Delphinium planted in the Naples Botanical Garden reminds me to buy some for my Northern garden.

It’s that time of year when things are a-changing for me. It’s that time of year when I move from my winter home in sub-tropical Florida to very early Spring in Michigan. This isn’t the first time I’ve made this change and probably not the last time I’ll write about it. I’m at the point in the process where I have to stop to think where I keep the sharp knives, the spoons for my morning cereal, my favorite spatula, and my whisk. It is the time when I turn on the bathroom faucet to a harder flow instead of turning it off because the faucets work in different directions at each place. It’s a time of achy body and exhaustion – for a little while until I adjust or the weather gets warmer.

And it is the time of shifting friendships. Most of the migratory condo residents had left before we did so I had to give good-bye hugs and feel the sadness of loosing them for a few months. We have lived there long enough to become close and really care about each other. We left a few behind who won’t be leaving until May and I worry about them becoming lonely – like I was becoming without everyone being there. I really appreciate that we have made close friends who will be excited when they see us next October or January. There is a bond that has formed and with that bond is also the price of having to say good-bye – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It is also the time of making connections with friends and family in Michigan. I want to see them all right away and that feels overwhelming but it must be worth it because I am starting to contact people and set up dates. Because people are so much more important than a clean house, my housekeeping will be done in little spurts. We are still getting things put away from the car – maybe next year we won’t take as much back and forth.

This year was complicated by my computer motherboard crapping out the end of March. What a pain! It seems like everything I need is on my computer and I had to wait until I came north to get a new one because the disks for my most used programs are in Michigan. I think that almost everything is loaded and working well, and I am once again feeling calm. I am also finally able to see and process the photos from my last two visits to the Botanical Garden.

The hardest part of not having a computer for three weeks was the loss of connection with people – some blogging buddies and some friends/relatives who are best connected with through social media. I wasn’t able to write any posts and missed reading what the people I follow are writing about. I have some catching up to do.

My take-away is that, even though I get stressed about the state of our government, the amount of violence in the US, conflict and migration around the world, and global warming, what is going on in my personal worlds seem to demand my full attention when there is unsettling change. Family/Friends and security seem to be getting more important, maybe even critical to my well-being. Something for me to contemplate.