LIVING IN TALL COTTEN
By Duncan
I’m blessed with wonderful friends. Today, you find me living for a few days in a plush, expensive home overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
I’m on the back deck, porch, veranda, or whatever it's called. Most people in Florida call it a Lanai. It's afternoon, and I’m enjoying an adult beverage and doing absolutely nothing. How did the Hawaiian term “Lanai” come to be used in Florida?
Well, it's not hard to find out; I picked up my Samsung S-23 cell phone and asked. “Where did the name Lanai come from?”
Lanai is a feminine name of Hawaiian origin that embodies reflection and a sense of place. It is largely attributed to lānai, representing an open-sided "veranda" or "porch." While the meaning may not appear profound, in Hawaiian culture, Lanai is associated with kicking back and embracing life.
Jim Tsareff - Laptop.
And what is a vacation all about? Embracing life! This is my second day at the rental. It’s an easy day here. The weather is a little chilly and windy, requiring a light long-sleeve shirt, and I’m more comfortable with long pants on today. I tried the shorts but was slightly uncomfortable with the chilly wind blowing up my who-ha.
Last night was a lovely experience. Jim decided it was time for the hot tub. He cranked the temperature to 103°. He invited female companionship, and we fixed pina coladas—more than once. I enjoyed two but didn’t keep track of the others in the hot, bubbling water. The lights were very low, so we could watch the stars move across the sky. Not a cloud in the sky. The heavens opened up and displayed a magical exhibition. It was way after the witching hour before I reached my bedroom.
The hot tub is red, and the pool is blue-green.
It is a hot tub with a different color palette.
For those who might not know about a pina colada, it is a cocktail made with crushed ice, white rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and a beautiful bright red maraschino cherry on top. Anyone who knows about the pina colada knows it's also very tasty with a scoop of ice cream. Have a blender handy. Perfecto.
Sitting across from Jim the next day, I asked him if I had embarrassed myself last night. You only need to look at Jim's photograph above to understand the answer. I need to tone it down.
As I was enjoying the sun and the view of the Gulf, I received an email from Sean. I won’t use his last name, for I don’t think it’s necessary. Sean and I were neighbors in Magnolia Landing for a couple of years. He and his wife, Vivian, moved on, and I don’t see Sean as much as I would like. His message was sad. His wife had cancer and had just passed. “She will be missed.” Sean wrote.
I sat still, overlooking the water. I didn’t know his wife all that well, but I had met her a few times enough to remember what she looked like. I sent him a note and tried to imagine what he must be going through. I looked over at Jim sitting behind his computer. Jim had lost his wife a few years ago. It’s tough to lose a loved one. I attended the funeral of my dentist and his wife and my dental hygienist, Diana. She was a pure joy to know. All around me, people are passing.
I looked down at my scotch on the table before me and thought, “I’m living in tall cotton.” I have wonderful friends, and I’m alive and in good health. Here I am doing what I want: going places, seeing things, enjoying life. Maybe I should feel guilty. I have no right to feel guilty. I have a life, and I can live life my way. I have repeatedly said what Steve Jobs said at a graduation commencement class of 2015, and it came back to me in a flash.
Steve Jobs
“If today was the last day of your life, and you knew it was the last day, how would you live it?”
I thought about it. If today was the last day, what would I do with it? My mind recalled a motorcycle pal who stopped riding with us altogether. We kept asking him to join our rides, but he decided he wanted to sit at home all day and watch TV. And I will admit I was a little upset with him. I was judgmental about him and had no right to be.
I thought, you mean you will finish your life watching other people live their lives? Don’t you want to have a life of your own? That was 20 years ago, and I still remember him sitting in front of his television. I remember thinking that’s not how I want to live my life.
But I had to recount years later. Life can be full of different experiences, even if you don’t leave the house. We read books, and they take us to another place. An acquaintance of mine, David Patrick Columbia, who writes the New York Social Diary blog, is an avid reader. He preaches “read.” Television can do the same thing. It allows us to go places we can’t get to in person. I tried to think, was I being too harsh about my friend? Allow people in this world to live their own life. And they will allow you to live your way.
What about sitting next to a large body of water makes me feel small? By small, I mean here I am, one little amoeba on the face of this planet. Last night, as I looked into the night sky in the hot tub with a pina colada in my hand, I realized this planet is just a tiny dot in the universe. I will come, and in a short time, I will go. It all began in the water.
Something crawled out of the water (says science) billions of years ago. Or can I call the water our “motherland?”
DUNCAN
I had to move to clear my head and escape my thoughts. I went to the second story of the home and overlooked the neighbor's house. Last night in the hot tub, Jim told me that the house behind me in the picture above (next door) was selling for $5.500,000.00. Again, “I’m living in very tall cotton.”
Dinner is scheduled for tonight out of the house. I’m going to save that story for the next post. Live your life your way. And I’ll try to do the same.
