Getting back into a Florida routine

© 2011 Lydia Hinshaw

 ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- The first full weekend we were home, we were weather-hostages of a hurricane-impersonator.

 The second full weekend we were home, we were tourism-hostages of a motorcycle invasion.

 And on the third weekend, the one currently in progress, we got back to normal. I felt willing to get in a car again, something I had avoided after spending most of the month of September in an automobile.

 So we drove 50 miles north to wander through the farmer's market in the nation's oldest city, followed by a walk down St. George Street.  Tourists in St. Augustine meander up and down here, spending their money in an orderly fashion, which often is not the case where we live.  After that, we braved an outlet mall, to pick up a few small items to replace things we haven't been able to find since we got back.

 This is the sixth time I've come home in October after five months away.  The first time, I was newly liberated from a career job and enjoying the resulting euphoria.  Everything looked and felt different every morning at that lovely moment when I realized I did not have a deadline that day, or any other.

 With every subsequent return, the readjustment has gone faster, even when interrupted by meteorological phenomena or binge tourism.

 It only takes an hour or so now to throw away five months worth of mail, only a day or two to feel as if we'd never left.  Less than a week to get homesick for Montana.

 The cure for that will come in a few more weeks, when the webcams in Glacier National Park start showing me snow-scapes.

 In the meantime, the problem of my winter employment was solved easily when a bus driver at the YMCA gave his notice the day after we got back.  Thankfully, the Y has kept me on the payroll since I left in April.  I was able to start working again without filling out a single form.  My job interview was a "thank goodness you're back," from the boss.

 It's a two-hour workday, and I can commute by bicycle when the weather is decent.  I get a free Y membership too.

 I still miss Montana, but Florida isn't bad.