Amazed every day

[JimTony]

We have lived here in the Villages at St Charles for about 9 months now. I thought that after driving up and down the same roads, day after day, some of the awe would lessen for how beautiful this place is.

The good news is that just the opposite is the case. We see new landscaping or birds every day or we see a familiar view in new lighting (early morning or late evening) that gives the view an entirely different look. The lighting can create a thousand different shades of green. The grass, the golf courses, the plants, the trees, the birds, and the alligators make every trip interesting.

We are also amazed at the amount of landscaping and the incredible effort needed to maintain it. There must be millions of landscaping plants. Once planted, there seems to be an army of people trimming each and every plant. It is also fun to see all the landscaping on the thousands of homes since each is different.

When you are out and about in your golf cart, don't forget to enjoy the view - each and every trip.

[KyWoman]

We have been here for 2 1/2 years and I still feel in awe of the beauty! We were just discussing how fortunate we were to find this place and that after living here, we could never go back. We have found our new "home" and love it!

[redwitch]

I'm with you. I've been here 4 years now and have yet to go a day when I'm out and about that I don't find something to make me smile. For me, the biggies are the Sandhill Cranes. I can sit and watch them for hours.

I always feel sorry for the snowbirds because they have to leave too soon. Late spring and early summer brings beautiful bursts of color to TV -- the flowers planted by TV landscaping and villagers; the trees in full bloom; the Villagers in their bursts of color as they drive around in their golf carts or walk the Squares (okay, some of those bursts of color aren't all that great, but they're fun to look at).

[champion6]

I love reading these thoughts. Aw man, we can't wait to get there! October cannot come soon enough.

Pushing Fast Forward, but nothing is happening <sigh>

[graciegirl]

I miss all of you and all of the pretty sights. Thank you for the good thoughts.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

........Late spring and early summer brings beautiful bursts of color to TV -- ......

About the only 'bursts' we're seeing here in central OH are 'cloudbursts'!!! :rant-rave: A bit of "April showers bring May flowers" stuff is fine but this seems to be dragging on forever! Local weather guy said yesterday that out of 137 days this year, we've had precipitation on 88 of them. Nice. Sure wish we could export some of it down to you-all in TV! Can't keep vehicles clean here. And all the rain sure makes it tough to keep up with the mowing......but everyone's yards really are green!!

There!! I feel better now. Time to get back on my meds....... :1rotfl:

Bill :)

[pooh]

I've been here for almost 5 years and I'm still in awe of the beauty we see. It's amazing!

Enjoy, it will only get better.

[K9-Lovers]

Speaking of sandhill cranes, there is a mom, dad and baby right behind the hospice building on the recreational path. They are there everyday, and they are so lovely. So many carts zoom through that area and I worry about them being hit.

[ljones190]

We have lived here in the Villages at St Charles for about 9 months now. I thought that after driving up and down the same roads, day after day, some of the awe would lessen for how beautiful this place is.

The good news is that just the opposite is the case. We see new landscaping or birds every day or we see a familiar view in new lighting (early morning or late evening) that gives the view an entirely different look. The lighting can create a thousand different shades of green. The grass, the golf courses, the plants, the trees, the birds, and the alligators make every trip interesting.

We are also amazed at the amount of landscaping and the incredible effort needed to maintain it. There must be millions of landscaping plants. Once planted, there seems to be an army of people trimming each and every plant. It is also fun to see all the landscaping on the thousands of homes since each is different.

When you are out and about in your golf cart, don't forget to enjoy the view - each and every trip.

Nice post, we own a house in St. Charles for the last 16 months but we have only spent about 6 weeks in TV. Good to hear it doesn't get old. I drive around my town in NJ which is a nice town but its not even close to being anything like The Villages. We are sneaking down for a quick weekend trip this Friday.

[Pturner]

Hi JimTony,
The beauty is awesome. In addition to the wildlife and wonderful landscaping, part of the beauty is watching all the peeps out in their golf carts admiring the beauty!

Thanks for the fabulous post.

[ilovetv]

We feel the same way...newness has not worn off in 2 years. Every day, we say "I can't believe we're really here" or "This place is beautiful and so well kept".....or...."I must be dreaming!"

There's no place like this anywhere else. People who've never been here but form their own ideas of what it is anyway...have no idea what they're missing.

[bkcunningham1]

It is amazing. Not just everyday, but no less than a dozen times a day I see something that puts a smile on my face. I smile every night when we go to the pool to swim and see everyone there talking and exercising. I smile when I drive by the softball field on Paradise and see all the "seniors" playing softball like teenagers. I smile when I see someone set up fishing on the lake across from the dog park and remember fishing there with a full moon and my nephew.

The dog park is always another smile for me. I smile at the ducks in the lake across the cart bridge at Spanish Springs. The dancers in the Town Square always make me smile and tap my toes. I smile when I remember dancing there with my husband, my sister-in-laws, my girlfriend; and one night I danced with a random group of toddlers.

I'm smiling now thinking about playing golf later this morning with one of my wonderful neighbors from the cul-de-sac. Oh, I love this place and thank God everyday for my health and the blessings I found here.

[2BNTV]

We have lived here in the Villages at St Charles for about 9 months now. I thought that after driving up and down the same roads, day after day, some of the awe would lessen for how beautiful this place is.

The good news is that just the opposite is the case. We see new landscaping or birds every day or we see a familiar view in new lighting (early morning or late evening) that gives the view an entirely different look. The lighting can create a thousand different shades of green. The grass, the golf courses, the plants, the trees, the birds, and the alligators make every trip interesting.

We are also amazed at the amount of landscaping and the incredible effort needed to maintain it. There must be millions of landscaping plants. Once planted, there seems to be an army of people trimming each and every plant. It is also fun to see all the landscaping on the thousands of homes since each is different.

When you are out and about in your golf cart, don't forget to enjoy the view - each and every trip.

Thank you for this lovely post.

I once wondered if TV would yield a sameness after being ther for a while.

It is refreshing to hear that some people still marvel at how beautiful it is.

[ladydoc]

I am so glad that I read this thread. Moving comes closer and closer..about 6 weeks now. I was starting to get a bit of fear and trepidation about moving. The familiar does have its appeals. However reading all of this made me even surer that Hubs and I are making the right move. I just pray that my health gets a little better so I can enjoy more of the things that there are to do. One step forward was that today I called an oncologist recommended to me and the office staff were so helpful and welcoming. That took a big load off my shoulders!!! Well, its back to packing and shredding. Its unbelievable how much paper work we have accumulated!!

[BigMike]

I, like Ladydoc, am so glad to read this thread. My wife and I will be back in july and hopefully there full time by January. We were talking this morning as we were looking at the webcams of the squares and she asked me would it get old or change. I had her read this thread and we are both ecstatic about our choice of new home. Can't wait to smile everyday :smiley: as we are driving around. thanks to all who posted here for making my day!! See you in July!!!!!

[walkr]

It was so ironic to see this thread! I just came back from my first trip back home "up north" since we moved down here at the end of December. It was cold and rainy all weekend there, and I froze the whole time. :cold:Yesterday when I was driving around TV, everything seemed so brilliant! It was almost dazzling. And it was warm!!!

Okay, maybe it's only been a few months for me, and maybe the newness hasn't worn off yet, but I still find TV really beautiful! (And did I mention warm?)

I do miss my family, but I sure was glad to be back here!

[ilovetv]

It was so ironic to see this thread! I just came back from my first trip back home "up north" since we moved down here at the end of December. It was cold and rainy all weekend there, and I froze the whole time. :cold:Yesterday when I was driving around TV, everything seemed so brilliant! It was almost dazzling. And it was warm!!!

Okay, maybe it's only been a few months for me, and maybe the newness hasn't worn off yet, but I still find TV really beautiful! (And did I mention warm?)....

"Dazzling" is the perfect word for it! When we go back up north to our former home, everything looks "drab", and the people look so much older than Villagers their age or older look.

Yes, TV is DAZZLING. And most residents appreciate it and acknowledge it often, trying to keep it pristine. Where else in the USA could you see 300 people get up from their chairs when the band ends at the town square, and there is not even one piece of trash on the ground? Nowhere.

[tainsley]

Love reading these posts! After two visits to TV last June and October my husband and I just knew this is where we will spend the next half of our lives. We absolutely loved how friendly and helpful everyone was. We loved how beautiful and well kept every road, golf course, town square, etc, etc, etc... Coming down for the month of July to find our next home. Can't hardly wait. Hope to meet you all someday!

[graciegirl]

Love reading these posts! After two visits to TV last June and October my husband and I just knew this is where we will spend the next half of our lives. We absolutely loved how friendly and helpful everyone was. We loved how beautiful and well kept every road, golf course, town square, etc, etc, etc... Coming down for the month of July to find our next home. Can't hardly wait. Hope to meet you all someday!

Hope to meet you too, tainsley!

I love reading these posts as we are off campus right now. I miss the sweet sunshine on our lanai as I savor my morning coffee.

I miss the walkers early in the morning going down our street with their furry friends. I wish I could drive down my favorite vista, underneath the live oaks on Buena Vista near Clearwater Trail, it always gives me such a sense of peace, I always imagined heaven to look like that.

I miss the songs of the fifties, sixties and seventies played on the radio in every public place and I miss the returning smiles from people of about my age, give ten, fifteen years.

I miss the executive golf courses, playing my best, not as good as I was, but having much more fun, blaming the sandhill cranes for walking in my putting line!

I miss the art community who has welcomed me as I really have improved my skills...and at my age too! But don't call me Grandma anything, Moses or otherwise.

Because I am younger than springtime, happy as a clam, satisfied and more to live in the prettiest place and the nicest place I have ever run across.

I miss you.:wave:

[VillagesFlorida]

I, like Ladydoc, am so glad to read this thread. My wife and I will be back in july and hopefully there full time by January. We were talking this morning as we were looking at the webcams of the squares and she asked me would it get old or change. I had her read this thread and we are both ecstatic about our choice of new home. Can't wait to smile everyday :smiley: as we are driving around. thanks to all who posted here for making my day!! See you in July!!!!!

Hi, BigMike,

You aren't full-timers yet but you are wondering if living here will "get old or change"? I hope this helps! I am closing in on 13 years of full-time bliss in Florida's Friendliest Hometown. While I think I DO tend to take some things for granted now, living here will never become old hat. The Villages lifestyle is just too exciting to ever become boring. In fact, the older I get the happier I am that I found this place. When we first moved here I couldn't buy a pair of shoes nor could my husband buy a shirt in The Villages. Home Depot was in Ocala or Leesburg. Entertainment happened in a tent on Spanish Springs Town Square! Yet, despite what WASN'T here there was already so much more than in any other retirement communities we had visited. Your love for this place will not change, except to grow! The Villages changes around us but, for us, those changes have only added to the beauty of this place and provided us with yet more conveniences and experiences. After all of this time I still ride around in my golf cart with a big smile on my face! I am still amazed, I am in awe, and my love affair with this place grows deeper every day. I hope you get to enjoy many years in The Villages. There is nothing like it in the world. :wave: (That's me, waving at you as we pass in our golf carts!)

[swimdawg]

Hi, BigMike,

You aren't full-timers yet but you are wondering if living here will "get old or change"? I hope this helps! I am closing in on 13 years of full-time bliss in Florida's Friendliest Hometown. While I think I DO tend to take some things for granted now, living here will never become old hat. The Villages lifestyle is just too exciting to ever become boring. In fact, the older I get the happier I am that I found this place. When we first moved here I couldn't buy a pair of shoes nor could my husband buy a shirt in The Villages. Home Depot was in Ocala or Leesburg. Entertainment happened in a tent on Spanish Springs Town Square! Yet, despite what WASN'T here there was already so much more than in any other retirement communities we had visited. Your love for this place will not change, except to grow! The Villages changes around us but, for us, those changes have only added to the beauty of this place and provided us with yet more conveniences and experiences. After all of this time I still ride around in my golf cart with a big smile on my face! I am still amazed, I am in awe, and my love affair with this place grows deeper every day. I hope you get to enjoy many years in this place. There is nothing like it in the world. :wave: (That's me, waving at you as we pass in our golf carts!)
Between you, Villages Florida, and Gracie....TV doesn't need to advertise. I'm just sad that the world is coming to an end tomorrow because I can't get to TV by then to enjoy!:cry:

[Pturner]

Between you, Villages Florida, and Gracie....TV doesn't need to advertise. I'm just sad that the world is coming to an end tomorrow because I can't get to TV by then to enjoy!:cry:

Don't worry Swimdawg,
If you miss the final episode, it will rerun on Dec. 21, 2012.

We won't tell you how it ended. :024:

[BigMike]

Thank you so much for the info. :mademyday:

13 years thats is great to live a dream for 13 years. We are on the way and can only hope we have our 13+ years living our dream

Thanks again:wave: thats me waving back!!!

[swimdawg]

Don't worry Swimdawg,
If you miss the final episode, it will rerun on Dec. 21, 2012.

We won't tell you how it ended. :024:

Awwww.....I wanna know. Please tell me:sigh:

I think I have a lot of eating and partyin' to do before tomorrow. And maybe a quick visit to the Porsch dealer. A few hours driving around in a Porche will be a great way to go out.

[marybb]

I'm still pinching myself, I must be dreaming. I've only been here full time for six days. Nice to know it keeps getting better and better.

[Pturner]

Awwww.....I wanna know. Please tell me:sigh:

I think I have a lot of eating and partyin' to do before tomorrow. And maybe a quick visit to the Porsch dealer. A few hours driving around in a Porche will be a great way to go out.


Ok, it all ends... with a big bang. :wave:

[VillagesFlorida]

Thank you so much for the info. :mademyday:

13 years thats is great to live a dream for 13 years. We are on the way and can only hope we have our 13+ years living our dream

Thanks again:wave: thats me waving back!!!

Here I go! Get ready to wave!

:gc:

[swimdawg]

Ok, it all ends... with a big bang. :wave:
Thanks for the heads up. :boom: