I pulled into the Waffle House parking lot by the airport in Ft. Myers. Moving as slowly as the humid air, I parked the car and sighed. I stood for a moment next to the rental car after I got out, taking in the flat and boring scenery that is Florida. There was no wind and the moisture in the air clung to me like a warm wet sweater. Palm trees stood motionless along the highway. Flecks of white clouds speckled the blue sky. The sun was already beginning its evening descent, coloring the western sky with a faint orange glow.

Inside the Waffle House was as quiet as one might expect it to be on the evening of July 4th. The employees looked bored and then almost surprised when someone actually came in to eat.

I sat down at the counter and an older woman smiled and approached. "Evening," she said, displaying a genuine smile despite the stained, misaligned teeth of which it was comprised. Her name tag read "Phyllis."

"Hi," I replied with a smile, grabbing a menu from behind the napkin container.

"Happy Fourth of July," Phyllis said, still smiling. She reminded me of a grandmother. I bet she had some happy and spoiled grandchildren somewhere.

"Boy, I sure wish I was out there in a bathing suit right now," she continued, nodding toward the parking lot through the large window behind me. I turned around to see several bathing-suit-clad teens running around a van in the parking lot.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" I said with a laugh, turning back to face Phyllis. She laid out a napkin and silverware on the counter in front of me, still smiling.

"Oh, I think I need to lose a few more pounds before I could run around in something like that," Phyllis grinned. "I've already lost about 10 pounds in the past six months, but I'd like to lose more."

She was not at all overweight - at least as far as I could tell from my position on the other side of the counter from her. She seemed spunky enough to be able to wear anything she wanted and pull it off.

"Well, that's the way to do it, right? Lose weight in the winter so you look nice for the summer?" I asked.

"I think I'd rather keep it off all year long." We both laughed.

I ordered, and Phyllis called out the two eggs scrambled with a side of hash browns to the cook behind her. She then bustled about her station and I glanced around the restaurant. The cook and another waitress spoke French to each other in quiet tones as the grill interrupted occasionally with a sizzle. Another waiter was standing to my right over by the booths, scratching his arm and staring out the window blankly as if in deep thought. The air conditioner above him rattled and dripped a few drops of water.

Just past him I could see the fairly vacant highway through the front windows, but my attention quickly switched to something on the window itself.

"Are those frogs on the window?" I asked Phyllis as she set a glass of water down in front of me.

She looked over and then nodded. "Oh yes, those little things are all over around here."

I got up to go take a closer look. Two tiny green frogs - each about an inch long - were stuck to the outside of the window, their little suction cup toes clinging to the glass. I looked closely at them and they seemed to look back at me with their large, dark googly eyes.

I made my way back to the counter. Sitting down, I noticed that Phyllis and some of the other staff were looking back out into the parking lot behind me again. A family was getting out of their car, all still in bathing suits. Two of the women looked very sunburnt. A man held up a camera and motioned to the women. They grabbed the hand of a small girl and put her between them as they posed for a photograph.

When I turned back around, the entire staff was staring at me. The cook was placing my meal in front of me on the counter, with a big smile on her face. I laughed and wondered how long they had been trying to get my attention. I smiled at the staff and started to eat.

Phyllis put my bill on the counter for me as well.

"Enjoy it," she said with another big smile.