The Give & Take of Multigenerational Living

My response to: “Why Florida?”

At 6 AM, the three dogs begin barking at each other between the main house (where my folks live) and the guest house (where my family of four lives).

We make a batch of coffee using the beans we prepare in my parents’ grinder once a week.

By 7 AM, a shared car pulls out of the garage with one child in back. The driver relays a message to the rest of the adults if there’s anything we need to be aware of on the dirt road. A power line down. An alligator. A note left by a neighbor. A stray and hungry dog.

Those still at home fill the bird feeders and feed the pups breakfast. Medicines and vitamins are administered for two-legged and four-legged beings alike.

Above: A cup + saucer repurposed as a bird feeder outside the house.

Someone is headed to a medical appointment. Sometimes Urgent Care. Or the veterinarian. Anyone who is available remains on standby to be a driver if necessary.

We manage the compost.
Water newly planted trees.
Survey tree limbs that have crashed down overnight. (Did you hear that one around 1 AM? I was awake. You too? That moon!)

Above: Our 8 y-o planting a tree.

If he’s not working at the public library, my husband will start baking bread or muffins for everyone to share during the coming days. He checks the grow towers to see what greens should be pulled and eaten here or redistributed. He prepares two weeks of food for all the pups, each of whom have their own ratio of homemade mix to kibble.

Above: Adam’s recipe cards in a secondhand tin.