Sunny and Cool

The real Floridians wore coats this morning.  Parkas! The weather today was sunny and cool. It's currently 57℉ which is about 40° lower than it was a month ago! When I went for my morning cycle I had on a light hoodie over my Polo shirt, all topped by a Patagonia Synchilla® fleece pullover. I also wore some very comfortable Wigwam woollen socks. I didn't feel in the least overdressed.  In fact when I passed a determined (pale) jogger wearing only a T-shirt and shorts I felt decidedly Floridian by comparison. I speculated that he had only recently landed on the island, intent upon milking the experience for what he had likely anticipated to be a warmer menu. For my part it was an agreeable state. The sun still burnished my face despite the cool northern air.

Though it shouldn't surprise me, the cooler weather stimulated my energy. The warm, balmy temperatures work against the body's natural mechanism; whereas the cool air fires the Protestant Work Ethic. Initially I hadn't planned going to Bradenton Beach but nothing tempered my enthusiasm. It helped too that there were fewer people cluttering the paths, pusillanimous people!

Thus less distracted I insinuated certain areas of the island which I normally either don't notice or which I am propelled by inertia to avoid. I am discovering that there are innumerable inlets from the main access (which is to say the Gulf of Mexico Drive that passes through the centre of the island) onto the coast on the west or Sarasota Bay on the east. The avenues are often tiny and insulated by bushes so it requires a degree of perspicacity to locate them. However once achieved, the ingresses quickly open up widely to provide an unpredicted panorama either onto the Gulf or the Bay.

While most of the residential areas are secreted behind gates there are some which are merely sheltered by greenery. Once again it requires an element of caution to reveal these venues.  Otherwise it is all too easy to fly by them unnoticed.

Remarkably it is the beach which I have ignored the most since our arrival. Unlike Hilton Head Island and Daytona Beach Shores there is no bicycling here on the beach.  That alone keeps me away from environment.  By the time I complete my 16 mile excursion my only interest is reclining on a chaise longue by the pool. But today the attraction of the pool was diminished by the coolness of the air. There was no way I intended to remove my pullover!  Instead I headed to the beach - which I correctly anticipated would be uninhabited.  There are a number of chaises longues available so I was quick to locate myself and submit to the western sky with its declining yellow orb.

We profited by the opportunity to congregate for an undisturbed conversation, apart from the sound of the sea. We revisited the on-going business matters, plans which are slowly coalescing (though never fast enough for me). I even made a call to my lawyer's office for some further input. We have to purge our otherwise indolent reality!