Marathon stay ends

     We are just a few days away from starting north and leaving Marathon. I usually do an enroute update once we get to Annapolis. We'll see. 

     After my mid-winter update blog entry we really haven't had very much happen. No adventures. We like no adventures. A lot. I mentioned learning to play pickleball in December. I played twice per week with the occasional third time. A lot of fun. And addicting. We had a tournament amongst us all and I was doing well. Until. I tried too hard to rush the net and I pulled a calf muscle. Ouch. Very painful. I had to skip some playing days, wrap it with an ace bandage and then I limped a bit for a week. Getting old.  Getting old hurts. Sigh. I also played softball a few times. I used to play a lot pre-lymphoma. It seems I get more soreness and strains playing softball. Sticking with pickleball. 

     In January I got a message from the University of Miami health system asking if I wanted the Moderna version of the Covid vaccine. We said yes but had to rent a car to drive to Coral Gables (130 miles) to get it. It was very organized and a quick in and out with only minor side-effects, arm soreness and a slight out-of-sorts feeling for a half of the next day. One month later (February) I got the second shot. This one had worse (but more locallized) arm pain and I slept the entire next day while feeling totally out of it. One day. Acceptable. I also combined that trip to the mainland with my every-six-months CT scan. After effects of the barium drink and the radioactive iodine injection may have contributed to how out of it I felt the next day, not just the vaccine. I also spent a good portion of our BJs shopping stop on the way home in the rest room. Figure that out yourself. BTW: CT scan results: very good. 

     In January while doing some underwater boat maintenance I encountered a very large Black Grouper. These are a bit smaller than Goliath Grouper but it still was at least three feet long, probably 3 1/2 feet. About 1 1/2 feet high, too. Big. I was able to touch it with my scraping tool without him reacting much. I was NOT going to use my fingers! I'm rather attached to them. And want them to stay that way. When I touched his tail he had enough and wandered off. At his size he probably does not have predators to worry about, least of all me. I was not quite as unimpressed as he was. 

     A few times since January we had the chance to meet up with Gwyn, formerly of the catamaran 'Ala'. Carol started to join in playing Mah-Jongg with her and others once a week. Too complicated a game for me. And little chance of getting injured. What's the fun in that? 

My new friend, Casey. 

     We are leaving a few days sooner than we wanted to so we (we hope) beat some sporty weather that is coming. Sound familiar? Yep. Once we get to the Miami area we have to wait a bit to go to my every two months injection appointment. After that the weather is forecast to be okay for a while. Forecast. We'll see. So far out it is more like a weather guess, not a forecast. As we start north we have no work schedule or appointments (after Miami) for the first time in many years. It'll be nice to have a relaxing cruise. We'll see if that actually happens.

     We had a surprisingly good time here in Marathon this winter season. Some social activities were cancelled and we skipped a couple due to our Covid precautions but we were still involved with the community, played some sports and got some time walking the hammock at Crane Point. We also attended a wedding on the bow of a boat while we watched from our dinghy (see top photo). Winter here was way better, and safer, than we thought it was going to be. Our lifestyle and retirement income keeps us mostly safe and comfortable. What else is there?