America, September 3, 2001
A Long Weekend in Vero
Grabbing at the last bits of summer
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I can't believe it. It's the end of Labour Day weekend, and I'm yet again stuck inside a flying steel tube. Where did this summer go? It seems like just yesterday that I was looking out the office window while working on a major presentation, wishing I could be enjoying Memorial Day. Then, in a flurry of flights across the pond, long days at the office, and too-short weekends at the pool, another summer is gone. Wait, it is not really over yet, for the days are still hot, the nights short, and I'm headed back to work after a weekend baking on a Florida beach. Friday, as I sat in the office, lamenting my lack of planning that threatened to make me one of six people stuck in DC for the long weekend, I got an inspiration to check out an interesting website for weekend getaways, www.site59.com. Their cheapest deals were flights to Orlando, which got me thinking about heading down to see the 'rents. Ten minutes and $200 later, I was on the phone to Ma, telling her to pick me up from the Melbourne airport Saturday afternoon, thanks to the only discount airline lying from National Airport, Spirit Airlines. Too bad that my folks, who could cross the planet without a hitch, now get lost in small Florida towns and were ½ hour late in picking me up. Nuladna. Sunday I got up uncharacteristically early (ie: before noon) and ran with my folk's running group. Thankfully, Dad isn't doing marathons these days, for that's a long distance to live up to, but he still runs longer than my 5k sprints. Mom, nursing a hurt knee skipped the run for a morning swim in the ocean. After our dawn workout, it was off to breakfast, and our egg, sausage, and pancake rewards. Mom took me to the Vero Book Center, for a rare treat: book shopping. I ordered a number of Chinese-American books for Jingmei and bargain-binned a few good beach books and classics for myself. Now that I'm mature enough to understand 'em, I'm reading the classics that I either Cliff Noted or outright skipped in school. My current reading: The Communist Manifesto and The Wealth of Nations. Fun eh? Since this is Zero, I mean Vero Beach, nuttin happened Saturday night. Monday, in celebration of Summer, I did all the things I missed out on this year: I washed the car, worked on the truck, visited Dad's new workshop, cleaned the camper, oiled the fishing reel, and rewarded myself with an afternoon on the beach. As an added bonus for my quick decision to head south, my cousin Eric and his new bride stopped by for dinner. They are in Florida this week on their honeymoon, and after reaching theme park overload in Orlando, they are headed back to Chihuahua, Mexico, where his mother (my father's sister) lives. I guess I am really lucky this weekend, for I had the ultimate American Labour Day: fun, sun, and food with good my family who also happen to be my friends.
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