NEW YEAR, NEW WORLD

January 1st, 2023, Key West, Florida

“Why are you looking for love in Luxembourg? You could be dating right here in Florida, my dear!” said Karin, “You have seen that guy who walks his two dogs here in the street every morning. He’s a tall and good-looking guy and in the evenings a beautiful young lady in a bar in Duval Street.”

I reflected on this. Sitting next to the pool at Detlef and Katrin’s place in Key West at the southernmost part of the United States, I thought, if this is not far enough away to get some distance, then where shall I go next? Antarctica?

But thoughts of men were far from my mind, Detlef was the organiser of a conference and I was the keynote speaker. He had kindly put me up in his house.

Detlef added, “You’ve met so many different men over the last few years, you might think you are an expert in dating, but here in Key West you might still get some surprises. You think you have seen it all, then you come to Key West and discover, there’s a lot more to discover. Have you ever dated a woman, or several women?”

I raised my eyebrows. “No, not really.”

We three were having dinner together (a Mati fish, if you are asking) with their teenage daughter Eveline, who also raised her eyebrows; not in surprise but more in exasperation at parents in general, I think. Like many young people, Eveline has all her friends online. They don’t meet in person, they just chat online.

A little later, after a b