Anne is up now. After attention to morning necessaries, we each grab a cup of brew and head out into the early morning for a driveabout to notice what we can from the the vantage point of the roads. We always do this with the windows down, as it is as important to hear and to smell as it is to see and to notice.
Sometimes we travel so slowly that we get in the way of those headed from someplace to somewhere else. To them that is what is important, to get from where they've been to where they're going as fast as they can. To us today, the destination is not that important. The journey is our purpose. And we pull off often to get a closer look or maybe to just listen for a while.
The late summer wildflowers are magnificent this year what with the somewhat cooler weather and the rains. The ditches are again full of water on both sides of the road. The wetlands that have been sprouting woody growth and scrub the past couple years or so are now again flooding. The frogs and their choruses in spots drown out the other sounds. It's funny how a heavy rain can sprout the frogs overnight where there were none before.
We find a spot along the road, both sides, beyond Fowler's Bluff and near Camp Azalea Road just down from Tommy Usher's that is noticeably rich with an abundance of wild flowers both in number and in kind.
It is time to head back, to prepare the meal to take to the Parent's house in Dunnellon. Dad turned seventy-nine a month ago and Mom turned eighty this Saturday a few days back. And now on this ordinary yet very special Tuesday, they celebrate their sixtieth anniversary together married to each other "for richer or for poorer and in sickness and in health," and believe me, they have seen their share and more.
The eye of round from the Market is roasting in the oven. Alongside are potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. I have to go outside once in a while so I can come back in to enjoy all over again the smells. While the roast is nearing done, we make some ambrosia, and cook a large saucepan of fresh cranberries. You can imagine the combined aromas.
Armed with the meal and Mom and Dad's favorite fudge from John's Candy Shop, we go to Dunnellon for a very enjoyable afternoon with them, a little reminiscing about the past, a lot of talk about now and the future, and about dark, we leave to find our way back to Cedar Key.
It was another refreshing, ordinary, special Tuesday in a succession of days all of which are refreshing, ordinary, and special, except that this one involved a once in a lifetime experience with Mom and Dad and Anne and me, a very satisfying sixtieth wedding anniversary with some great people thankful to have been where they've been and to still be enjoying life to the fullest.