I’m not complaining – our winter in Florida has been longer and colder than normal, and I know your winters are much, much worse than anything I’ve experienced the past few years. Here we are at the beginning of April, the time your weather is just starting to warm up, and people are getting out of their houses to enjoy the outdoors.
Where I am, even with a colder than “normal” winter there were very few days the “cold” stopped my group of golfers from teeing it up and playing that silly game.
While your weather is warming up, so is ours. From my experience, I know that when the thermometer hits 50 degrees in Minnesota, most people living there are excited. When I say it’s warming up here in Florida, I mean it’s getting into the mid-eighties, and it won’t be long until the humidity and hotter temperatures will force us to make changes in the timing of the things we do. It also means a lot of people will be leaving here and heading north for the summer months, which means there will be a lot fewer people here. When our winter people leave here, the roads, restaurants, golf courses, and entertainment venues will all become less crowded. I openly admit it is a time I look forward to, but it’s also a bittersweet time of year because I have new friends who pack up and leave from May to September (or later), so they won’t be a part of our lives during that time.
The Villages is the fastest growing area in the United States, and while I don’t like large crowds, this area in Florida is designed so you don’t need to venture too far away from your neighborhood because everything you need is a short distance from your front door.
By everything you need, I mean our post office, doctor’s office, grocery store, service stations, restaurants, gas station, and even a liquor store are all within two miles from our home. We also have several golf courses and recreation centers near our home. There are four public swimming pools less than two miles from where we live, too.
So, if we don’t want to fight the crowds, we don’t need to leave our neighborhood, and fighting the crowds becomes a choice we make every now and then – not something we’re forced to do.
Since you folks in Minnesota are finally past the worst of winter, get outside and enjoy the warmer temperatures, and get some fresh air. You deserve it!
Have A Good Week!
