The loneliness of the long-distance commuter

What is a symbol of what became central in our lives sits almost alone in a hotel parking lot. Our trusty Land Rover Defender served its purpose magnificently. Three return trips between Florida and Colorado reinforced how versatile this SUV truly is. It left Florida empty and returned from Colorado packed to the gunnels. Even though we had successfully professionally moved the bulk of our remaining possessions stashed within the confines of our Colorado condo, it still required those three separate return trips to move the personal effects we simply didn’t trust to movers.

Nothing says finality as much as hanging inside the condo our last sets of keys and then closing the front door one last time. The click of the latch, a hollow reminder that for two plus years, this was our abode whenever we visited the children and the grandkids. Being able to literally hop around the corner to where they lived but the upside of this soon lost its tarnish as we put mile after mile on our vehicles. Given our preference not to fly, placed a toll on any enjoyment we subsequently experienced. Life on the road is at times a lonely one with the only value arising out of the moments where we can share a conversation or two without the world interrupting us with its incessant noise. 

 “Be faithful to your own taste, because nothing you really like is ever out of style,” according to designer, Billy Baldwin. “A room should never allow the eye to settle in one place,” said British designer, David Hicks. While these folks stated the significance of good design, Margo and I cannot really argue with them as this has been paramount in the design objective we have pursued since moving to Florida. It’s not that we don’t like the Key West vibe – it does show up in select accents we have deployed – but overall, we wanted to reflect on the global influence that the mix of contemporary that is in vogue today with the art décor period of the early twentieth century we have come to like. In small amounts, mind you.   

Decorating the wall backing the media center flanked by urns and dried flower arrangements – something I know my mother would have done as she was prone to displays of dried flowers back in our Sydney home and in our local gospel hall. Pairing speakers seemed appropriate too even if only one left and right were connected. Then the art décor cocktail cabinets which are now more display cabinets than repositories for liquor, highlighting as they now do our collection of glassware together with the numerous glass carafes we have collected over the years. 

Looking back at our entry foyer, there’s more glassware making a statement. Our decorative fireplace is of the floating variety and the glass objects d’art include a background blown sculpture element with a more traditional vase in the foreground. Greeting you upon entry is the sculptured console table that is titled, Stepping Outside the Box. These placements go a long way to better tell the story of our lives together. It would be so easy to label as being nonconformist, but that only tells part of the story. Given almost every situation in our lives, including the time we spent in corporate America, we were always ready to step outside the box whenever new ideas were first presented.

Leaving Poland behind her, just as her advanced education was about to be completed, and travelling to the US was a very brave move. For me, finally leaving Australia behind me in 1989 required far less bravery on my part but even so, we are both immigrants at a time when making that stretch move doesn’t come with the same degree of positivity that it once had. Catch a plane, board a boat, hitch a ride – it all seems well, so pedestrian. And yet, for the time when we stepped outside our comfort zone, it seemed to be the right thing to do. We never truly comprehended the cost but the price we paid led us to each other and the rest, as they say, is history. 

The west by northwest edge of our pond is finally being the subject of the final build-out of new homes along the street adjacent to our street. The style that has become synonymous with Key West is being showcased as it has for all the homes built in Latitude Margaritaville, Watersound. Capturing the style of the first location of the Margaritaville restaurant in Key West shouldn’t come as a surprise to any prospective new home owner. With a plan to build 3,500 homes in stage one (and we have just passed 2,500) means retailers are coming to the community.

The Publix supermarket is building a new center on site and we already have a bank, golf cart supplier, a dentist, a nail spa and most recently, a dermatologist. A pizza shop is being fitted out as are several other stores. I am hoping that there will be a true deli providing good bagels and coffee along with more traditional deli fare. Who knows, the famous corned beef on rye sandwich (a Reuben Sandwich) might soon become available. It’s fine to have a Margaritaville themed Latitude Bar and Chill in our town square but Margo and I are seeking more variety than just a cheese burger or fish and chips.

Looking out through our lanai and beyond our pool and spa, we still have the view of the pond and much more. The houses hopefully will add their own pool, spa, surrounded by the birdcages that many new homes, including our own, erect to keep out insects, frogs and everything else. Having said that, our pool cleaner pulled a very small cotton mouth snake from the pool where it had been swimming. Not that I object to visits by the native fauna but it’s not the only sign that we are encroaching on their habitat but today, a photo appeared of a neighboring street that featured a black bear having its way with a wheelie trash bin.

At this time of year, eating al fresco is recommended. The temperatures may be in the high 80sF late afternoon but under the lanai’s canopy, it is mild. And we did install an outdoor fan. For now, it’s been hamburger patties and sausages (snags, in the Aussie dialect), given as we have spent so much time on the road. Now we are settled into our one and only home, there will be a number of steak and pork items added to the larder. Any opportunity I have to grill my own marinated tri tip steak will be gladly taken as for Margo and me, this is one of the most flavorsome cuts of steak anyone can purchase. 

We have just parted ways with the dining nook furniture we had purchased when we were renting a place during the building of our house. Featured now is a mix of glass, chrome and white upholstery. Further evidence of the contemporary theme we are pursuing for the betterment of our house transition to a home. As for the chooks, this pair of chickens has been with us since we built our first home in Niwot, Colorado. Almost thirty years old, their presence is neither an example of contemporary or art décor but rather, pure kitsch from when we decorated that first kitchen in the style French provincial.

As we walk around the home, checking the contribution being made following the hanging of all our pictures, now completed only this week, those lengthy, lonely, cross-country transits are well and truly behind us. It is clear to us that we have settled in a place that will likely carry us through to a chapter we are not looking forward to – a loss of independence, if you like, as we are wheeled into a true retirement care facility. Until then, it’s grilling on the lanai, taking a plunge into our hot spa, shaking a cocktail from our stylish cabinets and simply relaxing as afternoons ebb into evenings. At last, the time to shake off the dust of the day is leaving us relaxed, far removed from the cares of the world and for that, we owe it to just how well we transformed a semi-manufactured house into the home we now love!