Halloween in Sarasota? I went 
with my costume (worn to deliver Meals on Wheels, attend a Fallcrest Circle block party, and hand out Trick or Treats), a swim suit, and long pants. After all, it was frosty in Spokane when I left. Longtime friends from kid-raising days in Kansas City live in a gated community, eat healthily, exercise regularly, and are ingrained in the Sarasota community. Other 
than a few grey hairs, I didn’t see much change in either of them. Marcia volunteers, collects plants, black cats, and tea cups; Buzz serves on boards, reads Wall Street Journal, and goes to the real estate office daily. They’re both avid readers. I finished Jimmie Carter’s An Hour Before Daylight in spare moments. The only must on our calendar was a “Wit and Wisdom of Aging” luncheon to benefit Pines of Sarasota, a facility where 75% of the residents are on Medicaid. The co-chairs had gone all-out with a panel of a retired Circuit Court Judge (METV “Through the Tunnel” was a recent project), clown Ginny Daly (direct marketing to worldwide movers and shakers plus Rails-to-Trails Conservancy), and NHL winningest coach Scotty Bowman (“10% is what happens to you; 90% is your attitude toward it”). All recounted stories about aging and praised The Pines. Contributions poured in as we enjoyed exceptional food. I wondered if Mom would enjoy living there.
Our first morning’s challenge was to open the garage door without electricity in a rainstorm. We borrowed Buzz’s car and made the rounds an hour late. That left 
two hours to walk Siesta Key beach. White sand there feels like walking in powdered sugar. The afternoon sky turned cobalt with silver lining the bottoms of white clouds. Seagulls liked it too.
Sarasota Magazine mentioned a penguin exhibit at MOTE Marine Laboratory, so we were off! We communed with sharks, skates, octopi, manatees, sea turtles, and grotesque fish large and small. The senior guides at various stations shared an impressive amount of knowledge. Lunch at The Salty Dog was fish, of course. 
However, Sarasota’s
big news was its fourth annual Chalk Festival. We watched pastel artists covering pavement with 3-D street art and heard exerpts from “Madame Butterfly” performed on one chalk backdrop. 
So the normal next step was to call for Sarasota Opera tickets; it didn’t disappoint. Cio-Cio-San’s tragic life touched our hearts, Pinkerton made us hate his weakness, and Sharpless had our sympathy as they sang their hearts out in Italian. Subtitles helped. Three days without defined plans filled our time with Sarasota’s best experiences. We went to Turtles for crab-filled shrimp and filet oceanside to avoid cooking one evening, another memorable taste of Florida. Too busy to put even a toe in their pool, and all without a schedule! I returned to snow in Denver 
and icy wind in Spokane. Across Thompson Pass, I drove in slush. Mountain rams were eyeing their conquests in my driveway as I turned home, glad I went and glad to return. What wonderful places this country has for enjoying life!
