Living in Florida from the view of the old folks:
Swimming is out! Who wants to get wet?
One thing I've found out about living in Florida is that it's not all that different from Indiana, except for the obvious — the nice weather.
I mean lots of nice weather — every day, day in and day out.
You can play cards if you want; lots of people want to play cards — every day almost.
Bridge, euchre, poker, pinochle and some other games I never heard of.
Since people are from all over the country, (mostly Midwest) with different backgrounds, they know how to play whatever it is they are used to playing there.
But, you might say, why aren't they outdoors, since they can enjoy the weather outside?
That's a good question. But, you forgot, they are older retired folks who want to relax.
They already have been outside. Going to work for 20-30 years or more?
So they want to be doing what they enjoy, which is inside at a card table. With their friends. Also eating and drinking a lot till you're forced on a diet. But that's another story.
The beautiful pool outside is empty. Who wants to get all wet? Who knows how to swim?
Very few. Golfing is the other popular sport, but I'll get to that one later. Some guys can play golf every day while others are on a weekly budget for the game.
Maybe two or three athletic types of men will be swimming laps, but no women usually.
I swim laps. I'm the only one there really swimming laps. There are also people who have pools in their own backyard who may be swimming laps. But I don't ever see anyone in those pools. And I go by them daily in my golf cart. This pool is attached to the clubhouse.
One other lady pretends to be swimming laps and wears eye goggles and a bathing cap but doesn't breathe correctly. She breathes in and out above water instead of blowing air out under the water.
I learned to swim laps when I was in college trying to get a life-saving certificate to land a summer job at a pool. So I had to practice every night back at the pool to swim laps right.
The football coach was the judge, and he said I was a “lightweight” and couldn't fight off a big strong man to save. Ha! He should see me now!
The hot tub is another fun place to pass time in Florida — if you like to scald yourself to pieces getting into it. You get used to it after a few minutes and can almost bear the hot water, but not for very long. Five or six minutes is my maximum.
Of course, there are lots of sights to see and parks to visits and Disney World, of course,
But those things are for the younger families with children to entertain. Also, alligator tours, and other animal parks where you stay in your car and the huge rhinos munch grass outside your window. You can drive all over without getting out. That's near West Palm Beach.
But if you're dreaming of retiring in Florida, that's about the size of it — card-table size.
