He is Risen! Happy Easter!

 What a strange and wonderful Easter Sunday this was. We got up and put our best boat clothes on, called an Uber and went to Easter service at a Lutheran church about 3 miles from here.  It was a “Hoovervillesque” experience to say the least and I hardly know where to begin to tell you what it was like.  The people, and let’s be honest, most of them were elderly woman - very few men, were very welcoming and friendly and we had lots of time to chat because we got there very early.  We thought we might have to get a seat early, but there were 31 people in the sanctuary - Tom counted… Turns out that their actual membership is 17 people.  SEVENTEEN!! The church was in bad shape until the Catholic Church down the street closed and those 5 people along with their Priest joined them.  The priest participated in the service and wore a huge head dress like a cardinal which confused me.  We had brunch with the members in the fellowship hall following the service and the priest sat with us.  He shared that he has a husband and will be moving to Portugal soon due to his severe allergies.  Can’t make this stuff up…

The food was actually quite good and Tom couldn’t resist asking where the lime jello was, since it was a Lutheran event, and he was told, “Oh, the gal who always made it just died”. Penny was the lime jello queen, so no more of that, but her family left the church her Wurlitzer organ which now sits in the fellowship hall. Another gal joined us at the end of her meal and she is from Long Island and comes complete with the accent and colorful stories. There are many more stories that could be told but you get the idea.

Our Uber ride home was an interesting one too. I thought we never would get into the car because our driver kept pulling into the car wash next to the church.  Finally, after a couple of phone conversations we connected. He was probably in his 40’s and during the 7 minute drive proceeded to tell us that he got cancer during Covid, had 5 operations and hospitalizations without any visitors and contemplated jumping off the high bridge we drove over on our way back to the marina. His Psychiatrist talked him out of that, and he says he is cancer free and drives Uber for the socialization. I was never so glad to get back onto our boat!

The weather was perfect today and we spent the afternoon cleaning the boat inside and out. Tom had Steve help him check the strainers which have the sea water flow through them to cool the engine and air conditioning pumps, and they found a couple of jellyfish in them because the water in the marina here is full of them. Yuck! I actually made a simple Easter dinner of ham in the crockpot, au gratin potatoes in the toaster oven and a green salad. Not bad under these cooking conditions… The evening was capped by a nice after dinner walk on the boardwalk, where we saw lots of cute lizards of different colors, and a cold drink up on the flying bridge to watch the sunset.

Steve and Julie will be leaving us tomorrow to drive back to Naples and eventually fly back to MN. They have rented a car, so when we leave the marina in the morning they will be waiting for Enterprise to pick them up. We are so grateful that they have been here with us and have been such a help and such good company.  We have had fun adventures and a lot of laughs and I feel more physically and mentally ready to continue the loop with just the two of us now.  I have figured out what I can and cannot do while rehabbing my hand, and it’s going to be ok.  Different, but ok. I still have so much to be thankful for!

Moving north tomorrow!!

                                                        Dewey waiting for his Easter dinner.