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I spent ten hours yesterday packing and moving in the humidity and heat - 86 degrees with a heat index of 93!  Bless Gloria for supervising the two worker bees, several  chromosomes short between them, while I went in search of a truck to rent. They loaded it all up and then we took a 2-hour break. MISTAKE! When I met them to unload at the storage place, it was obvious how they had spent their time off. Beer fumes were oozing out of their pores. Then they saw they were going to have to go up a flight of stairs. Not happy. So, I pitched in and the three of us, drenched in sweat and alcohol fumes, got the job done. I have too much stuff. I let go of a little more every year but still . . . So today, more packing and then schlepping everything I forgot to pack yesterday over to storage. The forecast for the coming week is the same. This is why I go north in April. I am so over Florida.

Anyhoo, I wanted to show you what I and three of my BFFs were up to a couple of days ago. Did you know the African Queen lives in Key Largo? Yes, the real thing. We took a little cruise on Wednesday.

When the boat came in, there was a couple aboard in costume. He even had a bottle of gin and she had a bible.

 Maria and Captain Wayne strike the pose, just like Hepburn and Bogart.

Ok, so flash forward and Florence and Sue came over to help me pack up for the season. Their assignment? To go through two huge boxes of pictures that I've been dragging around and afraid to look at, and get rid of any of he who shall remain nameless.

sorting through pictures

Sue asks Lucy to come up with a stick for the fire and she obliges (really! It was amazing!)

Sunset comes as the pictures burn

Florence brought over her fire pit and it was perfect for a little ceremony. Watching the pictures curl into fire and smoke and letting some of my angst go up along with it. When we were done, I broke out the white sage and we smudged ourselves to get rid of all the bad juju that came from looking at those pictures. It was so good.