Quickly: I can advise that we have safely and soundly alighted in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Our flight was uneventful, though we had some considerable difficulty locating the “Park” portion of the “Park ‘n Fly” near Pearson International in Toronto yesterday.
It is warm and – as the weathermen say – “mostly sunny” in central Florida today. The road is filled with golf carts, which is taking a little getting used to, and living in the middle of a retirement community at age 42 is also a bit of an adjustment. Our first mission today: we are on the way out of doors to try and get a picture of an eagle, maybe an alligator and – wait for it – a zebra.
Retirement age is a moving target; the key is to retire because you want to, not for someone else’s sake, or because you have to. There’s people at work pushing 70 — heck, our shuttle bus driver was on his third career after 20 years in the Marines and 20 years in civil service (his wife was tired of having him around the house).
My in-laws live in a retirement community and are arguably prouder of their golf cart than their Lexus; their lives are filled with activities (golf, art, learning Photoshop, travel) so it’s hard for me to think of them as being retired — more like living amongst like-minded individuals and finally getting to enjoy the hard work they’ve put into life.
You are so bang on about the golf cart thing – and the activity-filled nature of the retirement community and folks enjoying themselves amont the like-minded too, I can tell you. I need to organize my thoughts a little bit about my seven days in Sun City Centre, oops, “Center”, but you’re absolutely right about that.
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