Today is my last full day in Florida. It’s another beautiful day, lots of sunshine, not too hot. Pittsburgh was 33 degrees yesterday.

Carol and I are planning to go to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens to see The Faithful Samurai: Woodblock Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861), another busman’s holiday thing on my part and Carol humors me. This exhibition presents Kuniyoshi’s print designs of the 1830s and ’40s devoted to the attack by forty-seven retainers of the disgraced lord Asano Naganori on the mansion of their lord’s enemy, Kira Yoshinaka, an act which produced a steady outpouring of theatrical productions, woodblock prints, books and movies.

I feel like I’m on a busman’s holiday. Carol and I went to the Boca Raton Museum of Art to see an exhibit of Ukiyoe prints by Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825), Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Toyokuni III (1786-1865), and Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858). These were shown in connection with a large exhibit of Whistler from the Hunterian Art Gallery of Glasgow, Scotland. Both shows were excellent. It was really nice to get a chance to see more of these prints. Although I have long been familiar with the work of Hiroshige, the Utagawa Kunisada was new to me.

My trip yesterday was a good example of why I no longer look forward to traveling. The flights were OK but I spent a lot of time waiting for them. But before I got started there was "security." I guess little old fat me looks like a terrorist; I was patted down. This is the second time I have come in for special scrutiny, in spite of the fact I’ve only been flying once or twice a year for the last few years. What really bothered me was the realization that I could have been carrying a weapon and they would not have found it. So, what’s the point of all the nonsense?

I’m on spring break now. My classes have adjourned for a week, so like all the college students, I’m off to Florida for a few days. Truth is I don’t much like Florida; I’m going to visit my sister-in-law. We have spent a lot of time on the phone since my brother died, and I want to spend some face time with her. I’ve had four sisters-in-law; she is the only one I’ve had a real relationship with. So we’ll spend lots of time talking, we’ll go to visit one of my cousins and some friends of mine from high school, and I will not come back with a suntan.

I spend a lot of time thinking about traveling. I have been fortunate to be able to go to most of the United States, Western Europe, parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Egypt and Israel. I would love to go back to China and Japan, particularly after taking my Japanese art class. I think about it and talk about it. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to make actual travel plans. Even this trip to Florida seems problematic. I was able to make the arrangements, but I wasn’t able to think about packing until about an hour ago. I think my brain and my body are not working together on this.