Gainesville Green

As I write, I'm sitting at a kitchen table in D2's newly rented house. She and 3 sorority sisters took possession yesterday, and D2 and I schlepped up the Turnpike and I 75 with a bunch of stuff to move her in. Actually, she's not going to be living here until August, but a sub tenant will be coming for summer session, and D2 promised her the place would be furnished. The drive up was fine. D2 and I talked about life and all it contains. She's at a great place, as the Buddhists would say --smack dab in the middle of her college years, with a fine boyfriend and wonderful cast of friends. The night before, I was at a law firm birthday party --my friend John's firm turned 15. A bunch of Gators were there, and they reminisced about their years in Gainesville in the late 70s and early 80s. I loved my time at the U, of course, but there's nothing like being in a real college town for college. D2 and I put together her bed, and I popped in some drawer handles for her. Then we drove around picking up various pieces of furniture that had spread over the years since D1 was in Gville. We ate burritos at Moe's. I slept the great sleep of a young person. It was nice to be far away from the problems of my ancient mother, and Wifey's aging parents, for awhile. Today, Catherine is coming up with her Dad Chris, who has an aging pickup truck. He and I will go pick up (ha!) the Craigslist sofas the girls bought, and plop them into the living room. Apparently Chris will then undertake, with his daughter, some IKEA furniture assembly. Like Gunga Din, he's a better (and braver) man than I. Ashley hired a handyman to mount the used flat screen the girls bought from a fraternity friend. He's here now doing his thing. Nice fellow - a little older than I, originally from San Francisco, and he was telling me about his grandkids. He, like my partner Paul, reports that he looked forward to having them, and it's BETTER than he expected. Are those days so far off for me? My first trip to Gainesville was, I think, 1982. Eric, Barry, Mark and I slept on Mark's friend's Debbie's floor. Eric's now a cardiologist, Barry's an academic pediatrician, Mark's a neurosurgeon, and Debbie is a bankruptcy lawyer and Mom who just beat breast cancer. 30 years ago, we only cared about the Canes beating the Gators (the didn't -- a circus catch near the end of the game led to lizards to victory) and drinking and partying. And fate brings me back to this college town again and again. First D1 had four years here, and now D2 is in the midst of it. It's really a very pleasant trip...