Glad to see them come, glad to see them go. In this case I’m not just talking about visitors to our house. We have a three-day maximum for them. Strictly enforced. But in this case I am talking about tourists who fill up our hotels and restaurants during December through April. They have gone back up north now and what a difference.
We can drive on our formerly clogged roads now with ease. We can get seats at our favorite restaurants. Hey, look, parking places.
It’s not that I don’t like our snowbird friends. In fact I really like many of them. And I am so grateful that they have returned to infuse our businesses with much-needed cash after our 2024 hurricanes. I will be delighted to see them again in six months or so. But in the meantime, ahhhhh.
In other news, the Cores have to get our house tented. Yep, bugs come with living in Florida. Lovebugs currently swarming around our house, and termites. We were told it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when we would get them. The when apparently is now. We have been seeing wings and frass on our furniture and windowsills. If you don’t know, frass is a more polite word for termite poop.
So, sometime next month Geiger’s will cover our house with a big tent and spray gas into it to kill the termites. Obviously, we will have to move out for three days. The signs outside our house will read “Caution, deadly poison.” It’s a little unsettling to know that it will be life-threatening to enter our house. Also, when Geiger’s tells us it’s okay to go back in, it’s going to feel a bit scary. It won’t be easy to forget that Deadly Poison sign.
Finally, as I write this the Rays are one of the best teams in baseball. They are exciting and fun to watch. ESPN selected them for a nationally telecast game. And how are our fans reacting? Alas, not well. Drawing as little as 11,000 people to the stands. The worst team in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, attracts more fans than that. Sometimes in the snow. If we want a big league team in the bay area, we have to start acting like big league fans.
So take you out to the ballgame!
Chris Core is a former Washington, D.C. radio and television personality who now lives in Pass-a-Grille. He is a winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism.