Hubby and I have been in Hudson, Florida, for the last 5 weeks painting the house I bought (and said I never would) and landscaping the property. There are some things that a western Pennsylvania raised girl finds curious in this state:
1. Booze sold in grocery stores and drug stores. But you can't buy it before lunch time on Sundays.
2. A window in the shower.
3. Flat golf courses where the ball rolls forever, sometimes in the wrong direction, though.
4. Solar lights that actually work because the batteries get 12 hours of sun to charge.
5. River rock landscaping that costs $200+ a ton here and about $24 a ton in PA. It would have been cheaper to bring it with us!
6. Car registration costs more than $100 in FL and $24 in PA.
7. Shopping in 80 degree heat, in shorts and flip flops...listening to Christmas carols and seeing inflatable snowmen in stores.
8. No see 'ums (gnat-like tiny biters, Northerners) that are vicious enough to drive everyone inside.
9. BIG and down-right nasty opossums that dig tunnels under houses.
10. Sink holes that swallow up houses.
11. Green frogs that look like they are made of Jell-o or that Gummy Bear candy. These little buggers can stick to the side of a wall!
12. The frequency of seeing large turtles crossing busy highways...or the remains of the ones that don't survive the trek.
13. Sand hill cranes tall enough to eat out of the birdfeeder I have hanging in a tree. They travel in twos and make a lot of noise.
14. The number of gun and pawn shops along a mile-stretch of highway. I think everyone but me carries a concealed weapon here.
15. The number of parties at which someone was shot to death because guns were in the open and loaded. In PA, we still host Tupperware and Home Interiors parties!
16. The shocking number of public school teachers that have been arrested for sexual crimes involving students or for other offenses. Who screens these people when they apply for jobs? Or are they screened at all?
17. Manatees! I love to watch them and kayaking with them gliding underneath is a thrill.
18. Beall's Department Stores! 50+ Tuesday discounts for us old people....the Beall's Outlet stores where golf clothes are super cheap.
19. Lanais...called a porch or patio in the North. I like the name because it sounds so ritzy.
20. Split living houses...master bedroom and bath on one side of the house and other bedrooms and bath on the opposite side. Hosts and their guests have some privacy.
The longer I'm in Florida the more curious things I discover. Maybe I'll post more another day, but now I must go to Beall's. It's old people Tuesday!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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