It was shortly before seven o’clock this morning when I awoke.  One of the prescription drugs I took at 2:00 am had apparently worked its augured soporific effect. I wasn’t overly drowsy though.  Because I had retired not long after nine o’clock last evening I didn’t want to spoil the uncommonly restful night by overdoing it. Besides if I linger too long in bed it only cements my arthritic ribs which then oblige annoying effort to regain something resembling mobility. As it was I alternately bended and stretched through my ritual morning ablutions which include swiping clean my iPhone to remove fingerprints. And soaping and brushing my pinky ring to maintain its brilliance (though its days are waning: I have arranged a meeting with my jeweller soon after our return to Canada). Last night before going to bed I cleaned the lenses of the spectacles I intended to wear this morning.  My new “granny glasses” had already been cleaned yesterday afternoon when I removed them upon feeling the irritation of the cable temples to which I have not yet fully adjusted; otherwise I approve of them even with the limited graduated prescription (the consequence of small lenses).

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Communicating in the electronic age is fascinating.  And for an old fogey such as I it is often a test as well as an enlightenment.  I preserve my quietude by aligning with what I believe – and hope – are not catastrophic alterations to my existing context. One mustn’t disturb the drying canvass. It is reminiscent of how I felt when translating to computers from fill-in-the-blanks printed precedents in my law practice.  I recall thinking at the time that there was no need (or, by implication, any value) having to go to all the trouble and expense of buying a computer and learning how to do that!  Ha!  That didn’t last long!  Thereafter I was buying new updated models of computers yearly or more frequently as the industry commensurately propelled its endless improvements.  In addition I subscribed to technological software advancement on the market for the law profession.  Unknowingly I was among the first to conform to the new business model. Lawyers can be so intractable!  It proved to be an ineffable leap from memory typewriters and fax machines to computers and email.  And with what unprecedented speed it unfolded! Before long I was burning years of handwritten diaries, casting aside leather-bound binders of typewritten pages and opting instead for the cleanliness, convenience, presentation and accuracy of computers both at home and at the office.

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What it is that calls forth an ideal day such as today I cannot explain!  Perhaps it is merely the favourable complement to the tarsome day that preceded it.  Per chance, last night’s better sleep. I hadn’t a fever yesterday but I couldn’t then escape the looming misery of old age. Until this morning that is. Whatever it is, everything was elevated today. From the moment of awakening at 7:00 am (though in truth I lingered beneath the covers for 15 minutes or so). Let us say – grâce à my erstwhile physician – the turmeric, magnesium and vitamin D3 kicked in! It’s all a mystery! I lingered over breakfast at my makeshift study table far longer than I had expected. It was shortly after noon, after my Tylenol Extra Strength dose, that I pushed off to the bicycle rack, having first doffed my sweater and undershirt, leaving only the Polo and cotton shorts, woollen socks and boat shoes.  Ready for a ride on the beach!

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At the time, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) warned that “Robert Bork’s America (“Originalist” or “textual” interpretation of the Constitution) is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, Blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”

 “originalism,” the idea that the Constitution should be interpreted only as the framers had intended when they wrote it, an argument that focused on the creation of law at the state level

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Our interest in local matters is waning. We’re very close to having exhausted all that we wished to have accomplished. Precisely three weeks from tomorrow we’ll be headed back to Canada. As the crowds begin to erupt here the proximate environment is increasingly less brookable though admittedly we’ve been spoiled by enviable serenity throughout the winter. It is what we anticipated would be the case.  Frankly I’ve become preoccupied instead with the domestic agenda which awaits and which has by design incrementally mounted over the past several weeks.  There are objectives which can only be fulfilled on home turf. As well we spoke today with a dear friend in Toronto and have begun planning a get-together in the middle of the summer. Our projection is now predominantly forward-looking.

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Almonte, Canada
Avocado toast

There is always a hearty welcome upon arrival at Palmetto Bay Sunrise Café. The staff are universally pleasant and cheery. The coffee is good and strong. We start with Avocado Toast – a singular recipe matching anything as far flung or exotic as Australia which boasts its own special native supply of avocado pear. Whatever follows – in our instance French toast and Atkins Diet stuff (eggs, bacon, sausage and cheese) – is invariably tasty and fulfilling. The restaurant is located adjacent a yacht club and marina so there is a lovely nautical flavour to the place. Dress as you are, relaxed atmosphere. Tripadvisor

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Unequivocally I had intended to spend time at the pool today.  Last night, in recognition of my advanced age and associated (incremental) decomposition, I had resolved to “take it easy”. That meant, lounging by  the pool and swimming.  Swimming was the alternate to bicycling. And because the weather was predicted to be favourable – mostly sunny with some cloud beginning early in the afternoon – it all bode well for my project.  Afterwards I would entertain my photography hobby by attending the yacht basin on the other side of the condominium.

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Things began accelerating precisely at 7:30 am this morning when after a night of rambling reflection I sprung from bed determined to begin the day. It was a half-hour later than usual but with some application I knew I could meet my eight o’clock deadline for the car wash. Nor was I far off the mark. It was 7:59 am when putting on my shoes after having showered, shaved and dressed. With the recent time change I am back to coping with the rising sun directly in my eyes as I head out in the car along Lighthouse Road to Plantation Drive past Lawton Stables and Sea Pines Forest Preserve to Greenwood Drive and then the roundabout.

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The much touted sea breeze is not to be diminished.  Although the wind today was from the southwest (that is, from Sea Pines Beach Club towards Coligny Beach Park), I chose to cycle on the beach in the opposite direction with the wind in my face, not at my back as I would customarily have done.  It was a brilliantly sunny day and the sea breeze of 8 km/h was welcome and relieving.

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The “Great American Songbook” is the canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century that have stood the test of time in their life and legacy. Often referred to as “American Standards”, the songs published during the Golden Age of this genre include those popular and enduring tunes from the 1920s to the 1950s that were created for Broadway theatre, musical theatre and Hollywood musical film.

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