Maddy's Travels
FLORIDA RESPITE FOR THE
WORLD TRAVELER
February 2008
Aunt Zelda always tells me of the importance of having friends of different generations. I last wrote about a young Tango dancing friend who calls me “Mom”. Now I will write about my February Florida respite with Maxine, 76, hot ticket and bikini grandma. She was very observant of speedos on the beach. I myself am not interested in butt cracks. The guy she was observing did have a decent build for an older fellow, but please, cover up!
Max lives in one of the myriad golf communities on the west coast of Florida between Naples and Fort Myers. Upon waking, I took my morning constitutional around the community doing the “hi, how are you?” to the sneaker, bermuda shorts clad residents - everyone smiling and friendly - maybe you’re not allowed to be in a bad mood in Florida. Of course 85 degrees and sunny - why would you be? “It’s humid” I hear. “Yes it’s very “umid” her friend replies - AH the New York accent! Then I walked into the wrong house.
Just trying to go with the flow, I said to Maxine I wouldn’t mind trying to play golf. Well how crazy was that? It’s as if some non-tango dancer said they wanted to go dance tango with me. I wouldn’t have even been allowed on the golf course in the clothes I had brought. The etiquette is strict (as in tango). No collared shirt - no golf.
This leads me to the similarities between tango and golf:
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One gets obsessed by it.
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If you don't do it for a while you lose it.
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Some days you have a great time and feel great about it and your ability and the next day - kaput!
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Importance of body position, soft knees, frame of arms and torso.
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We say “axis”, they say “swing center”.
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Torso Torso Torso, it’s all in the torso
Maxine was definitely the hostess with the most-est. She took me to the beach, a wildlife sanctuary, the town of Naples. We ate out, we ate in. Had dinner with her friend the golf pro - three gals on the prowl. I practiced my flirting skills at the bar, then on to the singles dance. Being the youngest on there, I was actually quite popular. Some of those older guys had some good moves though and I enjoyed myself.
Yes, four days in the sun on a easy nonstop flight from Boston - delightful.
