What are We to Make of Things?

As I sit down at my computer to type this entry, I'm just a little anxious. Should I be? How can we really know? The stock market is in free fall, and as a retiree, that is not something we like seeing. Well, that's plain stupid, no one likes seeing it!

In our case, it's not so much about the money that is being wiped out, as it is our concern because two of our sons that work in the industry. The stress is immense. Seemingly no one is immune in this crazy time as the Coronavirus spreads around the world. Imagine that if you can. I, for one, can't, until I think about the global economy and how we are all so interdependent on one another.

Is the threat as scary as it is made out to be?

As to the rest of our family, Nancy is here visiting and her store in the Atlanta area is making preparations for a more sanitary shopping experience, and as the manager, the buck will stop with her. Fallon is a RN in a hospital, so there's that to think about. Jonathan was telling me that events and meetings at the University of Texas are being either canceled, or rescheduled, as has his parents, (that would be us), canceled their trip to Austin because neither of us is super keen on flying right now.

Speaking of flying, Matt and Tom are probably just about touching down in Denver for their road trip. Apparently, having booked the tickets ages ago, their concern level was low enough that they kept to their original schedule. In this link, you can see all the places they are visiting in the West. Had we not stayed up until 2AM talking with Nancy last night, when his text came through saying they were boarding the plane, instead of typing Bin Voyage (!), I would have asked more questions. As it was, the text woke me at 7:30 and this old lady was still way to sleepy to find out more.

Then, of course, there is Maureen to think of. Nancy and I visited her today and were greeted by this on the front doors. A wise precaution indeed.

After signing in, they take your temperature to ensure the safety of the residents. I'm trying hard to remember a time in my life when a virus created such a worldwide sensation and nothing comes to mind. How about you? Anything?

For the most part though, we are going about our business, exploring new places and behaving normally. Last week we visited a campground about 95 miles south of us called,

in Bowling Green, Florida. Neither of us have ever been to Hardee County before, but now we have. The park is a former phosphate mine given to the county by Mosaic, a huge mining company. It was a lovely day to visit a lovely place.

Along the way we drove by lots of fields that looked like this,

The attraction for us is camping where there are four lakes created from the mining that are managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Visiting a place such as this gives us a good reason to learn more about our state's history. Who knew that Hardee County was in an area of the state known as "Bone Valley" because of one of the largest deposits of phosphorus in North America? And exactly how and why is phosphorus used? Fun stuff like that.

We drove around quite a bit, coming across school children probably in a canoe for the first time,

as well as having a good chat with a camper who described catching huge amounts of fish. Should we go there, I hope Bruce has that same luck!

Driving home on US 17, we made an impromptu stop in Fort Meade in search of the Peace River.  Thanks to our trusty iPad, we found it!

For more information on what the heck a Blueway Community is, click here. Naturally Bruce, along with others, tried his luck.

Unfortunately time got away from us meaning we faced more traffic coming home than we would have preferred, but in the end it was just fine. A good day was had by the both of us.

Another day we managed a Costco run without incident; apparently others have not had the same good luck. Fallon went the other evening and not only was the place mobbed, but their credit card terminals went down!!

Yet another day we decided to head over to see the campground at Kelly Park at Rock Springs, and boy were we delighted as the campground, run by Orange County, is fantastic, with very clean and spacious sites.

Although it was a chilly day, there were a few brave souls in the 67 degree water!

This young lady was not so sure of it, but she kept going!

Because Bruce worked so much, he's not visited places like I have, so seeing these local places is quite a treat for him. Here is where the spring originates.

We brought a picnic lunch, enjoying it under a bright blue sky and the shade of big oak trees. Another fun day in nature.

I mentioned I was tired and that is not only because of our nocturnal Sunday night! On Saturday I went down to watch the Pickle Ball action and ended up as a rookie. Here I am as Susan's partner who graciously allowed me to play with her.

A few months ago a resident paid to have the lines painted on the tennis court and friends have been gathering to both learn, and observe.

I ended up playing three games, not well I might add, but it was so much fun even if I had way more air balls than any partner would like!

Then on yesterday Nancy took me to the Bay Hill tournamen,t and did we ever walk! Rory McElroy is her favorite and she was hoping he would be the winner of Arnold Palmer's tournament.

We were just plain delighted when some folks allowed us to use their chairs right next to the ropes!

Alas, it was not meant to be, as it became clear that Rory was not to be the winner,  we decided to leave a little early. Nancy hailed an Uber for our ride over and was planning to do the same for getting us back to our car, however, the $26 price tag for a three mile trip did not set well with either of us, so we set off walking and after a good long while we got to her car, both of us more than a little tired. Looking at my phone I discovered that between the golf course and the walk, we'd put 6.5 miles on our feet! And then we stayed up until 2AM? What were we thinking?

What we were thinking was that we felt so fortunate that we were able to do so, unlike our sister Maureen and our late sister Carol. It is hard to imagine that the anniversary of her death was on Saturday. Between Carol and Jeff, getting out and doing things has taken on new meaning for all of us.

Doing all that we can, while we can....that is unless that darn Coronavirus turns the world upside down!

your friend,

Gail