Alive and well in Naples

Yes, I am alive and well. For those who wondered where I've been, all I can say is changes are in play which are a fair logistic challenge and making my head spin. We have bought a house in Naples, a mile away from our condo, in the community that we have come to love, and are in that fun process of mountains of paperwork, inspections, etc. towards closing. In addition, I'm sprucing up the condo to get it ready to put on the market for sale, so I'm not sure if I'm coming or going at the moment. We are very excited about the house and can't wait to move in (early March). In the end, condo life is not really for us. I want privacy and more space, and Mark wants his pool and grilling. Yeah, I know, no surprise on that grilling thing. And no worry, Star Mountain is still in the picture as we plan to always have that. Naples is lovely, but our heart and soul are in those mountains...

So here I am, at least for the next few weeks, not doing all those things I love. Beach, writing, photography, watercolor painting... Tis okay, there's a wonderful goal to reach at the end.

Namba

We have made it out to some of our favorite restaurants and trying some new. You have to pay attention here, there are new restaurants that open every couple of weeks. We popped into a new ramen/asian place (Namba) nearby that's getting a lot of hype. The chef trained under Morimoto, the famous Iron Chef on Food network. Tiny little place but excellent ramen with the magical 17 hour broth. We'll be back of course.

The weather is lovely here, and along with the in season masses, are tropical birds of every type. They know when the fish are schooling as they should since its their food for survival, and lots of diving, splashing, honking, and squawking. Our lake is always a fun place to watch the activity. We are losing the water view by moving but drinks on the patio by the pool are a good substitute.

And finally fairly regular sightings of alligators. It's something to watch out for here. Mostly they stay away from people and don't actually eat that often, but nothing can be counted on. After all we can't have a conversation with them to find out what the heck is in their mind.
I'll try to get back to a better posting schedule. Just imagine me with a paintbrush (the wall kind) in one hand and a checkbook and pen in the other.