Lost in Time

My cable TV service carries three Florida network stations, all on Eastern Standard Time, an hour ahead of me. Sometimes it feels as if I am living in two time zones simultaneously. For example, sometimes I have my 5 p.m. cocktail twice. I watch BBC International News, as well, and they only mention the time occasionally, and usually from London, Singapore and Washington DC.

My whole body clock has been reset by the near-instant darkness of nightfall in the tropics. Back in Pennsylvania, during the summer, it doesn't get dark until about nine. It is eternally summer here, but the sun goes down at about 5:30, and in fifteen minutes, it is dark night!  I have almost always been an early-ish riser, say, 6:30-7. Here, I awaken at 4:30 or 5, and I am ready for sleep at 7 p.m.

In retirement, I have found that "the weekend" is almost meaningless. No more M-F schedule. I do try to keep track of the days I am expected at the university, where I spend four hours available for tutoring English writing. But honestly, if I do not check the date and day on my computer first thing, I easily lose track of what day it is.  The days pass and there have been quite a few "senior" moments when I was absolutely clueless about when in the world I was!

At this moment, I am acutely aware of the date because my sister Mary Mary is due to arrive in about three weeks to spend her Christmas break with me. I am quite fraught with emotion and excitement, really. I am eager to show her my new country, of course, but just to be in the same room, talking face to face, well, I am bursting with anticipated happiness!

I guess I am truly lonely for family. Mary Mary sent a few pix of Thanksgiving dinner at our sister Anne's home, which also included two of our brothers.  Of course, I spent Thanksgiving waiting for a hurricane that barely showed up. I looked at those pictures, and I felt my isolation most keenly.

So, on the day after Cyber Monday, I spent a few hours buying and shipping my modest Christmas presents to my family and friends. I used Ebay, mainly, because I am boycotting Amazon (they're on the list of companies that sell Trump merchandise), which sadly lacks a gift option. So I sent requests to all the dealers I dealt with asking them to include my name and holiday greetings. Who knows if they will condescend to help my giftees to make sense of the thing they receive from me?

Happily, I did feel better connected after this activity. And I have only three weeks before I am hugging my sister and getting all the family news and bitching about Trump and eating lobster and going fishing... It's going to be grand!