If you’re ever planning a trip to Florida, October is the time to come! (If you’re planning a theme park visit and want to have no lines, October is good but the week after Thanksgiving weekend is the time to come. Theme parks are totally empty. When Dana was still employed by “the rat” I would go out there almost every day during that week. It was nice, peaceful. I could enjoy the Christmas decorations, the World Showcase, etc. But…. I digress….)

I love October in Florida. Its the closest thing we get to Autumn before the rainy and dead-plant month of November arrives. November isn’t all that bad down here but October is my favorite. Probably because it is such a welcome change…. the humidity fades, the nights get a bit cooler, (high 60’s…. hey…. ya take what you can get!), you can turn off the a/c and open the windows, the sunlight changes it’s angles (Dana will probably tell me this is summer solstice or autumnal something-or-other…. he does the farm report… not me. The sunlight looks different… that’s all I’m sayin’!).

Anyway, I was all jovial and happy on September 30th. The sauna was shuttin’ down, life was gettin’ better. And then…. cruel twist of fate… nothing changed. We’ve had record highs, record humidity. That’s just wrong. We’ve made it through high 90’s and 98% humidity, heat index of 105 or higher by telling ourselves “hold on baby, October’s comin'”. Now we’re just ripped off. But… what’s that I hear?

Well, there’s a cold front en route to Florida. October is on its way, it should be arriving sometime this weekend (fifteen days late!). I can’t wait. The breezes have already arrived, they just choke the breath out of you with the humidity. But the humidity fairy is gettin’ a whoopin’ this weekend and she’s outta here! Wa Hooooooooooooooo! Time to dance naked in the street again. That should be pretty. I can see the headline now…. “Bald Headed Leper Dances Naked in Streets of Oakland”.

In football news, that preschooler that FSU has playing quarterback seems to have gotten his act together. (She says with a cautiously optimistic, albeit suspicous, tone of voice.) Now the real test…. will we remain undefeated after we face the UVACaveliers? I haven’t been touting the FSU successes much because, quite frankly, we’ve been playing pretty easy teams. (Except the Miami game). If we beat UVA, I might actually start to believe the FSU I know and love is back and the Chris Rix nightmare is behind me. That would be a lovely introduction to my delayed autumnal bliss. We shall see. (Low Humidity + Lower Temperatures + Sunshine + FSU wins = What a weekend!!!)

If this keeps up our drive from Florida to Washington is going to need to take a pit stop long enough for me to watch FSU in a DECENT bowl game. (i.e. not the Citrus Bowl, not the Fiesta Bowl…. a DECENT bowl game…. DECENT). That always makes me think of my favorite Steve Spurrier quote (man, I miss those days… Spurrier… throwing the visor and headphones… those were the days!).

The Gators bombed out one year and ended up having to play in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando (not exactly the bowl you want to be invited to but its better than no bowl invitation…. but just barely.) Anyway, after winning the Citrus Bowl, Steve Spurrier told a reporter that UF is never going to stink bad enough to be in the Citrus Bowl again. Fast Forward one year. UF…. in the Citrus Bowl… exactly one year later… (I’m sorry Steve, where were you never going to end up again?) and not only were they in the Citrus Bowl… they got their tails kicked. That score was horrible…. total Gator meltdown.

Dana and I were on a plane that night heading for LA. When we got to California and saw the news, I so regretted that we missed that bowl game. It would’ve been so fun to count how many times Spurrier tossed the visor, the headphones, cussed out players, etc. (and just a teensy weensy bit of fun watching Dana yell at the Gator players hoping for (begging for) things to improve… when we all know they won’t.) Yep. Those were the good ol’ days!

Well, off to bed…. and some knitting.