Bubble an' Squeak

We popped down to Key West where we had booked a snorkling adventure, however the weather was very windy and they cancelled. Instead we went for a nice lunch and a long walk on the beach. It was beautiful, if breezy.   We had little bungalows by the beach. We had late night snacks and chatting with the stars. I gathered as many shells as I could carry. Catroina loves to swim, so every chance she got, she was in the water. We found conch shells filled with their little animals all over the tide pools. I had just finished reading Lord of the Flies  with my students. It was really fun to see native conch. The number of photos I have of Nic holding up some sea creature is A LOT. Yet, I can never resist taking more. I really loved the sea in Florida - maybe more than anywhere I have ever seen it. Nic says if the sea is my favorite bit, I really belong in the Bahamas. I think I could live with that. I am not maybe the hugest fan of Florida, but I was grateful for the sea and th...

Remember when I mentioned that choices had been made the night before? The Piper had to be paid the next morning. Maybe twice, because Catroina and I had signed up for my first 10K since my injury. We made it. It was not pretty, but it was done. Primarily because Catroina kept me going by promising me that they had not changed the course midway, and that we did not miss the turn around. Both pieces of information were pretty disappointing to me. But we did it. And we BOTH won first in our age group. We are not going to talk about how many people were in our age groups. I have never won first in anything in my life, so I am holding on to this victory with everything I have got. I felt as poorly as I looked. So, we ran back to the airbnb for a nap before taking on Miami for day 2. Catroina scoped out a State Park in the area for us to check out. We were excited to be the next car to enter, when the park's attendant closed the park. There were a lot of big feelings about that call on ...

Somewhere in between the Orlando-ish area of Florida and Miami, Nic became a grandad. In true form for Nic and his family, his grandson was born on Pii day. I guess science and math run in the blood. He also found out that he likely did not have a job anymore. The Federal government has been hacking away at jobs, and Nic's has been a casualty of those cuts.  Life is bitter-sweet. Our Airbnb in Little Havana, in Miami was very cute. I tried to snap a few photos to capture its vibe. March 15th dawned early with an Uber driver ready to escort us to downtown Miami, where we (read Paddy and Catroina) booked us a tour of Miami. Our Uber driver gave us the lowdown on Miami: There are no homeless people in Miami because President Trump sent them to all of the Blue States. Florida is great, it is even greater because of Trump, and because of no homeless. Uber Driver also told us that all Irish and Scottish people look alike. He can't tell them apart because they are all white and talk f...