Homer for the Holidays

Fall has arrived in Florida. It may seem late to state that, but we actually had to use our heat at night just in the last week, for the first time. Once the A/C goes off during the day, that usually signifies fall to me. (More a temperature thing than a calendar date for us).

With fall it means an end to the hurricane season and cooler day time temperatures and not much else. For instance, my flowers are still blooming and will stay that way until I remove them. Let’s just say you really get your money’s worth when you plant annuals here in Florida.

Fall Hurricane Season

We survived two hurricanes this season. One on the dirty side and one on the clean side. Other than a few days without power, our location really is ideal to weather these storms.

My beloved Cedar Key did not fare so well. The street along the gulf sustained quite a bit of damage to the buildings and the surge took out a few more on main street. The resilience of this community just amazes me though, as when visiting, you can hear the hammers and saws back at it, rebuilding this beautiful little town. Of course, the animals don’t care what’s happening and the fisherman are still using the boat ramp regularly.

Here on Orange Lake, duck season has opened up and with it the sound of guns almost every morning. The coots are back, and I don’t just mean the “old” people that arrive with the colder temps up north. Lol!

Homer all decked out for Christmas

This is our fourth year of spending the winter holidays in Homer. When we sold it “all”, I did manage to keep one small bin of items for Christmas. Mostly soft items that squish down, but for some reason, a big Santa was able to make it in my pack. After a pretty uneventful Thanksgiving, I love decorating for Christmas. The stockings are hung, the tree is up, and Max and Rocky are trying to dig through the presents in case they have a new toy wrapped and ready for them.

The amazing thing about living this lifestyle, during this technological era, is we can still spend the holidays with our family. We video chat regularly with our kids and grandkids, the grandkids know our voices and faces, and we even get to experience them opening any gifts that may be arriving at their homes. We are fortunate that we can be grandparents both physically and remotely. It made me wonder what our parents’ generation did and I realized, my kids just didn’t see their grandparents for those cold 6 months of the year. It didn’t seem to matter to them, it’s just how it was. I have to say, I prefer being able to see our littles how often we do, even if remotely.

I’ve managed two trips to the beach so far and gathered shells to make my winter crafts. Mostly Christmas ornaments and shell trees this year and the big sale is December 14th. I’m hoping to at least make enough to offset the cost of my supplies, which would be a huge improvement over last year. Still haven’t quite broken even. Good thing this is about flexing my creative juices rather than making the big bucks.

From our family to yours, have a great holiday season and in the event, you need to just take a moment of peace, enjoy this welk moving through his life at a pace that will give you a moment to just relax.

See ya on the road,

Dave and Theresa