I was just reading an article (in the Washington Post) about people living on Casey Key, Florida. It's right where Milton came in on the Gulf Coast and it's just a stone's throw where my good friend lives. It struck me how much people who live right on the ocean love that lifestyle. The sound of water. The beach, there for you, every single moment of your life. The sunsets, the wildlife, the vegetation. All of it. And now they're having these often life course-changing discussions. Is it worth it? And some will decide yes it is and some will say no it's not. And I thought how the way we live is often riddled with these micro and macro dilemmas. My frequent travels are draining -- financially and they can wreck my sleeping cycle for days on end. And, the last three trips I've come back sick. Some virus in April, Covid in June and now I seem to have pneumonia, which maybe wasn't from the trip itself, but maybe it was, and in any case, I'm sure it got exacerbated by the pace of my travels. Travels, a glass of wine -- now thought to be extremely hazardous to your health and yet I love my spritz before dinner! And my Kouign Amann for breakfast in Brittany -- nothing healthy about that, and I can go on like this: decisions big and small, risks we take.
Of course, it's always worth it until it's not. The beach life is worth it until that last final hurricane that wrecks your equilibrium (and your home), the lovely walks along the Brittany coast are certainly worth it, until you have to deal with that cough that leads you on Saturday morning after the return not to enjoy a leisurely moment, but to spend time, instead, in the Urgent Care of your clinic, because your lungs are acting up. The glass of wine -- still worth it, though my goodness, it's gone down to just that, because anything more and I know I am asking for trouble.
At a certain point in life, you should take fewer risks, no? Ed probably would disagree. He'll sail into the ocean in his old age if a good opportunity presents itself (meaning the boat and crew and destination are to his liking). Some people in that article on Casey Key are staying, despite the ravages to their homes following two hurricanes this season. I'll keep on traveling as long as the savings last and my health isn't teetering on some brink of horrible destruction. The glass of wine? That stays for now. But I know for sure that lifestyle choices can change instantly. Stuff happens, you realize it's time to change.
For now, I'm hackin' away with a case of pneumonia. But feeling good and reasonably strong otherwise! Strong enough to walk over to the deal with the animals early on...
Strong enough to go from clinic to Tati's Cafe to pick up some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then to have a lovely few moments with Ed...
Strong enough to bike over with him to the pharmacy to pick up my medicines.
And then to put in the next bulbs into the flower fields. But just twenty. I blame the rocky soil. Well, and my exhaustion!
Someday maybe I'll come up with a different calculus, but today, I'm sticking with my course of sail. Without a boat of course. That's Ed's domain.
with love...
