Sunshine Fun “Down South”

What do you miss most as you endure the long wrath of wintertime? 

“Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” (Hans Christian Anderson)

I’ve been thinking lately how fortunate it’s been for me to enjoy the great outdoors in the heart of winter season this year. For I’m again enjoying temperate weather conditions in South Florida while most  of the country lies dormant in extreme cold conditions. I might have considered Southern California as another place to find balmy weather now, but those ravaging fires recently represent a serious safety threat to those who attempt to venture outside. Even in the desert environs of Arizona, the higher elevations for so many communities would likely produce extreme weather risk.

To exemplify my point, in scanning through a plethora of Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach County happenings last weekend, I felt very confident that I could find something to do spontaneously in the open air with Ruth at a  nominal cost. With weather conditions calm, I could prepare casually as usual by wearing my short pants, perhaps a Hawaiian shirt and sneakers. Parking lots would of course be likely full but that would be no big deal. For in stretching my legs a bit more to and from a vehicle space farther out, I’d be taking the time then to more fully enjoy our interesting subtropical flora and fauna. 

So I call to attention all of you  “snowbirds” to feel what fun it felt like to soak up some “sun rays” as I chose to do in “country bumpkin” fashion at a local Strawberry Festival last weekend. I suspect that you would have then enjoyed exchanging  those slushy piles of snow removal you plow through now with the opportunity to  pick fresh fruit in these gorgeously green fields. Other luscious fruits and flowers in season featured at the venue’s farmers market  might similarly have been entering your mind as well as you stared at those dead leafless trees of yours in frigid January.       

You’d probably also grown weary of being cooped up  with your family and pets for extended times in your window shut home. So you might have felt a strong urge to amuse yourself with an animal or two in this fair’s  petting zoo to enjoy some fresh air conditions. For the same reason, those kids of yours would probably be getting restless at home on those long winter days as well.Thus, I’d further reason you’d be thrilled at the chance  to let them go outdoors to play in the sand  or build something harmless there.

So why wait for springtime to arrive? Just shed those winter coats and boots, break a smile, and come on down south where there’s always plenty you can fancy doing at any time  The “Sunshine State” awaits you.! As a side note of Florida interest, coming up in late February will be the much larger Strawberry Festival in Plant City. Check out the link below. Enjoy the photos.

https://flstrawberryfestival.com/