When I first visited my sis and b.i.l. at their new home in Florida, way back in the 90s, I was interested in exploring the area and Don would drive us around Cape Coral and I kept looking for “the city”. I finally realized that this little series of malls was the center of “town”.

Later I went into Fort Myers where there are some high rises and businesses. But there was no street life. People go to work in these places, but stay inside for lunch. There is now, I understand, a section with shops and I haven’t yet been to it, but I am guessing there will be people walking the sidewalks there and stopping in the shops just as they might in a city-type city.

One Christmastime, Ed and I went to Saks and I was thinking that, afer all, it was a quiet time of year and then I realized it was Christmas shopping season and in this large store, I saw, perhaps 3 or 4 other shoppers. In New York City, multiply that by several hundred in the one store. Cal l me strange, but I miss that.

Years before, I had visited Fort Worth, Texas, and all the action there is underground. You walk into a business building and go down the escalator to the shops and cafes.

I came to realize why so many people from around the country find New York City daunting. At noon in midtown, the sidewalks are mobbed. The shops are crowded. The restaurants are filled. If you have grown up in such a city as I did (Chicago), you learn how to block out the unimportant sounds and focus on your own mission. Although there were times when I just liked to open myself up to all the experiences such an atmosphere offers.

I miss that life. It’s as if (for you StarTrek—The Next Generation fans) I am a Borg and have been separated from my planet. Suddenly I do not have in my head the constant stream of my Borg fellow-citizens and there is a strange quiet. On the Borg planet, all inhabitants hear each other’s thoughts all the time.

To me, for many years, chaos was the norm. I was at home with it. Birds are beautiful. You can talk to them, but they don’t say much. Awwk. Chirp. That’s about it. Where is the dialog? Where are the insults? Sob.

xx, Teal