As I write this, I'm looking forward to the time change as we continue one of the wettest winters I can remember. There's so much mud about that it's hard to imagine that it will every dry up.

As for the time change, I probably won't appreciate it as much after it happens, since it always messes with my mental 'clock' that keeps me waking up at the right time.

I probably need to get myself back on schedule with some regimented routine stuff, like going to bed at a set time and getting up earlier to keep life organized. Sometimes I get occupied with something and too late realize that it's almost midnight and I'm still awake.

I always get up somewhere close to sunrise, but sometimes that's not when I need to get up. It's better to keep a schedule; it always makes me feel better if my life is more consistent. Thinking about extra time outside in the evenings is a good thing. I've taken on yet another project and I'll need to get that taken care of before I can really do much recreation. As usual, I don't fully expect to be spending a lot of lazy Saturdays on the river fishing, even though it sounds like a great idea right now. Something always happens that takes up my weekends—gardening, construction work, lawn maintenance, emergencies, newspaper coverage, activities, weddings, funerals.... However, I'm going to make having some fun a priority this year even if it kills me. Well, not if it kills me.

As I think about summer days this time of year, I consider that a trip south might be a nice diversion. Paying for such a trip would not be so nice.

I recently received a letter from a local fellow who returned home after a trip to the desert southwest. I was a little envious, especially after watching a few episodes of "The Desert Speaks." (Not to be confused with "The Dessert Speaks" which shows up after someone eats three slices of cherry cheesecake and can't button their pants).

Anyway I'm sure Florida won't miss seeing my legs, or any of the rest of me, for one more year. I didn't stand out as much as you might imagine the year I went there on vacation a couple years ago, since there were people from all over the country there. In fact, the only people wearing summer outfits in February were the tourists, who basically had the beaches to themselves. You could tell how far north each Caucasian lived by the extent of their skin pigmentation. We were just another family of extremely pale white people playing in the ocean in the middle of winter.

One of my friends who lives in Florida year round said they dread the winter season when the "snowbirds" fly south for the winter, because they all drive too slow and all the restaurants are too busy and so forth.

That's why I'm sure we're as easy for the natives there to spot as the Florida tourists are for us to spot here. It's not that they're too tan, in that case. It's usually the fact that they wear too many clothes, like a winter coat when its 50 outside. The license plates could be a giveaway, or the fact that they actually pause to look at the scenery. However, it's usually the fact that they're driving about half the speed of everyone else, just like non-Floridians apparently are blamed for doing by natives in Florida.

It was really weird for me to drive in Florida, since most of the streets were in a grid pattern with the only curves being exit ramps off the Interstate. I wondered then how folks keep from going to sleep while driving in some of these flat roads.

My biggest problem was not being able to tell the difference between the streets. Spanish-colonial architecture, white stucco, citrus trees, sandy driveways, palm trees and tropical plants filled every yard. Other than an occasional canal or open area, there really wasn't a lot of difference between the street my friends lived on and the one five streets over.

Luckily, I had a GPS device in the rental car that really helped me find my way. I actually didn't opt for that, but there was something wrong with the first rental car the company put me in, so they 'upgraded' me to a tiny Toyota with a GPS. Other than the obvious weather and flora and fauna differences, it seemed a little odd that the bare spots in my friends' yard were sand instead of clay and that the backroads were covered with sea shells and sandy soil instead of gravel.

I also was a bit surprised when they told me to watch out for the fire ants in the yard. They also have Africanized honey bees, I understand.

When I talk to my friends who retired to Florida, they say really missed seeing the snow. However, the temperature there had fallen into the 40s one night, I was told. I figure that means they had to turn off the air conditioning. When we went there in 2008, it was in use nearly daily.

Even though I would enjoy visiting a different latitude in the winter, I feel sure that the warmer months here more than make up for the winters. I can't imagine living in a place with near 100 percent humidity and temperatures over 100 degrees. Did I mention hurricanes, giant snakes, an abundance of biting, stinging and just plain annoying insects?

Life isn't a steady parade of Jimmy Buffet songs down there for most people. As I've talked to the natives there, they always tell me they want to retire here. Funny how that works, isn't it?

No, I'll just go there in the winter once every few years and enjoy the big attractions, sandy beaches, cool ocean water and brilliant sunshine. The rest of the time, I'd just as soon stay home.
 

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