Pidgeon Family Christmas: ADVENTURE VERSUS VACATION

Nicole - the lookout

Anna and Bill preparing to snorkel

Nicole and Anna - looking for manatees and dolphins

Princeton, NJ - And again the Pidgeon family invited me to come with them to the Florida Keys. Who would say no to that? Sunshine, good food and total happiness in Paradise for a week- the grand finale of a long summer. But, believe me, with the Pidgeons it’s not all tanning and manicures - expect great adventures! (And be prepared to freak out once or twice while everybody is wondering what you are so panicky about.) So, for example when you jump into the great Ocean from the boat somewhere in the middle of nowhere and you think they are joking when saying, “Beware of the sharks” …well they are not! Everybody who visits Florida every now and then and is more Pidgeony (~laid back) [1] than me is probably still wondering what I was anxious about. But let’s not forget that I come from a place far away (Germany for everybody who doesn’t remember) and sharks are an abstract concept of fear to us.

Another experience of this type was when we stopped at an old lighthouse to go snorkeling (where Rick thought he had found something like an old cannon which was later attached to our boat and pulled after us…but that’s another story). Everybody was in the water, except for me, because I still have respect (~read: I still fear) for some sea creatures. So after some contemplation and imagining of the dangers, I finally decided to be a true Pidgeon - I jumped into the water and felt grandiose, almost hero like. But, of course, how could it be any different, there was a barracuda swimming about half a meter away from me looking at me. Me looking at him, him looking at me (To be perfectly honest he was probably just as scared as me but for my defense Nicole said that she saw him too and that he was HUGE.) In a split second I started paddling faster than ever before in my life. When I caught up with the others literally stuck to Mom’s back. Under water I realized that my bikini had decorative golden, glittering application. Really nice on the beach, not so much when swimming with barracudas. In wild panic I said to Mom. “MOM my bikini is SHINY!” She just looked at me with that oh-well-too-bad-look and said a sentence I will never forget, “Well, you can either take it off, or just live with it!” I decided to live with it.[2]

Dear Pidgeons: Thank you, again for a wonderful trip to the Florida Keys. It was amazing, but any time spent with you is truly a gift. I enjoy every second and cannot stop thanking that I was so lucky to get to know all of you!

[1] Ok, I like to think of myself as almost 100% Pidgeony.
[2] A good life philosophy