Ahoy!

The duffels are packed, and in a few hours Wifey will awaken, and we will drive to Port Everglades for a sea cruise. Finally, I'm starting to look forward to it.

Have I become that jaded? Up until now, I hadn't given this trip too much thought. I only packed last night, while I watched the Gators lose ANOTHER SEC game. They'll probably lose all of them this year...

I thought the reason for my malaise is that I'm not working too hard, and don't really "need" a vacation, as in years past. But Eric, who DOES need one, from dealing with the single most obnoxious patient population known to medical science (angry, bitter, old Boca Jews, with money) feels the same way. I spoke to him the other day, and he hadn't given the trip too much thought, either.

I'm sure this is nothing a few martinis deckside, as the horizon stretches out for miles before us, won't change...

Melville's Ishmael said that when he got depressed, and bored, it was time to go to sea. I guess I have the opposite problem; I'm fully content here in Miami.

I live in a tropical garden, with interesting and quirky neighbors. They run the gamut from rich to REALLY rich.

The Ds are on terrific tracks, and we all savor each other's company. D1 just booked Thanksgiving dinner at our favorite hotel, and this year we'll share that with her boyfriend and his family, coming in from Indiana.

D2 is loving college at UF.

Wifey and I approach our 25th anniversary, and incidences of my picking up a machete and threatening to use it are on the decline.

She has never cooked, which means there is little opportunity for her to poison my food --though I have no doubt my incresing crankiness, and OCD behavior, gives her those fantasies from time to time...

So there's little need to get away, I guess...

Still, the sea beckons. I have finally fired up the Kindle the Ds bought me for Dad's Day, and plan to give it a thorough sea trial over the next week...

Snorkeling and Segways await in the Virgin Islands, as well as a tour of the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, assuming our new friend's brother, who is a rabbi there, is in town.

Eric and Marc will have their telephoto lenses polished and ready to extend off the balconies. Last cruise we took, each of their "lens envy" was a running joke that never grew stale, at least to my junior high level sensibilities...

So ahoy, Allure of the Seas! Swab the decks, hoist the main engines, grill the steaks, and chill the vodka. We'll be coming aboard in a short fathom or two...