I love being in warm places. I love being hot. I like sweating and everything that the rest of my family dislikes. They like the snow and I prefer the sand. They like air conditioning while I’d rather have a warm breeze. They like the rain and I love the sunshine. For the most part, they like shadows and shade and I like getting a nice sunburn. (Accidentally, of course.)

Tomorrow, I get to go back to the place I consider to be my real home state — Florida! To me, there is no better place to be. While the politics of the state don’t impress me, they have nothing to do with me, and while the seemingly high levels of poverty are sad, is there a better place to be poor? We are spending five days at Disney World, where I will stock up on fine china at the Japanese pavilion in EPCOT. I will guzzle down a Grand Marnier slushy at the France pavilion. I’ll ride the Haunted Mansion a thousand times with the family. I’ll enjoy the sunshine and the crabby tourists. I’ll enjoy it all — as I always do.

Then we will head to the most beautiful beach along the Gulf and I will bathe in the sunlight. I’ll pick up shells, and I’ll buy shells, and we will eat the most delicious chocolate cake. Will the French bakery impress me this time? Who knows?

If my plan goes accordingly, I won’t be returning home, but will live out the life of a well-to-do bum until the winter weather plays itself out here at home and I can come back and work on the garden and pretend the snow never happened

That probably won’t happen and I’ll be back in a week, but, a boy can dream.