Wintering in Florida

It's October 3rd and I'm already half packed to make my yearly trek to Florida for the winter. I consider myself one of the lucky seniors who are able to escape the cold and enjoy warmth and sunshine while my Canadian neighbors are shoveling snow and bundling up in coats and boots. It took many years of hard work and saving to accomplish this so I'm not apologizing for my good fortune...I just wish my husband could have enjoyed the fruits of his labor a bit longer than he did.

We bought a little trailer in a senior park in the spring of 2000. We were both so excited when we returned that fall and my husband immediately began fixing it up. He put in a concrete patio where we spent countless hours entertaining some of the nicest people anywhere in the world. Americans and Canadians live in peace and harmony in this park because we don't allow the few political or religious differences we might have to interfere with our commonality.

We are the "average" people who have worked all our lives in average jobs (no CEO's), and retired with enough resources to live out our lives in relative comfort. Our trailers aren't luxurious in any sense of the word but they are well kept and perfect for our needs. We spend most of our time outside visiting, gardening, or laying around the pool. This simple, leisure retirement is on the endanged list, though, because of drastic housing development in Florida. Developers are buying up trailer parks and orange groves with the speed of light. My particular park is situated quite close to a new development where the housing prices range from $500,000 to $1,000,000 and it worries me to think that it will soon be more profitable for the owners of my park to sell it rather than rent trailer lots.

Last winter I decided to accept the fact that my park probably wouldn't outlast me and some time in the future I'd have to move on. When these parks close, the trailer owners receive almost nothing for their trailers so it would be impossible for me to buy in another park. Fortunately, I have a good friend who will share in the rental of a larger trailer when we have to move. The world is constantly changing and we simply have to alter our plans accordingly. In my case, losing my sweet little trailer isn't the worst that could happen but losing contact with the wonderful people I've been so lucky to spend my winters with would break my heart.

But right now I'll go on packing and planning for what I'm hoping will be another wonderful winter at my Florida home-away-from-home. Life goes on, doesn't it?