Coyote ugly

It’s been about two weeks since we moved to Sarasota in Florida. Me and the dog anyway, and it does already feel like home helped for sure that is was already our house and we had known for a while that this move was in our future.

There is much that is different though. I haven’t yet started my new job, but our daughter has started school, which will be remarkably different from what she was used to in Bermuda.

The early weeks for her have been about making friends at both school and in her new swim club. I have to say that the whole process seems extraordinarily more complicated than it was when I was a kid, although I wasn’t a girl.

We too are on the look out for new friends. I have a very good mate out in Essex, who has declared for many years that he doesn’t need new friends, as he has enough already. It used to always me laugh that, but like our daughter we too need to put ourselves on the line to meet new people.

So far all of the people me and the coffee-morning-other-half have met have been new(ish) Florida implants, which has helped with at least that initial connection. I have actually yet to meet a Floridian, although if I drove due east 30 miles I am sure to meet many.

School is a 25 minute no-traffic-drive, which is never guaranteed. We used to drive 5 minutes previously. Work, when I go in the office is an hour away, that used to be a 25 minute walk. Driving is a must as public transportation does not exist down here, so cars become important, when they were immaterial in Bermuda.

Otherwise frustrations continue that much of the house is ‘almost finished.’ I will end up almost finishing our contractor, who has been conspicuous by his absence.

I have spent a lot of time in DIY shops and answering the door to the FedEx and Amazon Prime delivery guys. I have never seen as many boxes and then our shipping arrives on Thursday.

There’s been plenty of walks with the the dog around the surrounding areas which are quiet, beautiful and the weather has been stinking hot.

One other significant difference is the surrounding wildlife. Alligators are commonplace here, although they keep their heads down in the surrounding waters, but we have also seen coyotes, bobcats and iguanas, and we’ve been told of a panther on the golf course.

In a recent community email it told us that a coyote managed to have a little Chihuahua for its evening snack, which was a little disconcerting. Coyotes have by all accounts been making Florida their home for a while migrating up from the south.

Sarasota County are considering their options for coyotes, but the wildlife conservation commission believe they are an important part of the natural habitat in Florida and help maintain a balanced ecosystem by controlling the population of small predators like rabbits, raccoons and opossums.

Meanwhile the iguanas are being trapped and removed as they eat the tortoise eggs that nest around here. Certainly a switch up from the little gecko’s and colourful anoles we used to have in the garden in Bermuda.