Here again!

The time off was great. Did not realize so many changes could take place in a week's time. Our eldest son had the rare chance to actually go about and chase ducks and other flightless birds of all kinds that had found their way into the backyard of our vacation home. Our second son decided to get a little naughtier and decided to eat less of the kind of food that he is supposed to and instead took up a singular leaning towards the kinds we eat. In the larger scheme of things, Florida is one giant vacation state where Main Streets of most towns have been spruced and glitzed with an insulated sheen that shows little of the 'real' underbelly. On doing some behind the glitz driving through back roads we found a rustic Florida that thrives silently under the tourist onslaught with proud horses, swollen cows and pink pigs grazing by the countryside on miles of verdant farmland. Of course, one could not do too much of such rustic driving for fear of the shock absorbers giving way and the eleven month in the car seat dictating our stops. On returning to New Jersey, it looked like someone had taken a giant paintbrush and painted the trees and the lawns green. The leaves were just immature bumps when we left and they are so much fuller now. Having cut ourselves off from television, newspapers and the internet for a week was therapeutic to a degree that I did not envisage. Of course, one could catch snippets of the real world hurrying by in rest stops, airports and the occasional restaurant banter. It is good to be back home.