2 Weeks

There are two weeks now remaining before I move to Manhattan. I'm more excited than ever, and I've dreamt almost nightly about the city and how my life may be for the next few years. At the same time, I've been thinking more about the things I'm leaving behind in Florida. Most of them are things I'd gladly put down a giant garbage disposal if it were possible--the unbearably moist heat, St. Augustine grass, mosquitoes, the Florida Mall, Sand Lake Rd. traffic, tourists, and FSU fans. I will miss some things about my current home, but very few of them are inanimate. Here is a brief list of Florida features I'd take with me if I could:

1. My family
2. My friends
3. My dog
4. UF athletics
5. Orlando International Airport
6. Fishing

NYC has two very large airports, but neither of them compare to OIA's cleanliness and comfort. I thought for quite a while about this list, and while there are other aspects about Florida and Sunshine-state culture that I enjoy, none of them are absent in New York. I'm quite truly not a fan of our Florida weather, but I do love the change of seasons, colorful falls, and snow. I enjoy many of the ethnic cuisines available in Orlando, but to say these won't be available in NYC would be ridiculous.

After putting together this list, I've focused on each of these 6 items while I can still enjoy them. I've been to the airport a few times in the last weeks, my dog and I play for at least 4 hours daily, I'm well-read on UF preseason practices, and I've spent as much time as possible with my loved ones. That leaves fishing, which I did yesterday. My dad and I took the SeaSpirit II out of Daytona Shores for a half-day trip with hopes of bringing home dinner. It was a much slower fishing day than normal, but we did pull in 9 fish total. In fact, we were more foturnate than most people on the party boat. There were two guys, though-buddies, it seemed-who raked in at least 16 fish, including a large flounder and a huge cobia. The cobia chased down one of their yellow-tail snapper, and one of the ship's mates hooked the beast with a long pole and hoisted it into the boat. The cobia thrashed around until the mates smashed its head with a baseball bat to ensure quick death.

I made the mistake of saying I'd clean the fish myself rather than having the crew do the deed. I've filleted fish before, but for some reason these snapper proved difficult to skin, and the bones were impossible to remove until the fish had been baked. Anyway, freshly caught fish is a meal I enjoy more than any other, and there's something primevally satisfying about catching, skinning, and cooking your own food. Here's a photo synopsis of the trip:

The dock just after sunrise:















The day's "keepers":















A couple of my snapper:















Very tasty dinner: