Old Folks at Home

We returned from Florida on Tuesday. It was great to see everyone and spend some time at my mom and dad's "resort." (I'm not sure my parents see it quite the same way but for my kids--it's a bit better than many other vacations! True, there are no roller coasters but they get breakfast cooked to order, lunch and dinner with no wait--in fact, they're reluctant to get out of the pool to eat--and there is the pool! A pool in the backyard! No car ride, elevator ride, no keys necessary to get to the POOL!) As if all that weren't enough for a summer vacation, they have cousins to play with! So it's a nice break for them (on other vacations, they are each other's only peer). This summer they've met a few kids in our new town but don't have many friends yet so it was wonderful for them to have cousins around to play with all week!

While we did visit my folks at home, they are not yet old. The title of the post is of course, also the title of the Florida state song. The first line of that song, "Way down upon the Swanee river..." put me in mind of the other story while I was home. People boating and fishing on the Suwannee river in Florida are being hit by jumping sturgeon! Talk about some old residents! These ancient fish jump right out of the water--no one knows exactly why. The river is lower this year than it has been, more people are out on the river so the problem has become more noticeable.

We celebrated my mom's birthday a week early while I was there, which was nice. Her actual birthday is tomorrow so Mom: if you read this in time, Happy Birthday!