Rounding the corner...

Looking back upon our enterprise for the past several days is akin to watching a pot about to boil - initially terribly slow, but perceptibly incremental and finally at risk of sudden fruition. I won't say that everything we've done lately is directed to our impending departure but there has been an unexpressed undercurrent associated with looming absence. Gradually the moorings of our present convention are becoming unfastened.  Recent social gatherings have noticeably blended with the spectacle of evaporation. Meanwhile we count these penultimate rallies as markers for our exit.

There are as well the discrete accommodations of clothing and other provisions to be trunked along.  Little by little favoured items are set aside for preservation for the upcoming haul. We've  nearly eliminated our proposal for meals for the next two days - we'll dine out for the remainder. Conveniently the stock of Perrier is reduced to its final plastic carton. The grocery trolley is positioned at the entrance to transition its duty to a luggage cart. We amuse ourselves to contemplate not only what we intend to bring but importantly what we intend not to bring.  Every sojourn in the past has been characterized by a subsequent admission that we toted far more than required or appropriate.  The exaggeration is partly a result of driving instead of flying, having as we do what we mistakenly imagine to be virtually unlimited space. The shift to tropical weather is not automatic.

The preliminaries to our desertion have already been undertaken - arranging the temporary suspension of television and internet, ordering a supply of prescription drugs, notifying the insurance agent, buying travel insurance, enlisting the support of a gatekeeper and fulfilling the necessary communications with the estate agency.

Though I suffer a shameful trace of black magic in my veins - and I therefore hesitate to broach the subject for fear of jinxing it - we have already begun exchanging information with another agency in Key Largo regarding arrangements for 2020 - 2021.  It is our experience that long-term vacation rentals must be determined within the prior year. Otherwise the desired location is contaminated by intermittent rentals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, February and March Break. The prospect of overlooking the emerald waters surrounding the Florida Keys is stimulating. It reaffirms the utility of our decision to remain fluid. Though I am always mindful of the adage that "There ain't no ship to take you away from yourself" I nonetheless embrace the opportunity for discovery and alternatives. At seventy years of age there are limited ambitions and cause for exuberance (barring naturally grandchildren and burial arrangements).

For the time being my focus is upon concluding the last two bits of business to which we shall attend today.  Then the duty is summary packing.  Already I suffer anticipation of the first image of palmetto ferns in South Carolina as we proceed southward to the Gulf Coast.