Sunday

Today dawned clear and bright and warm; one of the reasons we come to these parts in January--the abundance of Vitamin D, something that is sorely lacking in the wintertime in the northern climes.  A few years ago, during a routine physical exam, my doctor told me that we Northerners are chronically behind on our Vitamin D levels, particularly during the Winter.  He told me that I should move to Arizona and work in lawn care. Having a desk job in Michigan just wasn’t helping in the Vitamin D department.  It can have a dramatic effect on the mood also.  Seasonal Affective Disorder really is a thing.

So I’m doing the next best thing.  I left my desk job and have been trying to go to someplace warmer and sunnier each Winter, and volunteering in Florida certainly fits that bill.  Even while I was still working, we would try to go someplace south, if only for a few days, to break up the long Winter.  I usually managed to piggy-back off a business trip and would try to arrange one in January or February that I could extend.  Then I would have Deb fly out (or even Deb and Abigail for some trips) and we would explore for a few days and enjoy some sunshine.

So, Florida, Arizona, Texas, anything with sunshine in January works.  And this trip is no exception.  The weather so far has been great.  Today it reached a high of about 78 so we were able to don short sleeves and go bike riding.

First, though, since today is Sunday, we found a nearby church, the First Baptist Church of Groveland and attended there.  Sunday without meeting together in fellowship with other believers is just ... well ... not right.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
Psalm 122:1

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

It just wouldn’t be right.

One of the other SOWER couples, Bob and Debi, joined us, so even though we were strangers, we were with someone we knew (for a day or two anyway).  Great sermon on the 25th and 26th chapter of Acts, about how Paul was a witness to kings and rulers, and how, during a trial by King Agrippa, Paul set a pattern for how we can be witnesses to others.

We had lunch in a local park with Bob and Debi, kind of an impromptu thing, but since we are tortoises and carry our house on our back, we had all our supplies right there in the RV.  Nice conversation on a sunny day in a nice park near the church.

After we left the park, we drove to the Showcase of Citrus, a citrus farm that gas gone totally to agri-tourism.  For those of you who are local to us, think Robinette’s. The place was busy and offered all kinds of ways to part with your money, including a claim to the world’s largest 4x4 vehicle, a monster truck thing that you could ride through the orange groves.  In the pavilion, someone was singing country songs rather loudly, and everyone had to shout over the noise.  The path in was flanked by animals in pens that you could feed with stuff that was bought in the pavilion.  The ostrich was one of the more interesting ones.  He posed for my picture then threatened to reach through the fence and peck the phone out of my hands.

We had thought about picking some of our own citrus fruit, but decided that this was not the place.  It was expensive and the samples really weren’t anything to write home about.

We stopped at Lake Louisa State Park since it was right on the way back.  This park encompasses several lakes and preserves around 5000 acres, probably a good thing, because there are massive developments springing up all around it.  Florida is quite a busy place and appears to be getting busier.  We rode bikes for a while on some of the trails and roads in the park and then headed back to the camp for dinner.  Work starts tomorrow so I guess we gotta turn in on time.