I have been advised by many sources that folks in The Villages move around, but that when they get to their third house, that is it. I especially believed that since we are in the third. However, I find that there are loopholes. The Blonde in the house has for some time wanted to return to our first Village where we spent twelve and a half years. That time period was by far the longest time we have spent in one spot in our considerable married life. We knew that we made a mistake in leaving, but there were good reasons – or at least so we thought. I have been pointing out that it was not a good idea to move back as the houses in the old area were more expensive than our present house. Then, one day I jokingly said well perhaps someone will decide to rent a house there at a price we can afford.
Well, you can guess what happened. The Blonde has a long memory and when she heard that a nice person was going to do just that, lightening moves were made and we will shortly be moving. The house is right in the midst of old friends. Perhaps, Old Saint Nick heard her and decided that this would be a good Christmas present. Whatever the reason, our Christmas season will be filled not only with holly and mistletoe but “moving” thoughts as well. We do not have to move right away, but February 1 will be here plenty soon. Of course, it will be a fun time as we consider changing utilities, TV, Wi-Fi, addresses all over the place and lord knows what else. It will complete a tri-fecta though. While the streets are different, our street number in the first Village was 1801. We now live at 1803, and the new one will be 1802. I decree (for whatever that is worth) that there will be no 1804.
Now that that is out of the way, we can consider the usual aspects of Christmas. That is, is everything in line for the big day? I now have all The Blonde’s gifts. I did it without having to get her an updated leaf blower which is a agreeable accomplishment. Nice blouses and jewelry can be used only so many times, thus, I always strive for something different. Finding something different is hard. I see on the internet frequently where it notes that you should click “here” to see a list of absolutely different gifts. Usually they are “different” but not necessarily something that you really want to buy the wife – or even someone else that you like. I did see an umbrella that played “Baby its cold outside when you opened it. However, that seemed rather seasonal so I passed even though the umbrella was attractive.
If you drive around The Villages this time of year, you can easily notice that some areas go all out on lighting where others are more subdued. I think the subdued areas may come from advancing age. I know that our house is more subdued than it has been in other years. Heck, we live on a cul de sac and hardly anybody comes up the street. Therefore, we will just be entertaining neighbors for the most part. They are good neighbors, and they are entertaining us more than we are them to a great degree. We do have flashing large candy canes. You can’t get much more Christmassy than that.
Life in The Villages is good. The Blonde in the house and I hope that everyone has a merry Christmas as well as a healthy and happy New Year!
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
