A rare event

Dunedin, FL -- A fresh, cool breeze is wafting through the park today; a welcome relief from the steamy, oppressive heat of yesterday. I suppose I'm not meant to say words like "oppressive" regarding the Sunshine State at any time, but it sure felt that way when the mercury hit 90 in the shade and my forehead dripped with perspiration even while sitting quietly in my lawn chair in the shade. I confess I did repair to the air-conditioned clubhouse for a half hour at the worst of it, and worked on the lovely puzzle of Birds of Florida that's laid out on a table for passers-by to enjoy.

The park is quieter these days. A number of residents have packed up to go back north. Those who are still here are busily scrubbing RV walls, stowing stuff away, pulling in slides and covering windows with reflective foil to protect their winter getaways from the punishing heat of Florida summers. There are a few permanent residents, some of whom kindly oversee their absent neighbours' properties. Townspeople admit a sense of relief when the traffic congestion of the high season finally abates. We've never been here this late, so it's interesting to see what it's like when snowbird season comes to a close.

Val's brother John and Fawn are in the battening-down phase, and we'll be driving them to the airport on Thursday morning. It will be our first test of the rear seatbelts in the RV, that feed through the back of the convertible bed-sofa and seat three passengers. It's been a bit of a tough winter for John and Fawn, who've flown home twice for several weeks each time to see to Fawn's mother, in poor health. She's doing much better now.

A silver lining for them has been the fact that they have finally witnessed an event that happens only once every year: the lovely potted cactus that decorates their lot bloomed! Two days ago, a glorious flower opened its delicate pink petals, revealing a pale yellow crown at its centre. The appearance lasts only one day -- by evening, when we left their place after supper, it was already curling inward and turning brown at the edges. In all the years they've been coming here, it's the first time they've been here to see it with their own eyes. Beautiful.

Despite their long list of chores, they found time to go with us to Honey-moon Island beach for a stroll on Saturday. It was a special event day -- or so the banners said at the park entrance -- and the beach was full of sunbathers, sand diggers, wave jumpers, kiddies, mums and dads, sweet young things and old guys looking at sweet young things -- the whole nine yards! It was neat to see all the different ways one venue entertained its visitors. I especially liked the artistic display of beach rocks in tall piles and some pretty ingenious arched structures, plus a giant Fred Flinstone one fellow sculpted with great care.

Fawn also found a pair of bikes for us to use till our time comes to leave. We'd borrowed theirs in their absence, but they need to stow them away now. A neighbour with tons of grandchildren has a stash of bikes of all sizes and vintages, and kindly let us borrow a couple when Fawn asked. We tried to rent at a nearby bike shop, but he had none to spare. Val washed the bikes and oiled them, and they will do quite nicely for the next little while.