Escape! Word of the Week

No, we didn’t rob a bank or anything like that, but this week, escape is the word that came up several times and that we felt this week. For context, we are still in Florida on holiday from the UK. We are staying with our mom, which is a blessing as hotels are not cheap in Florida. Thank God for the day she decided to live here!

I have been seeing a lot of protests and rioting going on in England through the eyes of social media, especially TikTok. It’s shocking some of what we have been seeing and in a way I feel glad that we have escaped it. Not that we plan to live here forever, but it’s nice to be away from the violence. And what is it all about anyway? If only we could all get along with each other. I feel sorry for people who don’t think that people of colour are not people too. And it’s my opinion that people should feel free to travel to different places worldwide. I even heard that some folk are saying that immigrants are coming into England and taking their jobs! Anyway, enough of that and I am just happy we got to escape it. Hopefully it will die down before too long.

On Sunday we rose early, made breakfast and went to Miami for a well-earned catch-up with relatives and family living there. Leaving early in the morning allowed us to escape the midday heat. When the heat came down we were all indoors and in the comfort of the cooling air from the air conditioning unit. It was nice catching up and talking about the good times (and a little bad too, like the sickness and death of my grandmother some years ago.) To finish off the day, we went out for a meal in Fort Lauderdale at Bones To Go. Most of us enjoyed the meal but we felt that it could have been more seasoned.

There was a bleu cheese sauce that was divine and I really enjoyed it. The TVs were on too, so we could catch bits of the Olympic games going on

On Monday we couldn’t escape home at all. My plantar Fasciitis acted up from being out all day Sunday so the day was spent at home resting it. The pain patches are working and I am grateful for that too. But I know that I need to have a day’s rest after going out. Staying home meant spending more time with mommy when she wasn’t busy watching her soaps or taking her naps.

Tuesday was our day to escape the house again so we decided to walk the 10 minutes or so to the nearest mall to our house. We looked into a few shops and also met a few Jamaicans who were busy buying clothes/costumes as it was Jamaica’s Independence and Emancipation celebrations. It was nostalgic and it reminded me of the struggles of our forefathers to get us to enjoy the freedoms we now have.

Anyway, on the way home we decided to walk back and guess what? It started to rain. It wasn’t raining heavily but the sky was black as if it was going to thunder down any minute! So anyway, as we hurried along in the rain, we saw a high white van reversing towards us. Right away, we were both very suspicious. We stayed clear by stepping more over to the right and heard the male driver and female passenger shouting out to us to ask if we wanted a ride as it was raining. Like clockwork, both of us said “no, we are just going around the corner”. We both saw that as a lucky escape from who knows what. When they drove off, we both giggled that we watch too many crime documentaries on TV/YouTube. But who knows, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You could have read about us! Anyway, what a sad state. Those two people could have been ever so innocent and just being good citizens. But that’s what life has come to now.

Wednesday morning really should have been a rest day since we went out on Tuesday. We were invited by a friend to go walking in the early morning at a beautiful park. I had to turn her down as I had to nurse my foot with a 12 hour pain patch. By mid-afternoon, it felt good enough so we took an Uber to the Broward Mall. I really wanted to even have a look in JC Penny’s and Macey’s. I hadn’t been in one of those stores in over 25 years! I used to go by every Summer when I worked in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It’s where I used to get church clothes and work clothes back then. The prices were astronomical in my opinion so we each just goet a top, ate lunch/dinner at the food court, and then got an Uber back home. It was a good escape from home. I say escape only because for us, the air conditioning is never cold enough, but for mommy, it’s always too cold. I guess although we are both from Jamaica, we have become acclimatized to the weather where we live.

 

 

 

And then to top off the week we did a night escape last night to a Life in Art studio in Tamarac, Florida for a two-hour painting session that was both fun and relaxing. The place offers 360-degree photo booth rental, iPad photo booth rental, glow-in-the-dark painting and games, birthday and special celebrations photography and fun painting and 360 sessions. We had a really good time and would highly recommend it. It’s called LifeInArtPics.com. If you are ever in Florida this is something you will enjoy. Now here’s Leisa’s masterpiece.

You can check out one of our 360-degree poses with our art masterpiece on Instagram @Joleisacreed.