A nice enough place to visit, but…

…Flori-duh

Lord knows Florida has its issues, but it *is* warmer than MA in the early Spring, so there’s that.

Happy Spring, BTW! It’s officially official as of today.

Anyway, after being in The Villages last month (catch up on that here and here if you like), close but yet so far from here, I wanted to visit my mom before she comes home for the season…and it hasn’t disappointed. It also hasn’t failed to make the “visits to the parents in the condo complex” episodes on Seinfeld that much more funny.

Or maybe I mean “that much less funny.”

I’m actually not really sure.

But I am sure there’s a sitcom or movie that could be written about this place, plus…Vitamin D!

I mean, let’s just say that last night I went to a “two slices of Little Caesar’s pizza per person” party from 4-6PM on this very patio (where you’re not allowed to have food as a rule).

I’m not kidding.

(And what are you supposed to do when your day ends at 6PM??? Thank God March Madness starts today!)

Other random sh-t I’ve seen:

This sign hangs on all the pool entry gates. But the kicker is that the pool is in the middle of a complex, surrounded by five buildings (as you can kind of see above)…it’s not close to the road, not on a public walkway, not anything that would ever be mistaken for a public pool. There’s a story here and I need to hear it.

And then there’s this:

These two signs, less than a single car width apart, are absolute overkill. One sign would have been plenty, especially given the bi-directional arrow, if you ask me. Again, there’s a story here…why do that to the landscaping otherwise??? I mean it’s not like we’re in downtown Manhattan or outside a hospital emergency room…but maybe this is where the rogue pool crashes were parking…who knows?

This place and it’s passive-aggressive “controls”…it seems to get more ridiculous every year. 🤦🏼‍♀️

In any case, one of my favorite things in this life—and we damn well better get to do it over the next few days—is when I head to the beach with mom and a bottle of wine to sit quietly together while the sun sets over the Gulf…

…of Mexico.

I don’t call it that as an act of resistance per se but rather to reinforce the stupidity of its renaming. With all of the real issues we have in this world, it’s a travesty that we wasted a penny of resources on this ridiculous dribble in the presidential pissing contest.

But since I’m on vacation, I’m trying to take a break from my the political headline-fueled fury that I’ve been feeling lately, and it has been working, to some extent.

I think of the song TSwizzle sings with Florence + The Machine—Florida!!!—comes to mind, notably these lyrics:

I need to forget, so take me to Florida
I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida

And then I don’t think about much else, because I definitely have some sh-t I need to forget. Plus life’s too short for regrets (reinforced by what they sing in Rent (which you may recall I saw last week), specifically “forget regret or life is yours to miss”)…so despite these two frequently heard and somewhat conflicting pieces of advice “you are what you think” and “don’t believe everything you think,” I’m going to take the rest of today’s “Thursday’s Thoughts” space to stop thinking altogether.

I’d encourage you to do the same, at least for a little bit. I suspect we could all benefit from totally separating ourselves from the sh-t gumming up the synapses for a spell.

However, before I go, allow me to offer this exquisite Espresso Martini (kind of) airport sleight of hand:

That’s the drink I made while I was tucked into a quiet corner at Logan Airport Sunday afternoon while I waited for my flight to board…I mean, while I waited for my flight to get cancelled. But that’s another story.

I’m here now and that’s all that matters.

Always a pleasure to “see” you here—I appreciate you so much. Thank you!

Love you too.

(Oh, and whether you’re into March Madness, or not, please root for Purdue today—I picked them in my survivor pool. If your’e into MM and thank that’s a bad pick, let me know ASAP—I can change it before the first game tips off at noon.)

Repeat: love you too.