I checked my schedule, called him back, and we agreed on some dates. I didn’t want to fly at Thanksgiving if I didn’t have to, so we decided I’d go on Veterans’ Day weekend instead. I got online and booked my flights. Doug had said not to rent a car, that he would pick me up in Waltersburg at the airport and take me back there when it came time to fly home.
I was looking forward to seeing Doug again. It was good to hear in his voice how happy he was when we talked on the phone.
He’d told me they’d had a rough patch in the local community the previous fall, when Stan had still been city manager of Lake Polk, but he said things had quieted down and that they were staying busy and happy. And they loved the climate. Doug told me he was a native of Tampa, and that he was happy to be back in F
