Early Morning, Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Lithia, Florida (Last Entry in the Sunshine State)

Hi, there, folks. Welcome to the last entry that I write as a Florida resident. It’s 5:29 AM Eastern as I begin this. It’s dark. It’s cold – for Florida – at 46°F/8°C under cloudy conditions. The forecast for M-Day calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 72°F/22°C.

Since I’m not flying to New Hampshire but going on a road trip, I more than likely won’t be at my new home in Madison until Friday. Nevertheless, I’m keeping an eye on the weather there, and if I think it’s cold here, it’s positively freezing there. Right now, the temperature in Madison is 29°F/-2°C under clear skies.

Most of what has been my room for seven years is either packed away in boxes or disassembled. The only things that are still “up and running” are this PC, my desk, my office chair, my TV and Blu-ray player, and my four-drawer cubby from Ikea. My closet is almost empty save for the WWII-era footlocker inside and my Stanley vacuum cleaner. Only one garment still hangs in the closet – the Star Wars sweatshirt I’ll wear tonight.

Pretty soon all of this stuff will be taken out of the room and prepped for the Big Move North, which is why I am writing this last Florida entry at this godforsaken hour. And, just as I did when I left the townhouse where I lived from 1978 to 2016, I feel conflicted. I know that moving out is necessary and for the best; however, Lithia has been home for seven years, and I will miss this house and everyone in it a great deal, even though the past three years have not been as happy as they should have been.

Anyway, I’m tired, a bit sleepy still, and I need to go take a shower and change into my outfit, so I’ll just close this Goodbye, Florida post with some music videos. I don’t know it I’ll be posting here between today and Friday; I’ll keep my laptop handy in case I get a chance to write – and have access to free Wi-Fi – and thus let you know how my road trip is going. Regardless of whether I do or not, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.