Becoming accustomed to blazing sunshine amid whispering palm trees and a cooling breeze beside a pool is not the most unfavourable condition to have to endure. Granted there are interfering moments when the balmy wind subsides and the noontime radiance approaches the burdensome.  But one mustn’t complain of these natural transitions between ceremonial commitment and the fleeting passage of white clouds provoked by the North Atlantic Ocean only steps away.

My dedication and engagement is of a twofold consequence; namely, a shallowness of purpose and physical limitation (the latter being no more acute than the accommodation of decomposition of my knees, the first of which awaits scheduled surgery in May next). Which is to say the mainspring of my indolence is no more honourable than the fortuitous currency of my being. Yet the indolence is by design; and for this reason alone it merits a creditable though admittedly unusual approbation. It isn’t often that I have had the supreme advantage of nowhere to go, nothing to do.  This is a singular opportunity. I fully intend to profit by its indisputable privilege. Oddly its familiarity demands a portion of application.  It’s not easy being lazy.

The proper exhibition of lethargy is paradoxically governed by many of the same elements which distinguish a conventionally more fruitful end; namely, perseverance, repetition (sometimes tedious) and planning (in my case, getting a comfortable chaise longue correctly positioned directly into the sun). This putative enterprise demands loyalty to its target. Once undertaken the project is no less meaningful than any other of greater ambition. The reason?  Both objective accomplishment and casual experience are dependent in the end upon the treasure one attributes to them. I remind you, Dear Reader, that the  goal of indolence is not for the faint of heart. In fairness I should perhaps disclose (if it were not already transparent) that deriving a compass of magnitude from one’s circumstances of any nature is not without its degree of exertion and employment. It is thus at least that I excuse my daily compilations of admittedly tarsome and monotonous ventures. And they may have, for me if for no other, an historic value.

An exemplification of my unparalleled resolve in the performance of my sluggishness is today’s endurance of a screaming infant which young parents (seemingly ravenous to entertain the child) brought to the pool and mistakenly presumed instilled the same delight and tolerance in others as it unquestionably did in themselves. Forgive me but there is a place for infants and aside from being with their grandparents, it is not among poolside septuagenarians in Florida beneath a blazing sun. Ours is instead a highly modified atmosphere, reflective of an ambience of tranquility and abstraction. There is invariably some competition for this refined ether (by someone who for example conducts a prolonged conversation on an open phone) but predominantly the circumstances are conducive to complete relaxation uninterrupted by anything as vulgar as youth or activity.

It will no doubt please you to learn that I reclaimed the full vigour of my indolence by afterwards tricycling about the neighbourhood to the extent of 4.43 Km (which reflects the minimum average daily achievement of the past year). Lately – as I did once again today – I have extended this remedial ambition by punctuating my poolside languish with a swim in the sea. To speak more openly, I am especially prompted in this instance to swim in the sea because of the minor bruises and abrasions I recently suffered when I fell at end of the other boardwalk to the sea.  I was obliged to apply waterproof band aids to the cuts and scrapes.  Not wishing to lapse to the impropriety of swimming in a public pool with possibly open wounds, I have opted instead for the sea. Parenthetically while at the pool I address my need for cooling by taking a shower in the very convenient coral construct located at the pool. In fact I find the shower there more refreshing than the chlorinated water in the pool. As for the swim in the sea this afternoon, it was the Sacrament of Heaven!  I bobbed up and down for a considerable time.  The water was satiny smooth and warm, with easily perceptible levels of coolness in the moderate depths towards the marker buoys. The salt flavour of the sea water was delicious too. Coincidentally when I regained my seat on the picnic table by the shore, a gentleman told me he had seen a Nurse Shark swimming nearby him. He said it was about 3 – 4 feet long.

Nurse sharks are an important species for shark research. They are robust and able to tolerate capture, handling, and tagging extremely well. As inoffensive as nurse sharks may appear, they are ranked fourth in documented shark bites on humans, likely due to incautious behavior by divers on account of the nurse shark’s calm, sedentary nature.

Finally I must address the raison d’être of these peculiar ambitions; namely, to fulfil whatever enjoyment is within this enviable resource at hand. It would amount to an unforgivable misadventure to dilute or ignore the propitious moment. My own record discloses that I have waited for two years to acquaint myself even to this limited scope with Key Largo. Someone yesterday remarked to me that I had successfully unveiled a certain feature of Buttonwood Bay. I cannot now recall the particular detail but I do remember having said that it was the consequence merely of having submitted to daily life and allowed myself the occasion of discovery when opportune to do so.