One of the main things that holds me back from posting on here anymore is that Florida is a lot less picturesque than Montana, so I never actually have pictures to attach to anything I would write. But, this week I took some pictures of this new raccoon buddy who has taken up residence in our back yard, so here’s a post!
I’ve been living in Florida since November, but I’m considering these past couple weeks as the real beginning of my time here.
For one, I was home quite a bit around the holidays, so it more felt like I moved in and moved right back out back then. More importantly, I just had absolutely nothing to do for the past few months on account of having a checking account whose contents would have made my mother faint.
Now, however, I am finally employed, so I can actually enjoy myself again, at least in the time I have off. I don’t have a ton to say on work, other than that I’m really glad to finally be employed. The months where things started getting really tight were enormously stressful on that front, and also terrible since I couldn’t realistically afford to do anything, even though I had literally nothing but free time.
Now, even though I do have less time, I feel like I’m starting to settle into a routine for the first time in months. This is sort of stressful in itself, but it’s good stress that will come with much better outcomes in the long run. Only having a few hours of free time on weekdays has been really weird to work around, but I’m starting to get used to it. It’s going to force me to be much more intentional about how I spend my time, which is an objectively good thing, but right now it’s causing some weirdness since my brain is still sort of in “unlimited free time” mode.
My “New Year’s Resolutions but They’re Not New Year’s Resolutions Because Those are Cliché” list has been helping a bit with the free time thing. I tried something new this year, where instead of making some vague, long term goal, I gave myself quantities of things I should do to achieve my goals. For example, where I usually just say “get in better shape,” I instead put “Go to the gym 225 times.” The difference is that it gives me an action item, instead of a goal with no steps. The other difference is that I’m actually doing most of them having done it this way. I have a whiteboard up above my computer here, and I’ve listed all the different numbers I can count down to achieve my goals, and every day I can update which one(s) I did.
I tried to incorporate my hobbies into my resolutions, since honestly I’m super bad about actually doing my hobbies. This past week, I got my camera back out and just forced myself to take some pictures in a local park. It’s not quite the same as it was back in MT, but then again it’s good to get into the practice of creating opportunities to take pictures rather than just allowing the opportunities to present themselves to you. The former forces you to find beauty where you might not otherwise have, which is certainly a good thing.
That’s been a struggle down here, generally. Florida is… not the best this country has to offer. All of the qualms I have with this country (strip malls, suburbs, car based infrastructure, lack of public transportation, etc.) are not only present here, but rather Florida is perhaps the center of all of it. It’s everything the Boomers ruined all in one place. Plus it’s just so… flat. The only hill near me is a landfill. The highest natural point here is 350 feet in altitude, and the highest actual point is a skyscraper.
That said, there are still plenty of beautiful things here, you just have to look (a lot) harder for them. For example, a couple weekends ago a couple friends came down and we went to Silver Springs State Park. It was absolutely gorgeous. We kayaked around the St. John’s river, and for the first time I was able to see alligators and manatees, along with a bunch of other various birds and turtles. The water was perfectly clear, so we could see manatees, fish, and turtles swimming around below us.
It’s things like that that sort of force me to remember that there are nice places everywhere, it’s just that in most places, people and nature unfortunately don’t really coexist. Still, it’s something, and it’s always there whenever I’m willing to look for it, and should be more accessible now that I can actually afford to go for a “non-essential” drive.
Overall, life has been a little tough lately, and I’m still stumbling a bit through the transition into my new job. Still, I think that things are starting to look up finally. I should be able to go out if I want to now, explore outside of my immediate surroundings, and start going to concerts and sporting events again. The Phillies are in spring training just across the state in Clearwater, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to go over there soon!
Song of the Week:
The Line 
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