Autumn, Amazon, and Four Hours of Sleep

Monday, October 19, 2026 – Orlando, Florida

Hi, everyone!

It’s a muggy, gray-shrouded autumn day here in Central Florida as a new workweek gets underway. We had a little rain yesterday afternoon and again early this morning, but as I write this, it’s 76°F (25°C) under mostly cloudy skies. The humidity is sitting at 74%, and a northeast wind is blowing at 12 MPH (20 Km/H), making it feel more like 82°F (28°C).

No, it’s not the kind of autumn that inspires flannel shirts, apple cider, or dramatic walks through piles of colorful leaves. This is Florida. Our version of fall is mostly summer with better manners. Still, I’ll happily take a cloudy day in the mid-70s over the blast-furnace conditions we endured a few months ago. Since it’s already mid-afternoon, today’s high probably won’t climb much above where it is now. The forecast says we’re done with rain for the day, but around here Mother Nature often treats forecasts as mere suggestions.

This morning, I placed an Amazon grocery order because my personal food reserves were starting to look alarmingly sparse. I don’t like asking my landlady to drive me to the supermarket unless it’s necessary, so delivery is a wonderful thing. I stocked up mostly on breakfast foods, frozen entrées, and a box of Carnation nutritional shakes. I’d rather buy Boost or Ensure, but those cost more, and my budget doesn’t always share my preferences. Living on a fixed income teaches a person the fine art of distinguishing between “What I’d like” and “What I can afford.” I suspect some of that wisdom dates to my years as my mother’s caregiver from 2010 to 2015.

The groceries arrived shortly after noon and then came the thrilling adventure of putting everything away. Even though I spent more than $130, it doesn’t look like I bought very much. Of course, appearances can be deceiving when some items arrive in large, bulky boxes and others, like nutritional shakes, apparently contain enough weight to qualify as gym equipment.

Twenty years ago, I probably could have unloaded everything and put it away in five minutes. Today, the process took closer to twenty. On the bright side, I don’t have to set foot in Publix, Winn-Dixie, or Aldi anytime soon unless some sort of grocery-related emergency develops.

As for And the Horse You Rode in On, that’s not happening today.

I had a nasty bout of insomnia last night and didn’t fall asleep until four this morning. Four hours later, I was awake again, courtesy of whatever mischievous gremlin is currently managing my sleep schedule. I could try to draft a few notes about the 1975-76 versions of Jim Garraty and Mark Prieto after I post this on WordPress, but even writing something as straightforward as a blog post feels like work when you’re running on four hours of sleep.

I want to do a good job with the new novella, and experience has taught me that a foggy brain rarely produces inspired prose. More often, it produces sentences that seemed brilliant at 3 A.M. and embarrassing at noon.

Tomorrow isn’t that far away. The characters will still be there, waiting patiently for me to return to their world. So, for today, I’m giving myself permission to call it a day, rest up, and enjoy what’s left of this cloudy, humid Florida autumn afternoon.