have you any wool?

It’s been 12 years since I graduated from North High and 10 1/2 years since I moved to Ohio. I’ve obviously been back to Fort Myers several times on vacation, but each time the city becomes even more unrecognizable. I see strip after strip where before there was field after field. I see paved roads ghosting the memory of dirt roads that I’ll never forget. Short little trips across town to grab a bite to eat seem so distant from the long adventures my friends and I used to take, following the same route. And yet, there are familliarities as well. Sitting down at Perkins for breakfast or traveling along Pine Island where I would spend nearly 2 hours walking home from school my Senior year, I couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of nastalgia. A few things jogged my memory, so many of them seemed alien. It doesn’t even seem like home anymore and yet, it will always be home. And for the first time 11 years, I miss it.

It’s day two of my vacation and the first full day of being in Florida. I’m in my home town of N. Ft. Myers, staying with my mom and it’s been a pretty cool day so far. The weather is about as great as you could ask for. Sunny, clear skies, mid seventies, and a slight breeze. It’s supposed to be like this through the weekend and I need only read text messages from friends back home of 20 degree days in Findlay, and I’m thankful I’m here. The stress of yesterday’s fiasco is all but gone and I’m finding that letting Vacation do, what Vacation does, is simply wonderful….. allowing me to relax. Hello Florida, I have arrived.