I was sitting outside under an over-sized umbrella, watching the sun set over a tree that I could only identify as a palm. It was surrounded by all sorts of tropical-looking vegetation that I usually only see at garden shops or in the living rooms of people who don't kill plants as quickly as we do at my house.

The green vegetation, interspersed with scraggly pines and even citrus trees, made for an almost alien landscape.

Just a few hours later and some 842 miles away here in Alleghany County, freezing rain was quickly accumulating on power lines, trees, roads, houses and everything else not under roof.

Of course, I knew nothing of the development, since I was consciously avoiding any thought that didn't pertain to sun, sand and those tropical plant things on the horizon. Even so, a family friend who was watching after the house was trying to locate us even then.

After taking a drive through central Florida, through unknown towns and acres of groves with trees bearing oranges and grapefruits as far as the eye could see, I arrived at my second destination. To me, it was little more than an opportunity to walk several hundred miles in huge crowds of people. To the children, it was the Mecca of fun, the center of the playtime universe. Of course, I'm referring to the "House of Mouse," Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. It was my first trip there, so I didn't know what to expect. The place was much larger and more extensive than I had imagined, with its own systems of buses, monorail trains, ferries, paddle wheel steamers, all sorts of small boats and even steam trains.

There are rides and attractions of every description, playgrounds, dining establishments, shopping areas and nature areas. The place has its own outdoor African animal park, research on plants, oceans and animals, private lakes and waterways and some 8,000 employees, as I understand it.

Needless to say, to describe every facet would require a book rather than a column. However, it is worthy to note that the children enjoyed themselves immensely, which was the entire purpose of the trip to start with.

Despite a few questions about my own ability to walk for miles each day pushing a stroller with a child inside, I can say I came through with flying colors. The human body is an amazing thing. It can adapt to whatever demands are placed upon it and respond in kind with little or no recovery time. Despite the excess exercise that I was subjected to on the trip, I can say that I more than made up for it in excess calories on numerous visits to restaurants of all descriptions serving selections from every corner of the planet. I don't think I lost any weight during the visit, I'll put it that way.

After visiting a park, I came back to the hotel room that Saturday evening to find a message on the telephone. My sister called after the friend watching the house called around trying to find us. We had left cell phone numbers, but didn't have them turned on due to the roaming charges. We also had neglected to contact anyone at home with more specific contact information.

Anyway, the ice had brought down tree limbs around a power pole outside my house, shutting off the electricity.

Since damage was done to the meter box, an electrician would have to do the repairs. My freezers have a good deal of meat inside, which I buy in bulk, so I was more than a little apprehensive. On the other hand, I knew that there would be no heat inside the house, since our Monitor heater requires electricity to operate and no one was home to build the fire.

As it turned out, a friend from church came to the rescue and repaired the problem a couple of days later. Since it was cold inside the house, the freezers stayed fine inside until the power was restored. Somehow, none of the water lines froze and burst, which in and of itself was a blessing.

I had no idea that the power might go out in such a freak occurrence as an ice storm. Oddly enough, I had just trimmed some of the limbs away from the power line running to the house. However, enough broke away from the large pine trees near the house to drop the electric line and pull off the meter box and pole.

In the meantime, I was exploring Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom with my family for several days as the children boated, railed, road, slid and jumped themselves into a pleasant oblivion.

I can say it was both enjoyable and tiring for the adults, too. I've never slept well in a strange place, especially hotel rooms, but after a daily walk of several miles, it was not a problem.

So, after spending a few days with Mickey, I was more than happy to head back to my friends' home in southern Florida to relax for the day before coming home.

My plane flew out the following morning and two other friends from church were at the terminal waiting to pick us up for the drive home. Pine limbs blocked most of the driveway and littered the yard. I drug some out of the way and decided to leave the rest, I was too tired to care. After resting for most of the day the Saturday after returning, I was glad to get back to the church and my regular routine was suddenly more appealing. Somehow after going somewhere else, the familiarity of home is much more appreciable.

I really enjoyed the 70-something degree days and 50- to 60-something degree evenings that Florida has to offer in the middle of the so- called 'winter' there. Most of the people I talked to there said they miss having all the seasons that we experience here, from the budding of life in spring to the heat of the summer months, to the changing leaves in fall and the snow in winter.

I was glad just to be able to sit outside in the sun and enjoy the warm sand and the smell of the ocean. I didn't really like the fact that all the roads were straight and flat and that there was no real view. We've been spoiled by magnificent vistas at every turn, although I seldom see them until I get back from somewhere else. At any rate, after church, I started over toward my mother's house for a visit and ran over a small stick in the road. It popped up under the car and broke the fuel pump, leaving me stranded.

Luckily, I called the church and the pastor was kind enough to give me and my family a ride home as I left the broken car awaiting a wreck truck.

As I rode home, I was again appreciative of the other thing we have here that I haven't found as much of elsewhere-people who genuinely care about one another. That's what really makes our mountain home a special place.