As I may have mentioned (beat the horse to death) I live in the free state of Florida. Now, for those of you still living in a blue-state hell, this means that at least 2/3 of the gates to people’s driveways have a sign that says, “BDLP Security (Barking Dog, Loud Pistol)” or “We don’t dial 911” or, perhaps, “The dog runs the 100 in 3.5 and the Smith & Wesson is faster, so I hope you’re really fast…” Yes, these are people who really want to be left alone.
Who are they? They’re typical Americans of the old school. They are patriots, and want their rights respected. They don’t take kindly to thieves, or for that matter Federal Agents. I suspect the door-to-door vaccine canvas will skip these neighborhoods. Oh, and they’re all over the southern part of the country.
My neighbors are a mix of school teachers, plumbers, electricians, cops, truck drivers, fire fighters, retired, and professional types in suit and tie offices. They come in all sorts of colors and backgrounds, and I don’t think anyone at all cares if they’re gay, straight, or have a thing for goats – as long is they keep it to their own goats. The point is they are a pretty good cross section of working America.
Well, why am I talking about this? Last Saturday we got a call from a neighbor I’d never met inviting us over for a barbecue. Cool!
An hour later we met our neighbor across the street as she headed to the barbecue with the neighbor across the intersection. First new person. A few minutes later we met the host.
Now, it’s important to remember that nobody really grew up here in the main. Yes, there are natives, but the majority of the population out in my area is refugees from Cuba and New York. And our host was a New Yorker from Queens.
Italian as well. Man, are there a lot of Italians in this area, and not just because it’s called Naples. For the next three hours we ate chicken, Mozarella, salami, lemon bars, and margaritas. The food was great, the talk was good, and the chance to meet some new people was super.
This morning, after not meeting these people over the last 5 months, I ran into two of them while out walking Chewy. The world gets a lot smaller when you get out in it and extend yourself.
I love this place. It’s hot as hell today, and humid. The media is telling everyone to stay inside and drink water. I’m on the lanai (expensive word for screened porch) working on the laptop and sweating. It feels great, and is what I always wanted to do for a living.
Yup. This is the life. I’m truly blessed.
