Housing subdivisions, Sarasota County, Florida. Photo: USGS.

On March 15, my wife Harriet and I flew from London to Tampa to begin a three week visit to Florida and Georgia to visit family and friends and meet with community leaders of A2 (Anthropocene Alliance), our environmental non-profit. It was our first return to the U.S. since we moved to Norwich in June 2024 and since the election. The following are excerpts from my travel diary.

March 15 – Mickey at customs

The slow-moving line for passport inspection began on the jet bridge. Were Customs and Border Patrol agents deploying “enhanced vetting” to screen British families headed for Disneyworld? Or were they bent on challenging the citizenship of returning American dissidents? I imagined my meek plaint to CBP: “But officer, I’m from Queens.” After about 30 minutes, an agent trotted down the quarter-mile long cue, shouting, “U.S. passport holders follow me!” (Had I heard a prefatory Achtung?) A few dozen of us followed him into the customs hall where we were directed to a much shorter line and quickly processed by polite agents. For us, this was a welcome instance of America First. For the foreign bods – old folks, parents and kids with Mickey merch – not so much. Did an unlucky few wind up on a flight to El Salvador?

March 16 – Gated communities

“Amber Creek, Talon Preserve, Star Farms, The Isles, Bungalow Walk, Nautique, Esplanade, Silver Oak, Cresswind, Sapphire Point, Emerald Landing, Palm Grove, Lorraine Lakes, Kingfisher Estates, Monterey Palm, The Alcove, Hammock Preserve, Solera, Village Walk, Shellstone, Promenade Estates, Monarch Acres.” (Some of the hundreds of gated communities in Sarasota County, Florida.)

We’re staying with my sister Joan and her husband Barry in their comfortable home in a Sarasota subdivision. As we sat around her granite kitchen island, noshing on chips and guacamole (the Mexican avocados were tariff-priced — three bucks each), we reviewed the latest catastrophes and muted resistance from Democrats. “Any protests here?” I asked. “Bupkes” Joan replied. “Republicans outnumber Democrats in Sarasota County by 2 to 1.”

If you wanted to invent an acquiescent polity, you could hardly improve upon Florida gated communities. They are rarely located in towns or cities, so political governance is at the county level, the tier most remote from the populace. Residents expend their political passions at homeowners’ association meetings where they debate pool temperature, pickle ball accessibility, and lawn maintenance. A Publix supermarket is never more than a 10-minute drive. Restaurants, big box stores, car washes and medical clinics are just as accessible. Beaches may be a little further — the closer to the ocean, the more expensive the home, rising sea levels notwithstanding. For the Sarasota bourgeoisie – many of whom are retired and living off investments — the country beyond their subdivision gates is little seen or noticed. For a few, like my sister and her husband, it’s a threat — but distant, like thunder clouds passing behind Sabal palms.

March 17 – Ducks

Our visits here are always relaxing. Manicured lawns and shrubs, immaculate roads and sidewalks, and nearly identical ranch houses (“villas”), induce in Harriet a preternatural calm.........

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