Lessons from Florida & Notes on Travel

We almost never get to Florida. On our last trip, we cut through a small corner on the drive from Saint Simons Island in Georgia to Harper Lee’s Alabama grave. But it felt fitting to post this photo today while thinking about Florida, our readers in the state, and what transpired over the past week.

Good morning, dear reader.

It’s another stunner here in the White Mountains. Yesterday was chilly, but this morning, it was cold at daybreak. We woke up to 34 degrees, the first morning below 40 here. After clouds in the latter half of Wednesday, we are all blue skies with hopeful white clouds. Leaf peepers should have a grand day for photographs.

I sit here reading and watching news reports from Florida about how the latest hurricane played out. I’m grateful to have heard from some of our Floridian readers and relieved they chose to offer updates. I’m crossing my fingers that as they get outside today, they continue to remain safe and find that property damage is nowhere near as bad as they feared.

After what they’ve endured this past week, I cannot fathom what it is like to live in Florida and the Deep South. My prayers have been constant. Nevertheless, it still seems overwhelming.

Today, my main takeaway is how proud I am to be an American.

That’s not always been easy, especially over the past decade, when we’ve seen so much ugliness stand in proud defiance while it used to be hidden away. Today, I celebrate the reports about how mayors, members of Congress, and the Governor of Florida have worked in stride with FEMA and the President of the United States. Mayors on both sides of the political divide seem genuinely shocked that our President reached out and left him his personal cell phone number.

This is the America I remember as a kid. It was never perfect; it
could be unsightly and unfair, yet we banded together in times
of strife. We came together for the good of those in need.

More people are safe because both political parties in the state of Florida decried conspiracy theories that endangered citizens and were meant to enrage the voting base. Election Season is always Crazy Season. I saw this even in tiny Newburyport, as I reported on it every two years. However, this year, it’s far worse than it has ever been.

Despite the divisive influence of social media and tribalism, there are moments when we come together and get it right. These instances of unity, however fleeting, reassure us that there is hope for a more harmonious future.