Freezing in Florida

I spend my winters in a cute little trailer in a pretty trailer park just south of Orlando and have been doing so since 2000. We have just the occasional day during the winter when the temperatures will go below freezing...last year I think we had only one but this year we've had (so far) 10 in a row. Some of those days were actually barely above freezing but it's still a record as far as I'm concerned. I've covered all my outdoor plants but the prolonged cold has definitely killed a few. I only hope that the roots weren't affected and that they will survive.

This past week the air temperature has felt no different than being back home in Canada but the activities we have here have gone on as usual. When you're in a fun crowd and having a busy social life you tend to forget about the weather so I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, even with our terrible cold spell. If I was back home, I'd probably be hibernating alone most of the time and that just doesn't happen here in my wonderful Florida park.

I hope that when the time comes for my daughters to retire there are still economical ways to spend the winter here in the south. Trailer parks were disappearing at an alarming rate just a few years ago during the housing boom and those days will return, I'm sure. The average person might still be able to buy a modest house but it's here in the mainly senior trailer parks where life is most pleasurable. Mine has a vibrant community of busy seniors, many of whom serve as volunteers for most of our planned activities which make our winters a fun and happy time. It wouldn't be the same living in a regular house in a regular neighborhood.

I'll always be grateful for the fates that brought me to this park (my husband's friend) and to my husband for loving it as much as I do. We bought our little trailer in the spring of 2000 so this coming spring will mark the 10th full winter I've lived here. I hope for a few more at the very least. It feels as much like home to me as my own house back in Canada and I look forward to coming back as long as possible. Whatever happens in the future, my memories of this place (even the occasional freezing weather) will be happy ones.