Now just some random thoughts and facts.
I miss the songbirds that we had up in New England but we have a wide variety of shore and predatory birds here that I never saw up north including Bald Eagles. Summer was very hot but it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be and this past summer was one of the hottest ones on record. I love the fact that its now mid November and Im still wearing shorts and I just planted my tomatoes. I have an orange tree in my backyard!
Food in general seems to be cheaper here. The price of produce is amazing at times like lettuce for 70 cents and bananas for 19 cents a pound. Meat, on the other hand, seems to cost more and there are less sales. While there are no state taxes, there are lots of other taxes that really mount up.
We air condition a standard 1400 square foot house and it appears that our electric bill will average out around $100 a month. The highest we paid was in August at around $220. In the winter it should drop to about $60. Besides heat and a/c, the hot water and stove are also electric. Our water bill is about $12 a month. Cable, and that includes high speed internet, runs just over $100 a month. I have Vonage for my house phone, $25, and Verizon for my cell. Our taxes on the house have gone up a bit from last year and will be around $1300. That includes trash pickup.
Speaking of trash, we get a pick up twice a week. Then on Wednesday they come around and get yard waste. Up in Massachusetts we had to cut and wrap branches. If they werent tied up properly and just the right size, they wouldnt take them. Down here you just leave the stuff out by the street. We can still use plastic trash bags (we had to buy special ones back in MA) and you can put out as much as you want to.
We have in the lawn sprinklers. We dont use them very much but sometimes theyre just fun to play with.
I like most of the wildlife here. The lizards are adorable and the sticky frogs that attached themselves to our windows this summer amused both us and the cats. I dont care for the millions of microscopic ants that live everywhere but at least Ive yet to see a fire ant. And I absolutely detest palmetto bugs and their smaller generic brown roach cousins. Ive only seen one snake around our house. Not a big deal as snakes dont bother me. My DH saw a rattlesnake at one of the state parks though and that would bother me.
The hurricane season this year was a record setter. Lucky for this part of Florida, the only one that was an issue was Wilma. She brought us copious amounts of rain and some wind but when it was over, we hadnt even lost our electricity. The worry is the price any of us that live here pay for paradise.
I thought I would miss the changing seasons but so far I havent. Maybe I will sometime in the future but now, when I see the temps in Massachusetts falling lower and lower, it makes me laugh. While one autumn out of 5 might knock your eyeballs out, most were a one or two day event and then a good size Nor'easter would come along and blow all the leave away. Winter was always a pain and I mean that literally. With arthritis and other back related problems, I always knew 36 to 48 hours before a storm was coming. This was not a good type of knowledge to have.
Driving around down here took some getting use to. First thing that I noticed was that nearly all the traffic lights are overhead. Thats an uncommon thing to see in Massachusetts. Then theres those center turn lanes on main roads and thats something we almost never see in Massachusetts. On average, in town, people seem to drive slower but put them on a major highway and be prepared to go to light speed! Even my back route to Disney can turn into the Indy 500. One time, when I was cruising along at 65 mph, I got passed by a car like I was in park. That car was towing a BOAT!
The roads are well kept though and usually very straight. That may be part of the reason cars go so fast. Even I have been amazed to look down at the speedometer and see that Im edging towards 70 mph. You just dont feel like youre going as fast as you are. Our town does have something that reminds me of up north ... a Rotary! That may be because it was named after Auburndale, MA.
On average I feel much better down here. Those of you in New England and elsewhere, I suppose, will understand how the endless gray skies of winter tend to become depressing. Here winter is magnificent. We did have a few cool days, even one day when the morning low was 19 degrees. But for the most part, from November through the beginning of April, the days are sunny, warm and dry. Six months of awesome weather, 3 months of transitioning weather and 3 months of HOT.
There are two hospitals in our area, one in Winter Haven and a much larger one in Lakeland. There is also a goodly supply of doctors.
Our small town must have at least 50 churches. 99% of them are of some Protestant denomination. I have only seen one Catholic church (in Winter Haven) and 1 Jewish Temple.
In the summer, mowing the lawn is done at least once every 5 days and sometimes more!
The following stores are a reasonably short drive from where I live:
Wal-Mart
Winn Dixie - Food
Publix - Food
Home Depot
Lowes
CVS
Walgreens
Just about every fast food restaurant you can think of.
K Mart
Radio Shack
These stores are a 30 minute drive or longer.
J C Penny
Office Max
Sears
And probably a lot of other stores. They're at a mall in Lakeland that Ive only been to once.
Things that are farther out.
ARGGG! Dunkin Donuts!
Downtown Disney.
Another thing Im still not use to is the laid back way they mark the borders of the towns down here. In Massachusetts you always know exactly where you are because the signs tell you. Down here there are large land areas where you dont have a clue. I live in the land mass that is Auburndale but not in the town. Its very confusing.
Even with us now being back to standard time, we do not have full darkness until about 5:30 p.m. Thats about an extra hour of light because Im further west than I was in Massachusetts.
I love to take photographs and up in New England my passion was song birds. Because they are at a premium here, Ive switched to photographing clouds, weather related events and the abundant Florida wildlife. Theres almost always something going on in that department.
Here are my five favorite photos that Ive taken in the past year.
Sandhill Crane
One of the Hot air balloons that appeared over my house on August 17th.
Roll Cloud. These appear as a thunderstorm approaches and look like a horizontal tornado although they contain no tornadic activity. I had never seen these clouds before moving down here.
Probably the best sunset of the year. Taken from my backyard.
Almost a tornado! Luckily this cloud only held together for about 30 seconds. I think, at the time, I was more fascinated than scared.
And, in keeping with the Disney theme, here are my five favorite Disney photos from this year.
The perfect sky for a photo of the ToT.
Fireworks over Seven Seas Lagoon on the 4th of July.
My first AP sneak preview of an attraction... SOARIN!
My favorite place in my favorite park.
And one photo from Cypress Gardens just because its such a pretty place.
So thats my story. If you have any questions on something I didnt mention, feel free to ask away.
Do I ever feel homesick? Yes I do. Sometimes I just long to see places I always knew. Its like a deep ache. But then it passes and Im happy to be here. Perhaps next Spring Ill go back up to Massachusetts for a visit but Im now sure that I was meant to live in Florida and it will remain my home.
. Will you update us with some more great pictures? They would sure cheer up a lot of people on a grey winter day!
Now I can tell him that they do! 
), however I've got 3 in sight as I type (2 more come in when they want but mostly like it outside). All were abandoned and are now spayed or neutered. We have one (
