Life is no Easier by the Beach

We live in Florida, which you would think being one of the retirement capitals of the U.S. would mean a quieter and more relaxing atmosphere. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.
Coming from the Northeast where traffic is horrendous and the gray, cold days of winter seem to go on forever, Florida was a welcome change, at least for a little while.
I remember flying in to the Fort Myers airport on that February day knowing that we had just left the 20-degree bitter cold of Philadelphia and were now arriving to 80-degrees and eye-squinting sunshine that had me quickly shedding my winter attire.
From the plane windows you could see boats sprinkled across the sparkling Gulf of Mexico and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. I couldn’t believe this was going to be our new home.
The only cause for concern was all the people seated on the plane reminding us of our grandparents. But we were willing to overlook that.
We quickly fell into the routine of going to the pool in the late afternoons followed by a walk on the beach to watch the setting sun. Then we bought a house.
Now I’m not saying that buying a house was a complete destruction of life as we knew it, but pretty close. It’s just that being a homeowner is like taking on another job. Of course, we didn’t realize this at the time. We just knew we wanted a house and that was that.
Late afternoons at the pool were replaced with bill paying and laundry. And instead of driving to the beach for our sunset stroll, we walked around the neighborhood.
We were content, but life no longer resembled a vacation. Today, traffic and work dominate our lives. And that sunshine that draws so many people here, I see from my windows at work and sometimes on the weekend when the laundry’s done.