Winter Warm-up

First things first…. apology to follow… so read on without reservation…

It’s always been said… one of the most important things is …. “location…location… location”…. not to forget timing!

Seems that this is very true in the winter time. Having lived all my life in the north (winter & summer)… I have had more than my fair share of the cold, snow, ice, and the basic feeling of the winter ho-hums. I can say without reservation… if I could have moved to the south many years ago… I would have… especially knowing what I know now. Spent my whole life… or at least the winters of it… dealing with the cold. The last seven years of spending the winter in the south… well… it’s kinda like a positive payback for all the winters in the north.

This year has been especially nice… on the whole a lot warmer… and doing summer things in the winter is a real treat. Wearing shorts & T’s. Going to the beach, going to the pool, all kinds of summer activities, or just resting outside enjoying the sunshine, the warm weather, and a nice cooling breeze every few minutes… it’s a little bit of heaven.

This weekend, like many others, was no exception. We all went to the pool. Shelly & Bri went swimming… I chose to rest in the lounge chair… adjusting it to just the right incline… put on my sunglasses… and listen to my music via the MP3 player… which in it’s self is a marvel to me.

Just a little side note… isn’t MP3 players just the greatest thing ever! I grew up with 2 choices… flat vinyl disc’s (aka “records”) that you could enjoy in the house ( provided they didn’t slip too bad from the scratches that magically appeared overnight), or “am” radio… which in itself was a marvel of the time… a “9 transistor” pocket radio that could be carried with you anywhere… and that wonderful little mono-toned “tinny” speaker… yuck.  “Fm” radio and stereo was to come later. Later followed by cassette tapes and Sony Walkmans… another great leap forward… you could now carry your favorite tunes with you… and in stereo (provided the player didn’t “eat” the tape). The next great leap of revelation was music Cd’s. And look at where were are now… MP3 players that carry 100’s and 100’s of songs… with all kinds of playing options… and it’s almost the size of a postage stamp…. incredible!

But anyway… back on topic. What better way to spend a winter day than to be at the pool, outside, in the warm sunshine, cool drink in hand, healthily snacks… okay… maybe not so healthily… but certainly yummy… listening to your favorite tunes… gazing up to the blue sky as if you didn’t have a care in the world…close your eyes and relax… Priceless!

Open your eyes on occasion… ahhhhh !

did I mention the palm trees…

To enhance the mood… a little Jimmy Buffett, followed by Kenny Chesney,

Some Beach Boys, a little Marley, Bob & Ziggy…

No Worries… Be Happy. 

and a little Hawaiian music worked to set the mood perfectly.

Yep… Priceless! 

Pictures of the pool… didn’t take any…

too many girls in bikini’s blocking the view.

with more of the same… all week… maybe all month…

right place… right time…doesn’t happen as often as we would like.

We also throw a dose of Disney Magic in between the relaxing.

Life is full of choices and not everything or everyday can be perfect. Sometimes we end up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. This was one of those times… that you wish you could live over and over again… at least for a while anyway. So if you ever get the chance to migrate to the south for the winter… it will certainly be a wonderful treat. If you have a choice of job or location… move south while you can still enjoy it! But alas… nothing is perfect. If you are here in the summer… the winter bliss in paid back in full… and then some. Or you could just travel around the country in an Rv… following the weather you crave… winter in the south… summer in the north. For those not familiar… those that repeat the seasonal migration north to south in the winter are called “Snowbirds”. Either Rving fulltime ( no house anywhere) or part time ( house in the north for the summer) … “Snowbirds” always head south for the winter! Life in the Rv has many rewards and benefits… this is one of them. Cost of living is another benefit… we are here for 7 months this winter… our total cost per month for our stay is about $180 a month which includes utilities. If you subtract our average utility costs from this… our net expense to be here in Orlando and Disney is less than $10 a week!  How? … campground memberships… downside… we move the Rv 10 miles every 2 weeks… upside… we have new neighbors with every move (for the good or bad) … and always have a change of scenery! … and save lots of money! … that we can use for other things… or simply don’t have to work as much. This winter we will have worked about 60 hours total in six months. Yep… life’s tough… there’s an upside & downside to everything. Just need to find your niche… what you want to do… how you want to do it… where you want to be. Working to support a house etc… just wasn’t my thing anymore. Rving is great! A wonderful choice …unless you really have lots of money to have a house in the north, one in the south, and don’t have to work at all… having survived the greed of big government and the economic investment crash ( both of them).    

To all our Family & Friends in the north… I apologize for being a bit exuberant… but this is such a wonderful winter treat to be here. I truly wish you could be here to enjoy this too. Perhaps someday. I wish your weather was better this winter with all the snow storms, ice, and cold… and it may not seem right to talk about the great weather here compared to what you are getting… but your time will come… we just happen to be in the right place at the right time…right now. Spring will be here soon… and you will have the perfect weather with you. The flip side of the coin…  and we will be suffering the Texas heat this summer… that’s our payback for our wonderful winter… both for the weather here now… and the whole not working thing this winter. Not to fear… I’ll be writing about that too when the time comes… and as they say… “the shoe will be on the other foot”.  

Enjoy your day… make the most of every moment you can. Life’s too short… and when you come to truly realize this… it’s even shorter!