I thought the major was a lady suffragette...

Have I stressed how hot it was in Orlando? Let me tell you, when it gets hot here-NYC area, it's humid around 3 pm and you think that it's HORRIBLE. In Orlando, in August, it's 90F at 9 in the morning and the humidity is 100%. I would sweat 5lbs every time we'd go for a walk. Doesn't that sound attractive? It's hard to stay cute in this sort of climate. My short hair worked out well, so that was a blessing.

And even though I complained non-stop about the heat-I would still go out, my son and I were the only people walking. Well us and some homeless guy who would mumble things to to me from behind the Winn Dixie.(Saying Winn Dixie never sounded really southern to me until living up north, now I have to say it with a southern accent because I think it's funny. Certain southern things are inexplicably adorable. Sweet tea will always be well, sweet. Sort of like I now understand the fixation northerners have with Springsteen.)

It was insane hot. Really. But we'd have to leave the house for some exercise and fresh air and do it first thing in the morning before the sun scorched the gray Florida dirt. We would go feed the ducks here.

This used to be an orange grove when I was a kid. Now it's full of pretty houses that are ill constructed. I'm sure if I walked up to one of the homes and gave it a swift kick I'd put a hole in in a wall.
This lake was always here-I never saw it because going into the orange grove was banned. How many cool things did I miss out on because I listened to my mom? I remember in the summer we knew when the groves were being mowed because the rats would make a pilgrimage to our neighborhood. We would be in the pool at dusk and watch rats run across the phone wires. ewwww.

I'm happy to say we were OK despite sweating buckets. It was so freaking hot! How many times do I need to say this. I would make sure we drank plenty of water, and I read somewhere once that a hiking guide would tell his little hiking people to eat cheezits because of the salt content. When I came back to New York a neighbor told me a nanny she knows was in O-town when I was there and she was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. Thank heavens I adapt very well.

And now for some more fotos.

This is the shuttle track from the gate to the main terminal at Orlando International. I think it's very amusing how it looks like Disney. I would chant "monorail monorail monorail". I half expect to see topiaries along the way.

The bromeliads that I love so much

The plumbago that my dad adored.

This was a huge vine climbing the old oak in a neighbors yard.