Florida adventures

Yesterday my 7-year-old cousin Alice and I did something I had never done before in my life: make Easter Eggs! Grandma hard boiled the eggs for us, then allowed us to dip the eggs into colored cups of vinegar to add color. The process was harder than I had anticipated! I used my hands, which was a mistake from the beginning. My Aunt Sally taught me how to use a crayon to write on the eggs, so I made one with HOPE and another with an M for Michigan (school appropriate colors were used, of course).


Today Alice had a grand adventure: Easter Egg Hunt! Hordes of kids, mostly tourists, traveled to Palm Beach Shores Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Alice was by far the most thorough and faithful egg hunter present. While the official hunt lasted for perhaps 150 seconds, Alice combed up and down the walkways in the park for well over 20 minutes searching for eggs others had missed. Her persistence paid off: she found several discarded eggs as well as one other filled one. I enjoyed watching so many kids and their parents come out from their condos and houses for the hunt.

My t-shirt of choice today is my green Fishtown shirt. While I was standing in line for ice cream at the egg hunt conclusion today, the lady serving asked me if the shirt meant Fishtown Pennsylvania. When I responded positively, she told me she was from Logan, just a bit north of Fishtown! Her demeanor changed from being pleasant to very interested in me and my shirt. The world continues to shrink.

Yesterday Grandpa and I went golfing. (yes, that makes twice in one week for me...a new record!) I think I could get better at golf if I did it more often: at one point yesterday I had 9 consecutive bogeys! For an experienced golfer, that's no big deal, but the consistency I showed really encouraged me.

The weather this morning was perfect for a run, and I took advantage of it! I ran for over 50 minutes, which is the longest I've ever run. I estimate that I ran 6 miles as well, which would also be a record for me. A soft breeze combined with 62 degree sunshine made the scenic jog fly by. No wonder the Florida teams are dominating college sports right now!

Communication with my folks has informed me that Holland has several inches of snow right now, which happens to be a quarter of the way through April. That's not so bad, except when you consider that my family just left 85 degree weather...

Have you heard of the book Freakonomics? Several people in different circles of my life mentioned it recently, so I borrowed it from a friend in homegroup. I finished the book this afternoon after starting it on my flight over here. Steve Levitt, the economist, brought up several controversial arguments regarding analysis of various issues. While I disagree with some of his numerical assertions, I very much enjoyed Levitt's style of writing and candid opinion. He doesn't have an agenda except to make connections and figure out how things work! Since I like learning about that kind of thing, I very much enjoyed the book.

Tomorrow morning we're all rising for a sunrise service on the beach! I'm very excited about this, since I've always heard my grandparents talking about how they see it every year. My flight leaves at 4:15 tomorrow afternoon, so depending on how Alice is feeling, we might catch two services. If all goes according to plan, I'll be back in Philadelphia by 9:40PM.