It's beginning to look a lot like...

Well, in all honesty, it's beginning to look a lot like autumn. Leaves are turning yellow and red here in the Tampa area. And even though we have had some cool and some downright cold temps (yes, compared to the average temps here), we still are having some warmer and sunshine-y days. And tomorrow I will be golfing with "the girls" (none of us having seen girlhood in 50 - 60 years) and I am hoping it is warmer than the predicted upper 60's when we tee off.

So finally got some Christmas cards written and addressed. Since this is a more metropolitan-style community than Duluth, there is a marked absence of mailboxes. The mailbox (L tells me it is a "snorkle" box) closest to us is across the highway - 6 lanes with speed limit of 50 mph -- and if you want to cross that road as a pedestrian, you risk being a statistic. So ya gotta hop in the car, and wait and wait to nose into that traffic. Three lanes each way, and I hafta go east (right), then in less than a block, cross three lanes to the left-turn lane, make a U-turn (it's legal at that place) and then cross three more lanes (westbound, this time) and make a right into a parking lot. And I did that just before 4 pm. Only to find that this mailbox has ONE pick-up time -- and that WAS at 10:30 am.

Click HERE to see the map. I enter at the green B, go right, U-turn at Osprey Lane, go left on 54, and then right turn into the parking lot. Most traffic is going 50 mph-plus.

Geez, all I wanted to do was get some Christmas cards in the mail. So BACK in the car and a drive up to the Land o Lakes (yes, that is the name of the city) post office. Technically, we live in Land o Lakes (by geography), but our mailing address is Lutz. L, my former postal employee guy, says that is because our mail is routed through the Lutz post office. Lutz, btw, is pronounced, LOOTZ.

If you want to see our humble winter abode, zoom in on the satellite map a bit. We are at the corner of Pond Drive and Lake Drive (far right side of the rv park), in the northwest corner of that intersection. If you zoom in enough, you can see our F350 on the Pond Drive side, and the Rav4 on the Lake Drive side. Hah -- it's official. It's on sat-tuh-lite!

Now I'm looking at two small boxes that need to be mailed. I'm afraid that this good idea of a few presents will be costlier than what we have invested in the gifts so far. Since it would be nice to have those gifts reach the recipients before Christmas, we may be paying a premium price for this procrastination.

I have set an alarm for 2:30 am, in case we decide to see the lunar eclipse. Maybe I'll come to my senses and just turn off the phone's alarm and go back to sleep.

And since the Vikes have gone down in defeat in this Monday night frost-box game, it's time for me to close up operations, too. 'Night.