33 thoughts on “Florida is looking better all the time

    1. Hi, Paul. Now you know that I am old enough to remember the day it snowed in Tampa, as much as I hate to admit it!!

      My sister called me in the middle of the night (long before cell
      phones) and was screaming for me to go outside and look up.
      Well, it was snowing. By morning there was snow on the ground,
      roads, cars, etc. My children begged to stay home from school,
      and I let them.

      There were so many wrecks that day, it was pitiful. Let’s face it,
      we Floridians do not know how to drive in snow!

      It was quite an exciting day for us here in the Sunshine State!!

      Hate to tell you this, but we have the a/c running again today….

    1. hey Michael i have family in Tampa. they are checking out a gated community north of there for me called crystal river village. am thinking about moving there maybe. its in the 70’s in Tampa today.

      1. Me again, Paul! It is beautiful in the Crystal River area. Still kinda “old Florida”. Not like The Villages.

        If you are coming to Florida, I would highly suggest not near the big cities. Traffic, noise, not so nice people, etc.

        Take care…

          1. Yes, it is very “old Florida” last time I was there, pretty laid back, kinda “country”. Closest big town is Brooksville. Look that up and you will see that they maybe have several traffic lights.

            My mother lived in Crystal River/Homossassa area for many years. Had a nice place there and we would go up from Tampa to fish and just lay around.

            Take care.

  1. I live in a small town of great popularity called Lake Mary. It is 20 minutes East and North of Orlando. We are 30 minutes from the beach and our weather is great. It is very rare we need more than a sweater. We do not need snow tires or chains. A snow shovel or ice scrapers are not to be found anywhere. Our children do not need mittens, scarves or boots. We save a lot of money. Our pipes don’t freeze and heat pumps for the little we need heat save a fortune to a homeowner.

    I was born in NY State and lived half my life there. In December the year I left, the sun peaked out five times for the whole month. Not one full sunny day. The day before we left snow and ice covered everything. Our world looked like a crystal town. The temperature was 17 degrees below zero with a wind chill of 35. This was December of 1972. When we arrived in Ocala, Florida it was 85 degrees and we were in sleveless blouses and shorts. We peeled clothing all the way down. The last of the snow was midway through New Jersey.

    I never left.

      1. Ocala is the highest point in Florida it is beautiful and the home of many horse ranches where the famous thoroughbreds you know of retire or go into syndication for their seed. You may go and visit them.

    1. Hi, Susan! We are neighbors. We live in Casselberry, and it is so beautiful here today!!

      And we love Lake Mary, shop there, and love the restaurants also. And ya’ll have the best Christmas decorations in this entire area!!!

      1. hey 1611 looked brooksville up ……nice place thank you. our dreams are a little way off yet. taking care of wifes mom and dad for now. but when they go home we are seriously looking.

    1. You are so right, Redhorse…we loved to scuba in the beautiful
      rivers there. Good memories…my dear mother was alive and we
      would go visit….like the old Tennessee Ernie Ford song….
      “Precious memories, how they linger…how they ever fill my soul…”

  2. Most of you probably know this but the California extreme drought and the snow in the midwest are coming from a high pressure ridge in the north pacific.
    I have high suspect that HAARP is causing this.

  3. sounds good REDHORSE. am looking for stats such as taxes, crime rate, living expenses such as high speed internet, property insurance, car insurance etc. looks interesting at this point.

    1. I have a 2000 sq.ft house taxes 850 only because a 3% raise is the limit unless you sell your house then it is high but not as high as NY.
      It used to be a cheap place to live before Disney since it became a tourism state which it is now things are much more costly but not as bad as some places. We have no state income tax, 7%sales tax but not on food. We favor guns and have open carry concealed and stand your ground. We were also the second state to put in a stalking law right after California.

      What is best here is the weather it reduces your cost of living by hundreds. We wear the same clothing all year long. I am wearing bermuda shorts and a short cap sleeve shirt and bare footed at the moment. I have a couple of sweat pants/top outfits for cooler weather but most of the time its the summer clothes. Jeans are worn all year.

      It used to be the retirement state but today we have a lot of young families and the elderly are the minority now. The Tampa region along with St. Pete are more expensive over all. I am in Central Florida and the cost of living is lower. Groceries are about the same as everywhere. We used to grow a lot of oranges but the trees froze in the early seventies with a severe cold spell and they were all turned into apartments or parking lots for malls.

      Wages have always been lower here but being an agricultural state for so long it is easy to see why. When I first came here we had a lot of migratory workers and the schools were in trouble. We ranked 46 in the nation. As the agri went and tourism came along with a large migration into the state things changed for the better.
      They passed a lottery and money was made available to the schools.

      This is my paradise.

  4. I hear ya Paul…I think its because the ridge has grown larger and now even effecting the rest of the country with snow. The only reason the west will get small amounts of rain is because it comes off the few storms that come from direct east. Wonder how much radiation is in it…We are so screwed 🙂

    1. I am afraid that you are right, hweinhard. But put your trust in
      the Lord…He will never leave us nor forsake us. And He will take care of the B*&^%$%s in Washington!!!

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