An Unstructured Sunday

Sunday, March 15, 2026, Orlando, Florida

Ah, spring in Florida.

According to yesterday’s forecast, today was supposed to be a rainy, even stormy Sunday, with menacing clouds and thunderstorms brooding over Central Florida. But as is often the case in the subtropics, the atmosphere had other plans. As I write this, it’s 79°F (26°C) under mostly sunny skies, though the feels-like temperature has climbed to a muggy 88°F (31°C). There’s still a chance of light showers later on this hot and sticky mid-month Sunday, but for now the day feels more summer preview than tempest.

Since this is my day off from my literary labors, I don’t have firm plans for the rest of the Ides of March. I might watch a movie—there are a few new additions to my Blu-ray collection I haven’t cracked open yet, including last year’s The Long Walk. Or I may dip into the Kindle backlog on my Fire tablet. Then again, the siren call of Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age is hard to resist, especially since the modder behind the Jane’s Redux mission pack recently added a new scenario: “Plugging the Gap.” It centers on a U.S. carrier battlegroup tasked with destroying Soviet naval, air, and land-based assets in the Faeroe Islands in an alternate 1985.

I’ve been playing “Plugging the Gap” intermittently since I learned it had been added, and it’s both fun and challenging. My carrier group—built around the Nimitz-class USS Dwight D. Eisenhower—includes its air wing and an escort of three Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers, four destroyers (Kidd- and Spruance-class), and two frigates. A Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine lurks ahead, providing distant support and stand-off missile capability against enemy warships and the Soviet-held airbase on one of the captured Faeroe Islands.

So far, I’ve sunk the larger and more powerful Soviet fleet units arrayed against Task Force 20, including the missile cruiser Slava, the helicopter cruiser Moskva, two Udaloy-class destroyers, one Sovremenny-class destroyer, one Kashin-class destroyer, and two Kanin-class destroyers. The Soviets have also lost one Victor-class attack submarine, several smaller surface combatants, two Tu‑95R Bear reconnaissance aircraft, and a mix of helicopters, fighters, strike aircraft, and ASW platforms.

I’ve also managed—by the skin of my teeth—to avoid losing any ships or aircraft of my own, though I have yet to send any strike packages against the Soviet forces ashore.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a pleasantly unstructured Sunday: a warm, humid Florida afternoon with no obligations beyond following whatever impulse feels right in the moment. Whether I end up watching a movie, reading, or diving back into the North Atlantic of 1985, I’m grateful for a day that asks nothing more of me than to enjoy it. Spring may not always arrive with the weather the forecasters promise, but it does bring a welcome reminder to slow down, breathe, and let the day unfold on its own terms.