Florida

     
     After a week up north, I am really glad to be back in Florida where it is warm.  How could I have forgotten what it was like to be cold so much of the time? The monarch butterfly in the picture above was waiting for us in our enclosed porch when we came home. He had come out of his chrysalis while we were away.  
     We have been here a year now.  Last year we were still getting unpacked at Christmas, so things weren't done in their usual way. This year I felt like I was experiencing a Florida Christmas for the first time. It was a novel experience to listen to Amy Grant singing "Emmanuel" and turn up the sound loud to hear it in the back yard while I watered the garden. Now I am putting decorations away and wearing a tank top. It is nice to be too warm instead of cold in January. I hear the birds through my windows and wonder how anyone could miss the cold snow.