When I first arrived on Longboat Key about three years ago it captivated me as magically as Hilton Head Island. As with most things the subsequent familiarity has somewhat dampened the original gusto. Yet for the most part – aside from having accustomed myself to the patina of the sidewalks – it still holds an irrefutable strength quite beyond many other places.
We intend to continue our geographic descent southward next year when we’re booked at a place in Key Largo. The Florida Keys have a reputation for being Bohemian, a character which I admit appeals to me. Since I have pretty much now abandoned wearing long pants – and because we haven’t been to the symphony for years – it suits me to dissolve into a more relaxed atmosphere. Longboat Key, even though it hasn’t an overt sense of formality, nonetheless preserves an indisputable rigidity not so readily apparent on the Lower Keys.
How long we will be able to continue these six month sojourns in Florida is anybody’s guess. Given my unpredictable health issues I am not betting on it. The knowledge that the privilege may be short-lived does at least heighten the pleasure – not to mention nourishing my general determination to do whatever I can to augment my enjoyment of life on every possible level . Currently this translates to authorize the purchase of Lincoln’s latest model. The automobile industry like everything else is undergoing noticeable change – specifically the diminution of sedans and the skyrocketing of SUVs and cross-overs. Initially I refused to embrace the alteration (which should come as no surprise considering I am as stubborn as the next person) but I have grown into it quite willingly of late because I recognize that the new vehicles have the latest technology. Technology is the one ingredient of modern society which always wins me over.
What primarily deterred me in my transition from sedans to SUVs was their preposterous size. They are essentially a reiteration of light trucks, station wagons, carryalls and off-road vehicles – which means they’re of no apparent use to me. My idea of carting goods is limited to putting the groceries in the trunk. I am not even sure I like the idea of placing the goods where they can be seen through the back window.
In any event it doesn’t really matter what I think. I am more driven by the perceived need to remain au courant. As hopelessly retail as that may sound my experience is that in matters technical there is no denying the speed of change; and the longer one delays, the more difficult it becomes to adapt.
While I’m on the subject of things that propel me, it is inescapable that these blogs of mine – what in the days of pen and paper and later typewriters were initially my “diaries” (now an archaic term not even surpassed by the more dignified “memoirs”) – are a source of perpetual delight. I have often thought of them the same way I think of playing the piano – that is, a pleasing diversion. As well there is an imperative in the enterprise – a prescription for sustained mental comfort.
Years ago – probably about the time I began typing my stuff on a computer – I destroyed all the diaries and various scribblers or ledgers I had written since about the age of 14 years including the productions in undergraduate, law school and during the first years of my private law practice. It represented an inconsequential loss. Their importance was confined to the act of doing, not what was done. Recently I have undertaking a moderately similar evolution by amending some of my prior compositions. The plain truth is that not every observation is worthy of publicity. In matters of opinion it is best to be governed by the Golden Rule. Unless one is being paid for a legal opinion, the probability of one’s views mattering a fig is slim. More to the point I haven’t the stamina for controversy. I find it so unsettling. Having said that I accept that I am by any account an inveterate old fool. Which means that I am slow to forgive and forget – though as constantly I attempt to accelerate the task. I am never convinced of my success in doing so in spite of occasional eruptions of magnanimity.
The sequel to this behaviour is that I am driven to complete privacy or utter mendacity. On balance those options are for me more tolerable than having to bear the consequence of a candidness which some might find disturbing. I hasten to qualify this blanket observation by clarifying that I am not here discussing anything criminal or lascivious; rather just everyday comments which arise for equally mundane encounters. In the hands of skilled authors it is these identical trifles which constitute the substance of their composition. Perhaps they insulated their detail by rendering it in a fictional vernacular. I on the other hand have trouble distancing myself from reality which makes any attempt at supposition less plausible.
These ramblings have I trust proven my point about the favour I attribute to writing. I acknowledge it is tarsome for the reader but it fulfills an odd need I have. I won’t say it satisfies a creative urge – that may be going too far – but whatever it is or does, for me it works! Such are the adventures on Longboat Key!