Tuesday, January 15, 2013 – Back in Cocoa:

            The holidays are over, and we are back in Cocoa!  It was a hectic, but fun month!  We decided not to put up a tree this year, and this was the first year of my life (and Bob’s so he tells me) that neither of us have not had a Christmas tree.  We did decorate the house and had all the family over for Christmas Eve, and then it seemed like every lunch and dinner was a social engagement of some kind, but it was a fun month and we really enjoyed being “home for the holidays.”

            I wish I had a really good cat story to tell you about flying back to Cocoa, but everything went smoothly from beginning to end.  There was hardly anyone at the airport, and the TSA people seemed to know what a “house cat” looked like.  We were still swiped for explosives – I have no idea what the connection is between traveling with a pet and potentially carrying explosives, but we passed with flying colors.  Lucy seemed to remember all this, because when I had to take her out of the cat carrier instead of laying completely limp in my arms, this time she decided it would be fun to look all around.  I still held on to her for dear life.  But the TSA people (who were all women) really thought she was cute.  I did find out that the Florida State animal is a panther, so maybe that’s where the confusion came in at the Orlando airport in December.  However, there is really no resemblance between Lucy and a real panther!

            The plane ride was a little bumpy at first, but smoothed out once we got above the dark clouds.  Lucy didn’t object (or at least I couldn’t hear her) about being put under the seat in front of me again, and the strange guy sitting next to me didn’t go completely crazy during the two-hour flight (he just played imaginary drums and played an imaginary guitar for most of the flight).  Oh well…

            The boat seemed happy to see us, and we were happy to see the boat.  Everything was still “ship shape,” and we opened up all the doors and windows and unpacked and settled in.  Lucy didn’t even hide under the covers when I let her out of the cat carrier.  As a matter of fact, she poked her head out the door, and then said she was hungry and wanted food. 

            We have a rental car, and went to the local Olive Garden for dinner and then to Publix (guess what Bob bought) for breakfast food.  Tomorrow the main item on our agenda is to reprovision the freezer and refrigerator so we will be back at the grocery store for a huge shopping trip.

            Right now the temperature is a balmy 78 degrees with a beautiful light breeze and a lovely sunset in the distance.  I’m thinking of a glass of wine up on the flybridge.  It’s good to be back!