AUTHOR’S NOTE: Every year at this time we begin to anticipate our month-long vacation in Florida. In 2026 it will be in March instead of February, which we assume will bring warmer weather.

This is my adaptation of the French Cross spread for use with the Lenormand cards. The reading is divided into two parts: the trip (in three phases) and the stay (from two perspectives, “outer,” or outdoor, and “inner,” or indoor). I’m using the Heloise Lenormand by Lynn Boyle. After the shuffle, I dealt three cards across and then three down, with the fifth card being placed beneath the second one.

The horizontal row describes the experience of making the journey. We travel by car from southern New Hampshire to Daytona Beach over three days.

The Book at the beginning shows paying attention to the logistics, the itinerary and the forecast, including packing, accommodations, weather and traffic. This will be at least our twelfth winter trip to either Florida or North Carolina by car, so it’s pretty much an “open book” to us.

The travel itself is described in terms of “overt” (or objective) and “covert” (or subjective) factors. The Mountain has me thinking we could encounter severe weather-related obstacles this year (driving that far along the East Coast during snow-and-ice season is always iffy). The Sun shows that we will be fixated on getting to the Sunshine State, come what may.

Arrival in Florida looks to be timely and uneventful, with the Rider implying open roads and unimpeded travel the farther South we go.

The vertical “above-and-below” cards echo the Grand Tableau in that the upper card shows circumstances that are environmental (or outside of our control) and the lower card those that are more personal (or within our control).

The Bear above suggests that we will be empowered by the warmth and sunlight.

The Tower below could mean that we will choose to stay inside whenever outside (meaning beach) conditions aren’t ideal. (The February weather has always been a mixed bag, so there is no guarantee it will be dramatically better a month closer to Spring, but there is always hope.) Being stuck indoors due to rain would be no different from being confined by snow in the North, but it isn’t nearly as cold.

Overall, I view our prospects as favorable.