Made it home but it was not easy. Everything went really smoothly until we landed in Miami. First thing that went wrong is that they put me in a wheelchair that was broken. After waiting for a new one, I had a tortuous time because I'm wearing a leg brace and cannot bend my knee. Wheelchairs in Europe could accommodate my leg, but in Miami I had to hold leg out and it was very painful and tiring to do that.
Then the lines at customs, even the one for wheelchairs, took an hour because there was only one customs guy for the whole line. He was surly and took all crew members before he took regular passengers.
The guy who pushed the wheelchair was nice and appreciative. I am a huge tipper, but the guy who helped with our bags was like a New York taxi driver and demanded more of a tip. In Florence and Zurich, the people I tipped were beyond appreciative.
Then we could not get to the car easily or without getting wet, and it took 15 minutes and a lot of pain to get into an SUV. I-95 was a parking lot, and it took a very uncomfortable hour to get home. Then Barbara had to take off my brace so I could get out of the SUV, then put it back on so I could walk into house.
I think we saw more cars on the ride from the Miami Airport home than we did the whole time we spent in Italy. .
Fortunately, grandchildren Harper and Holden were at our house to meet us and help Barbara, because I am useless. Son Steven did his best to put food in the house and get things ready for us. We are very grateful of all he did to help us.
We started the day at 4 a.m. Florence time which is 10 p.m. in Florida. We did not even arrive in the house until 8 p.m. Florida time, 2 a.m. for us, and we were exhausted. I have to stay in the guest room downstairs because steps are too much for me, and I fell asleep about 25 hours from the time I got up. Compulsive Barbara had to begin unpacking and she did not go to bed for another three hours. Grandkids were big help.
Guess we should have slept on the plane but did not. I wrote my yesterday’s post and watched movies. Saw Casablanca, my favorite movie, for maybe the100th time. I still think it is the perfect movie, with not a single bad line. I also watched an old James Bond movie. I refused to watch Evan Hansen again, but Barbara had never seen the Broadway show or the movie, so she decided against my advice to watch the movie. I was not in the mood to be looking for the suicide hotline.
Anyway, we are now home and it will take a long time to get resettled. I am probably two weeks away from being mobile and able to live close to normally.
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In the meantime, even when the Marlins score 12 runs, they lose. Again, by one run. Has to be some kind of record.
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Saw the jury decided the Depp mess but chose not to read about it.
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Yesterday’s post brought about triple the normal number of responses and some very thoughtful ones. Clear that many people are very disenchanted with the state of affairs in our country. Many people are looking seriously into other living alternatives. The loss of personal freedoms and the unwillingness of our elected officials to represent the majority view is getting to many people.
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Because I travelled all day yesterday and have not yet turned on the television, and wanting to see if there were any news I wanted to comment upon, I just googled “What is happening in the world?”. According to Google, practically nothing.
There is no mention of the gun massacre and the the gun control issue, or the abortion issue, of Ginni Thomas, or (believe it or not) anything about the war between Russia and Ukraine. Did not even see the word “Trump” or any reference to January 6. I read about some Harvard graduate walking out on Garland’s commencement speech and John McEnroe being pissed at Nadal about how much time he takes between serves. However, if there was anything thought-provoking, or something on which I might offer some food for thought, I missed it. So, see you tomorrow. At least that is my plan.
I will mention that lying in bed, as I have had to do for most of the last four weeks due to a broken leg, I looked out my window at the Duomo. When I look out the window of the bedroom where I am temporarily residing herein Florida, I see the pump for our pool. I think I'd rather be in Florence.
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Go Ukraine