Why Do I Like Where I Live

I moved to Florida with my husband to retire. He died a week later leaving me in a strange State with no family or friends. Yet I never gave a thought to moving back North.

One of the things that brought me here to retire was the Florida skies. Looking up at the beautiful blue unpolluted sky and white cotton like balls of clouds that take on the shape and faces of loved ones, made me at once fall in love with this State.

There is magic here and I am not talking about the magic of Disney. I am talking about the magic of the weather, the seasons and the ability to do whatever you want to do at any given moment without worrying about being ''snowed in'' or the icy streets once outside.

I found the ability to do all the things that I always ''wished'' I could have done when younger. I returned to college, and graduated with honors. I visited the many nearby craft stores, and learned how to acrylic paint in abstract form and at a later date how to do ceramics.

I never had to be concerned about the snow making me miss a school day, or the icy streets keeping me from walking from my car to the craft stores.

I love waking up in the mornings, with the beautiful sunshine lighting up the Orchids or Christmas Cactus on my patio or the sun rays coming through the patio blinds that land on my living room floor.

Getting dressed is fast,easy and simply entails slipping on a pair of shorts, tee top, and sandals, grabbing my keys and getting into the car. No snow boots, woolen hats, or scraping the ice off the windshield.

Since the car has been in a cool garage all night, you never know how hot it actually is outdoors until you finally reach your destination and step out of the car. The heat however is short lived, and lasts only for as long as it takes to leave your air conditioned car and quickly enter the air conditioned destination.

Everything is magical here even the rain. It is not unusual to see it pouring on one side of the block while you bask in the sun on the other side. When driving, you can actually see where it is raining and where the sun once again starts. You can also drive into a torrential rain knowing that in a few minutes you will drive out of it into the bright sunshine.

The seasons are reversed in Florida than that of the North. Because of high the humidity, we tend to keep indoors during the summers and enjoy outdoor activities during the winter.

That does not mean that we stay inside our houses. No! Since everything is central air conditioned, we can attend movies, museums, indoor ice skating, bowling, any of the abundant shopping Malls, or any activity that does not require standing on line in the hot sun.

Everything is slower here and gives us time to even enjoy food shopping. It is not unusual to to see three strangers standing in front of their shopping carts in the center of the aisle discussing politics, or sharing tips, as if they were old friends.

There is only one thing that I do not like about Florida and that is not being able to share retirement and all the activities and beauty of Florida with my husband.

He wanted to bring me to Florida and he did. He died in Florida and I buried him in Florida. My children, grandchildren and my one great grandchild now all live in Florida and feel the same magic of the State that I do.

Now as I look up at the blue skies with the cotton like shaped clouds, I can see the face of my husband smiling, knowing that I am happy and content in a State where I made all my dreams come true.

Life is good!