We have now been in the US for almost three weeks and the good news is that our various doctors have deemed that our overall health is fine. The bad news is that Randall seems to have developed hay-fever (pollen allergies) for the first time in his life, and this has coincided with not being allowed to blow his nose!

Our flights from Whanageri to Auckland, Auckland to Nadi, Fiji, from Nadi to Los Angeles, US, and from LA to Orlando, FL, all went very smoothly. Some of them and some of the lay-overs were long, but we were glad that we chose to stay in hotels in LA and Orlando, which helped us to start getting our body-clocks adjusted, before driving north to Gainesville. The end of February and beginning of March are a beautiful time of year in North Florida and we have enjoyed some cool nights and gloriously sunny days...or at least I have. Randall has been trapped inside more than me for two reasons, an antibiotic and the pollen.



An alligator enjoys the springtime sunshine at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

A visit to his dermatologist resulted in eight biopsies for very small basal cell carcinomas (non-malignant growths). Five of these were on his arms, neck, and back and so were completely excised in the biopsy sample. The other three were on his face and would require Mohs surgery and stitches, to remove completely with the least scarring. Despite lavish use of sunscreen and wearing appropriate hats and clothing, sun exposure is something of an occupational hazard for cruisers so it is important that those of us with particularly sun-sensitive skin (Randall) pay regular visits to the dermatologist.

During Mohs surgery small areas of skin around the growth are removed and inspected under the microscope to see if the edges are clean of basal carcinoma cells. If they are not, more skin is removed from the appropriate area until the edges are clean at which time the wound is stitched-up. The aim is to minimize the impact of the skin removal while being sure to leave no carcinoma cells behind. Randall's first surgery was on his right nostril and, hence, the admonition not to blow his nose for the two weeks that the stitches would stay in place. Also, for the first week he had to take an antibiotic that would make his skin even more sun-sensitive, so no wandering outside for him.

We arrived in Gainesville in the middle of a spring-season that has had one of the heaviest-ever pollen loads in the atmosphere. With so many plants and trees flowering at once, there is a fine yellow dust of pollen on everything, with the slightest rain producing yellow streaks all over cars and windows. Neither Randall nor I have ever been bothered by hay-fever before but as soon as we arrived, Randall was sneezing, coughing, had watering eyes, and a blocked nose. So being told not to blow his nose due to the surgical stitches was rather a shock. However, we had been in town for long enough that he had tried all sorts of combinations of medicines to combat allergy symptoms and even took to wearing a dust mask outside. Luckily, by the time of his nose-surgery, his symptoms seemed to be easing-up and he has been able to sleep through the night without coughing, which was quite a problem for our first week here.

Why Randall was so badly affected by the pollen we cannot tell. Was this just a particularly bad year, did we arrive in the middle with no gradual build-up, or have we been at sea for long enough to have lost some immunity to the pollen? It is hard to say. We were so paranoid about steering clear of the 'flu epidemic that had hit the US, that we have (so far) managed to avoid catching colds but that is of little solace to Randall as he sniffles and coughs.



The back yard and screened porch at Karen and Bill's house that we so enjoyed in 2016

Fortunately, despite all of this we have been thoroughly enjoying our stay with Karen and Bill in their lovely house in Gainesville, and we have still been able to see many of our friends here. I have been able to go out birdwatching with Karen at the relatively new Depot Park (just south of the town center) and with Susan to the Sweetwater Wetlands Park. On the latter expedition, Susan not only identified two bird species that were new to me, the common snipe and long-billed dowitcher, but we saw a brood of about 20 recently-hatched alligators.



Four of the 15-inch long (38 cm) young alligators hiding in the vegetation at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

Another friend, Katie, has vey generously loaned us her car for our stay, which is extremely kind of her and helpful to us. We have used it to venture to the coast southwest of Gainesville, where we spent a lovely afternoon and evening with Susan and Jeff at their Cedar Key house.



The setting sun seen from Susan and Jeff's porch in Cedar Key

Tomorrow, we set-off for South Florida, where we look forward to staying with Sue and Jerry (if he is in town) in Jupiter. After that, we continue south to the Keys where we will catch-up with Sue from SV Serengeti (is this the year of the "Susans"?), who is now staying with her father-in-law (and we will see Larry back in Whangarei), and Dan and Kathy on Little Torch Key. We are really looking forward to this trip and hope to see other friends along the way. The following week we fly to Denver to catch-up with our family so there will be plenty more to report (hopefully without the medical chatter) after all of that.