August 18, 2005

Anticipation

I can hardly wait for the Aspens to turn gold, for the Maples to turn red, and for the snow to fall. Every time I step out of Florida air conditioning into the Floridian sauna, I think about somewhere cold.

My mind goes to cool evenings on a Wyoming hillside, watching deer at the edge of a forest. Sunset at Oregon's Cannon Beach, with gulls pirouetting above the stacks. And even a foggy morning in Orlando, when the humidity is lower than a swimming pool and the temperature fits into the bottom half of the thermometer.

To "anticipate," means "to imagine something before it happens and make any necessary preparations or changes to be ready." If I lived in Minnesota that would mean I should get the sweaters out and sharpen the snow shovel. But I live in Florida, so anticipating Autumn simply means finding ways to enjoy Summer---just a little bit longer.

Here are four things I've found worth doing, "while anticipating."

1. Try a new smoothie flavor. The team at Season's Cafe in Celebration Health make Orlando's best smoothies. Any flavor will do! Choose. Buy. Sit. Savor. Smile.

2. Sit in your favorite chair. At home, in the kids' section at Nordstrom's, on the back row of the new Lynx depot, or on that ragged old bench down by Lake Eola. Any chair will do, as long as it's not in your office. :) Sit. Think. Sit. Snooze. Think some more. Sigh. Smile.

3. Eat a fresh peach. Or nectarine, mango, apricot, plum, or some other squishy fruit that runs down your chin when you take a big bite and savor the succulent sabor de azucar while trying to find a napkin large enough to care for the delicious drip. Try Publix, Chamberlin's, Whole Foods, or your friendly neighborhood fruit stand. Select. Wash. Admire. Bite. Drip. Smile.

4. Play with a child. Babies are best. Choose a seat near a friend whose child is a bit restless. (Shouldn't be too hard to find.) Begin making faces at the little one. Add a little "boo" behind the back. Play puppets with a napkin. When the laughs begin you will have made at least three people happy. "Boo!" Smile.

See. The heat's not so bad! :)

Dick Duerksen
Assistant Vice President
Mission development
Florida Hospital