"Tropical"

I get a free lunch every day at work.  I like this perk, and I like that I often get fresh pineapple.  I think that's about all I've got for "tropical", which seems like an unfair word for the week in Ohio January where it's gray, wet, and cold.  I wish I was a snowbird.

"Snowbirds" are people who live in beautiful Ohio spring through fall, then go to Florida for the winter.  Lucky, lucky people who've got more money and options than I've got at the moment.  (Hi Steve and Dr. Jim!)

I didn't get to see Florida until I was an adult, but it seemed like everyone else got family vacations to the "Sunshine State".  Other kids went to Disney World.  I camped on a rock in Canada.  Don't get me wrong, Canada is beautiful, and I love the woods, but I think I would've liked seeing Walt in Florida too.

I eventually got to Disney World.  I went with my little brothers and Mom one year.  One of those brothers sulked the whole time because we took them out of school during the school carnival.  The other brother was delighted to see places that they'd been studying in Social Studies.  Clearly, you can't please everyone.

Pete caught actually laughing in Florida
after a big wave just smacked both of them

Some people love traveling.  I like seeing new sights, but often dislike the process of getting there.  Sometimes it's nicer to enjoy seeing other people's travels through the internet without the bother of getting out of my bathrobe.

I like seeing what other people find interesting in their travels.  I like seeing other people's normal when they post pictures or write about their regular lives in other places.  I especially like seeing someone else's art of their normal.  Prickly pears in the back yard?  Great!  Maybe I'll paint the flowers or weeds in my yard sometime.

I threw branches at a raccoon family eating the goldfish in my pond, and someone else didn't know what a raccoon is -- or why I wasn't charmed by the cute little varmints.  Because they carry rabies and were eating my goldfish!  Skunks are cute too, but they sprayed my dog and I lived with a fog of toxic fumes for a couple of weeks no matter how many times I washed her.

I can safely laugh at other people's skunked dogs through blogs without having to actually experience it.  I'm pretty sure I can find an interesting restaurant in Cleveland without having to swat tsetse flies too.

But then, this time of year I wish I were a snowbird.  I'd like to walk on the beach without the arctic blast of wind coming from the north.  I'd pick up pretty seashells and worry about sharks and sunburn or something.  Clearly, I need a real vacation, and the only way to have that is to pack up and go.  "Tropical" sounds great in the winter!