old and still goes a little nuts. My role model!