Festive occasion

After completing our early morning grocery shopping at Publix today we ventured along Harbour Drive past Fisherman’s Trail onto Ocean Shores Drive to Key Largo Fisheries Market · Café · Marina on Ocean Bay Drive. We bought stone crab claws for dinner tonight.  The server cracked the claws and stored them on ice in a plastic bag. This constitutes the primary element of this evening’s festive meal which will include – or so I am led to believe –  pasta, garlic, double cream, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Italian parsley.

Key Largo Fisheries

Parmesan is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. Parmigiano Reggiano is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (Parmigiano is the Italian adjective for Parma and Reggiano that for Reggio Emilia). In addition to Reggio Emilia and Parma, it is also produced in the part of Bologna west of the River Reno and in Modena (all of the above being located in the Emilia-Romagna region), as well as in the part of Mantua (Lombardy) which is on the south bank of the River Po.

If all that weren’t enough to get your salivary glands whetted, there is Key Lime pie for dessert. The backdrop to this inordinately indulgent meal was a spectacularly beautiful day of ceaseless sunshine, azure cloudless sky and 77°F. I spent the day predominantly by the pool, languishing on the chaise longue in the torrid sunshine. Having exposed myself to the scorching rays for over a month now, and having discovered SunBum premium moisturizing SPF 50 sunscreen lotion, my leathern carcass appears to have survived any particular damage.

The Perfect Gift for a Happy Birthday!

74th birthday 2022 @ Key Largo, Florida, USA
L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
b: December 11th, 1948

My birthday gift is having you,
Just knowing you’re by my side.
I haven’t need for other things;
Without them I can abide.

My birthday gift is having you,
I see you sitting there
Intent upon your inner thoughts;
You’re the one for whom I care.

My birthday gift is having you,
You’ve always looked after me.
I can’t imagine life alone
Or without you who I’d be.

My birthday gift is having you,
Your quietness and resolve.
It was indeed a lucky day
We connected like two cogs.

My birthday gift is having you,
I’m thrilled we’re going there
To sit by sea and eat as we
May choose of any fare!

En route to Louie’s Backyard for luncheon in
Key West, Florida
December 13th, 2022