Pre-Vax Life at the Folly

Thom and I headed down to the Folly immediately after Election Day.  He brought his skates.

We overnighted in Florence, South Carolina and ate some delicious, socially distanced BBQ at Wholly Smokin'.

A well-shielded Chris flew in from Prague a couple of weeks after we arrived in Lake Worth.

He quarantined in the cabana until he got his drive-thru covid 19 test results from CVS.

We hosted Thanksgiving for Andrew & Steven who are working remotely from a nearby Airbnb.  Thom cooked most of the delicious meal.  I contributed creamed onions, something my mother always served,  as well as string beans tossed with bacon, walnuts and blue cheese.  Chris prepared the blackened brussel sprouts.

I'm not sure we'll be asking Andrew to carve (saw?) the turkey again!

There's plenty of time for spa days in retirement!

Curtis, who spent a couple of nights with us while Andrew & Steven picked up a friend in Miami, likes the sun almost as much as Thom.

Group activities included kayaking in the Everglades, seeing Jupiter kiss Saturn over Lake Osborne, watching birds at Wakodahatchee Wetlands and visiting Flamingo Gardens and Hollywood Broadwalk.

Chris and I also went on a couple of solo nature walks, including the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge and Winding Waters Natural Area.

Sandhill cranes almost as tall as we are were remarkably approachable at the latter.

I was ambivalent about decorating for Christmas, but Chris and Thom insisted, indoors and out.

We feasted on five fishes (salmon, herring, shrimp, clams & flounder) Christmas Eve.

Christine arrived in Lake Worth just in time to order an extraordinary chocolate cake frosted with meringue from Oceano Kitchen.

What a shame that we had to stop dining there every Friday because of surging covid transmissions in Palm Beach County.

Thom made a cassata for a very chilly Christmas dinner at Andrew's & Steven's.  Fortunately their fabulous backyard has a fire pit and lots of USB-charged mood lighting.

A little bird must have told Magda and Joe about our increased liquid diet.  They sent the perfect gift--Corkcicles for chillin' at the beach!

Secret Santa was good to both Curtis and me.  He got a pink flamingo and I got half a dozen iguanas.

Yes, I am drunk.  Very, very drunk.

Florian sent me a cool calendar of National Parks as illustrated by WPA artists for my birthday.  January features Carlsbad Caverns.

Andrew & Steven have reciprocated our hospitality on many occasions.  We'll miss them when they relocate to Wilton Manors at the end of January.

Chris and Christine drove to Miami/Dade County to get their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on January 16.   That brings this narrative to an end, if not the photos.

Abstractions:

Black & white:

Bicycles:

Thom and Chris bought new bikes at Family Bicycle on Dixie Highway.

Cars:

This one gives a whole new meaning to "mini van."

Lake Worth & Palm Beach:

Notice the mailbox in the shape of a cross in front of the garage door.

Here's the backyard of that same house at night.  Scary.

Nature:

People:

Check out this guy's mask.  He gave my wheels a thorough tune-up at Relentless Bicycles.