Six Weeks in Florida

We have been in Florida six weeks, and the feeling that all of this is temporary -- this whole life is temporary -- is very strong for me. Again, even here in Florida, our lives have been suspended or upended by the global elites, the people pushing to reinvent society in their own images. I cannot ignore it. I don't think anyone should either. 

But...but...here we are in Florida. This is where God wants us right now. And it is better than California in many ways. One day I will talk about all of those ways. But not right now. 

This is what we have been doing these last six weeks. 

Every morning I attempt to wake up before everyone else, even though I still struggle to sleep through the night, and I force myself to get out of bed by 6am, while trying not to wake anyone or the dog, so I can read my Bible and pray in peace. But some mornings when it is already light outside, I go out to the lanai and read my Bible there. I would rather be outdoors anyway.

And at night I like to take pictures of the moon. 

This particular moon is called the pink moon.

My husband is still waiting for employment. I say waiting because for two weeks straight he has been in interviews every day and is waiting for an offer. It is a competition between three companies and five different positions. Since nothing has happened, yet, we really can't do much other than chores, grocery shop, and attend church. 

But for fun, we have been visiting the library and going to different parks. 

Sometimes we take Dodger with us.

And here is one where we saw an alligator in the pond.

We won't be returning to that one.

One night there was a frog or toad on the outside of my bedroom window. 

And a few times we've visited old historic downtown Plant City.

One early morning we decided to clean up our property. Since we have arrived, we noticed that the foliage around the property has been neglected and overgrown and covered with (giant) dead, fallen leaves. This is perfect for rodents and critters to hide. The landscaper pointed that out, as did the insurance investigator. 

We believed it to be too big of a job for us, and we wouldn't be able to haul it away; therefore, we asked the landlord if he would take care of it, but he only approved the front work to be done. So we took on the job ourselves. We did such an awesome job, and I don't mind saying so! It looks so nice. Granted, the job is not done, and we will need maybe three or four more mornings to finish the remainder of the work. 

But, at least we can see the ground now 

and none of the foliage is touching the windows or the house or the roof. 

I know we took away a lot of shelter for the lizards, but we had to make a compromise. 

Since cleaning everything up, they have been leaping and hopping and jumping around all over. 

I don't know if they are happy or freaking out!

Below is what we are up against when we return to do the side of the house. All of those dead palms and leaves have to go. When we are done, we will be able to see two windows behind those trees. 

It will look great.

Lots of work ahead!!

While doing this yard work, my husband jumped back when a small snake appeared out from under the dead leaves. We quickly looked it up and found out it was a docile rat snake. So the kids handled it for a while and then we let it go at the back of the yard. 

Regarding the yard work:

my husband and I dove into the yard work of clearing, raking, cutting, and sawing away at palm branches and dead leaves, and we were poked and stabbed and cut badly with thorns all over our legs and arms and hands, even though we wore gloves. One thorn even stuck into my temple. 

The next day we woke up with little swollen bumps where we were poked, and my husband's finger was badly swollen, he cannot bend it without hurting. Well, we just learned that some palm thorns are poisonous and may cause palm arthritis. Sometimes it requires medical attention. 

Now I guess we have to monitor our injuries to see what happens. 

But next time we will wear long sleeves and jeans when we do the work. 

One final point:

An important part of assimilating into a new community is finding a good church, particularly if you are a Christian. We found a Bible teaching church twenty minutes from us, and it has been a blessing. Not only does it feel like home because it is a lot like our church in California, but the families are so friendly and hospitable. We have already been invited to dinner numerous times, many families have kids our children's ages, and a large portion homeschool. 

Basically, God allowed us to find our people immediately!

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