Florida

I don't do well in tropical climes. I am probably the only person on earth who thinks Hawaii is not paradise, or even a preferred destination. I have been to Florida several times, and have always been struck with how unpleasant the air "feels" down here. The air is thick. I've visited in March (hot and humid), July (REALLY hot and humid), September (the same), and now January. Somehow, I thought it would be different in January.

It is cold here right now, they tell me. Fifty degrees is a little nippy I'll grant you, kind of like an early spring day in Tennessee. But there's still that vaguely uncomfortable feeling of breathing oxygen that is too laden with water. And the wind. While other people perceive a pleasant tropical breeziness, I just find the constant blowing-blowing-blowing, highly annoying.

Our digs are clean and pleasant, and the training facility is very impressive. The grounds are full of lush, tropical plants--I fully expect them to leap from their contained boundaries in a rush to eat the humans at any moment. I have not yet seen the beach, several miles to the east.

Today, I had planned on bicycling up to the library, to buy bus passes for our planned weekend activities. But a quick check on the computer shows that the local branch won't open until noon.

Instead, I will go to the gym this morning, do an hour of "huff-and-puff," then take a shower and get on a bus to Hallandale, where there is a beach and a knitting shop I want to check out.

It's probably for the best. Now I'm not sure I was up to a bicycling trip, listening to my lungs gurgle, trying to filter out the moisture from the ambient air as I madly pedalled northward. Exercising in a controlled environment is probably better anyway, away from that never-ending gale blowing onshore.