View Single Post
 
Old 01-30-2015, 06:43 AM
senior citizen senior citizen is offline
Sage
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,813
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Default We will sneak back into fla. In the springtime


On a personal note, I can say that we have decided to continue visiting all of our favorite states.......plus some new ones, including Arizona........but to retain the family home in Vermont. Vacationing in Florida will always be our favorite getaway. It always has been.

Life is short...... Nothing is cast in stone. People are allowed to explore their options & then make an intelligent decision based on their own needs & experiences.


We have a beautiful home here. We are not party animals, that's for sure. So, as much fun as the dancing in the squares might be to some......nada for us. We are not drinkers. We are family oriented & always have been throughout our FIFTY YEARS OF MARRIAGE.

Real estate sales ARE NOT thriving. Not willing to take such a huge loss on the family homestead. So, not willing to buy a second home, especially if we cannot sell the first.


Also, with two people in a long term marriage, compromise is at the top of the priorities. We are not singles, that's for sure.


Granted, this has been a very harsh winter.......with sub zero temps for weeks now. However, spring will be here soon.......& the season is fondly remembered.....from the first time we arrived in 1970.......raised our children here.......Vermont is "home" to them as well.


Autumn is also a glorious season........people flock to Vermont for the foliage & vistas.


We look forward to the visits from all six (6) of our grandchildren (plus one great grandchild due this summer). We enjoy frequent family reunions in Vermont & Maine.

Being away for more than two months is just not workable.

As someone who was considering snowbird-ism, I can see this conflict which many have.


We have moved to Florida TWICE in our 50 years of marriage......both times returned to Vermont...........which has a mystique only someone who has lived her can truly know.


It is not as bad as some are painting it to be...........truly NOT. We feel safe here. It is the safest state.


Scholarly people who enjoy research & creative pursuits enjoy Vermont.


Yes, it is an all white state as someone stated.......the drug pushers who try to infiltrate the less than "bright" handful of youth.....stand out like a sore thumb.....esp. in their manner of dress. Flashy, etc.

Many move to Fla. as we did & then return back "home"......Fla. is a great place to vacation, but to many, "home is home".. ****


We've lived on both coasts of Florida, beachside both times. We have a frame of reference. We have vacationed up & down both coasts for 50 years. Once in the middle (excluding all the yearly visits to DISNEY)

****It's one of the reasons I have not become a snowbird, so far, and plan to only take shorter vacations to warmer climes.


A few months away is our limit.


Relocating back & forth gets expensive........so common sense has to prevail.


Believe it or not, many couples relocate to New England after retirement.......whether it be to coastal Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, etc.

Not New Jersey where we were born, not New York where we had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.... not Colorado where we have grandchildren.......but Florida will always remain our favorite vacation state. Plus coastal Maine.


Hubby cannot tolerate the HEAT; I'm not fond of the super high humidity which does not feel good as per my arthritis. Nor the cement floors.

Four seasons living is just better for some folks.......when you finally get sick of one, such as winter, spring cannot be far behind.


Vacations away are something to look forward to. Truly they are.


Yesterday, January 29, was the 13th anniversary of my mom's passing in Vermont....she is buried here in a small town cemetery with a panoramic view of the beautiful Green Mountains. She passed on her own mom's death date of January 29, 1959 and on my father's January 29, 1899 birthday. All of our friends & neighbors are buried in this same cemetery.

There is a "continuity" to life here. It isn't so transient.
We have friends OF ALL AGES........like they say, it's a cradle to grave town.


Our Vermont grandchildren love to visit us......& we love to have them. Our Colorado grandchildren come east once or twice per year. THIS IS HOME. FLORIDA IS OUR VACATION STATE. NOT A CRIME......LAST I LOOKED.


There is no rule that says we cannot enjoy Florida as we wish.....while retaining our "home" in Vermont. Life is not so black nor white.......this way or the highway sort of mentality.


Seeing the beautiful GREEN MOUNTAINS IN THE SUMMERTIME or in the early spring ON EMPTY HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS........plus the glorious autumn.......is one of the reasons my New Jersey mom, who never thought she'd escape the factories of New Jersey .....chose to retire here to Vermont........enjoying a good 30 plus years of retirement......passing at age 91.


The people are the salt of the earth. Not the nosy neighbor type, but they are THERE FOR YOU IF YOU NEED THEM. We've all seen our babies born, our children start school & graduate college; get married........have babies of their own.........hard to explain if you've never lived in a small town.


Mom always called Vermont "God's Country" when she got back from her senior citizen trips around the U.S. (to Branson, Missouri.....Atlantic City, N.J.......upper peninsula of Michigan........Maine seacoast........Canada......Florida.......etc., etc.)


It truly is God's Country.........no billboards allowed on the roadsides......no drive by shootings........think we will stay.


We will sneak back into Florida in the springtime; that was always our favorite time to visit..........less chance of the airplane's wings having to be de iced.