On Saturday Kim and I had a fantastic day. We decided to take full advantage of a beautiful day, our airplane, our foldable bikes and a great setting called Cedar Key of the West Coast off Florida.
Over the past few years we have been so busy and focused on certain major goals, that we have found ourselves forgetting to play. I am a great believer in the idea that hard work can only be done with success when one is creating time to play hard as well. Frankly, we have been negligent over the last several years of implementing this philosophy.
A quick look at the weather on Saturday morning indicated a gorgeous day with great visibility. I went out and folded up the bikes and put them in the airplane and Kim and I shoved off at 11 AM. We made the 30 minute flight to Cedar Key, circled the airport and landed on runway 23 and taxied over to the apron and shut down the airplane. Then we pulled out the bikes, unfolded them and then rode into Cedar Key to enjoy a great meal with a great view looking out over the water. After that we got ice cream and then wrote around the island looking at various sites.
In my opinion Cedar Keys is like Key West, Florida 40 years ago. There is a charm, and a small town feeling, and an atmosphere which is not common even in this great State of Florida. I only wonder if Cedar Key will grow into the tourist mecca the Key West has over the recent decades.
As an engineer, I looked around the buildings and was fascinated to see the various degrees of construction that would not comply with current structural or flood area codes. This is further evidence that the codes have been written, of recent, that practically exclude building in some areas. It is essentially impossible to get something built today, especially in places like Cedar Key, and comply with all the codes. This fact, alone, may prohibit Cedar Key’s further expansion. The restaurant where we dined has open windows with the most beautiful views of the surrounding Gulf waters. It would be essentially impossible to build this restaurant as it sits today and have it comply with current codes. Yet this building has survived many, many decades. As an Engineer I can say that many of the current Codes are borderline onerous.
Anyway, after our ice cream we rode back to the airport, folded up the bikes and stuffed them in to the airplane and cranked her up and headed back home the Loves Landing.
This day was a reminder to both of us the importance of getting away and using our marvelous tools and toys that we have in our possession. It raises our tone, makes us more efficient, and helps us remember to include play times more readily in our future.
I will never retire. I love my work. I love what I do and it is good to know that I am continuing to create viable products and continue to create my value to this world. I will never rest on past laurels. I intend to die in the harness. But I also intend to play hard and not forget the importance of getting out and doing things just for fun.
Saturday was a reminder to Kim and I of this point. Glad we have put it back into our lives.
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