Howdy, Snowbirds!

In a few weeks, we will enter Fall here in Paradise. Fall officially starts on September 22, the day following the Fall Equinox. It's traditional. We won't get Fall weather until late October here and, even then, it won't have those crisp cool nights and mornings those further north of us will experience. We only get those during official Winter. Fall here is more like Summer up north. Summer here closely resembles some descriptions of Hades.

I happen to like warm weather... or I sure wouldn't live here. I do not like cold weather at all. The first year that a Snowbird (someone who spends Winters here and summers up north; a seasonal resident) spends here when he gives up returning north in the Summer is the toughest. But once through a Summer and a Winter, you get acclimated. More or less. You never really get used to the heat in Summer but you do adapt to it.

In reality, there are only two to three months a year here when the weather is excellent. During those periods, the nights dip down into the high 60's to low 70's and the days don't get above the low 80's. Yeah, I know that is summer in New England. But we are a long way from New England.

We mark the beginning of Winter when the first Snowbirds show up around the middle or end of October. We like the winter residents; they keep our businesses alive with the money they spend while here. All of our businesses rely on the seasonal residents to survive. Without them, they'd fold. I try to think of this when I fight the traffic or wait for a seat in a restaurant that a few short weeks before was begging me to visit.

Come on down!