Have you noticed that the daily blinding downpour is back? The kind of rain that comes out of nowhere, then 10 minutes later, it’s gone. It’s the time of year when you walk outside and feel like you’ve entered the sauna; where all the weather reports include the words “feels-like temperature.”
Isn’t it great? There is a certain comfort in noticing these familiar things that pop up more and more. I couldn’t quite put a finger on why, but here’s a theory.
These days we are pushed and pulled from all the voices and noise — the media news, the posts, the tweets, the streams — that remind us that our lives are forever changed. But if we stop paying attention to the noise for a moment and look around us, there are familiar signs of a world that we can easily recognize, and it’s comforting in this uncomfortable time of our lives.
For example, it’s that time of the year where we can hear the thumping of watermelons to check ripeness for a summer cookout dessert. It’s the time for a few extra trips to the favorite ice cream parlor for a double-scoop or creamy, thick shake.
It’s that time of year to buy back-to-school shoes — not because kids are going back to school, but because they’ve spent the last few months growing the proverbial bushel and a peck.
It’s that time of year to look at all of the accumulated junk in the garage and resolve to make sure two cars will fit this year.
The reoccurring signs are there. It could be the lower hanging moss, the later sunsets, and, yes, even the dreaded tropical storms brewing and gaining strength in the Caribbean.
And while the uncertainty of these days can be sometimes depressing, there is much to remind all of us that there are normal, good things recurring every day. And seeing my team come to work every day, doing their best for our customers makes me proud.
Join me in looking for those signs and embrace them for what they are: the normal, comforting cycles of Central Florida life.