Early this morning a long-standing friend from Toronto, Ontario (Canada) emailed me to quip (at my expense) about my nonstop reference here on Key Largo, Florida (USA) to what she suggested I call the “azure sky and golden sunshine”.  She was right to do so. I crawl in response to the asseveration. Today was another such day; viz., clear blue sky and burnishing yellow rays.

What I hadn’t the opportunity to do in response to my friend was to explain that my incessant reference to the idyllic weather is not intended to be either boring or repetitive (and most certainly not to show off); rather, it is to fulfill what I consider my moral imperative – foremost to myself and second to whatever ineffable supreme being there may be in the great beyond – to acknowledge this daily magic which I know one day, perhaps sooner than I now care to imagine, will be ephemeral and wistful only. Oddly it was my dear friend’s gentle rub which indeed reminded me that I mustn’t take for granted my current fortuity, that the simple pleasures of atmospheric beauty are not to be underestimated.  She pressed the point by alluding to the comparatively dreadful weather and lack of sunshine recently endured in Toronto (although she gleefully added that the prospect for improvement is on the horizon).

I must also emphasize that the current majesty of the weather is singular to Key Largo; that is, the weather here is not to be compared to that of my northern homeland.  As much as I relish the summer in Ontario (especially in my tiny rural hometown of Almonte with its abundance of bucolic bliss), there is no disputing circumstances here; namely, the colour of the sea, reflecting the sky, glistening in the blazing sunshine. Several years ago before COVID-19 precipitously struck our universal agenda, we had made arrangements to winter on Key Largo.  Those plans were scuttled because of the pandemic and the related cross-border restrictions between Canada and the United States of America.  It continued however to be my one incomplete ambition to go to Key Largo.  When at last we arrived here on or about November 6th last it was the proverbial dream-come-true for me. I literally felt each day that I had to be pinched, the more so because the weather was so decidedly superior.  Almost every day – with only welcome exceptions for much needed abatement of sunshine – was the weather superb. Importantly what also lingered from my memory 45 years ago when I first visited the Florida Keys was the emerald colour of the sea. It is quite impossible fully to capture the delight of the weather and the sea here.  Our sojourn in Buttonwood Bay Club has also been agreeable; the people are friendly and the opportunity for fulfillment of exercise (swimming, walking, cycling), fishing, snorkelling, sailing, enjoyment of hobbies and socializing are nonpareil. And don’t get me started on the Key Lime pie!