Friday, March 7, 2014

Retirement and Aging: You Might be a Snowbird if......!

Snowbird Lifestyle:
Celebrating my husband's 76th birthday in Mexico!
Jeff Foxworthy is a very funny guy. His "You Might Be a Redneck If...routines are hilarious. I know I might be a redneck sometimes and I know that because I have watched his routines. That is where this blog is coming from today. Thank you Mr. Foxworthy for making me think. 

Snowbird season is in full swing right now here in Tucson, Arizona. Our RV resort is filled to the brim with people ages 55-90+. Most everyone will be gone within a month but for now the landing area for people escaping the snow is very busy.

I was watching our Bocce Ball tournament yesterday and it occurred to me that we snowbirds are an odd breed. We are not old and yet we are not young. When we enter the gates of the park, our ages change in subtle ways. We learn lessons, sometimes the hard way, that people are often not what they seem and living near those people can be wonderfully strange. Personally, I love everyday I am here.

If you don't respect people that are older than you or don't have as much education or are even a bit quirky, please don't come here. Entrance into our world makes everyone equal. You will not be happy when you find that people you had thought odd or old will beat you at Bocce or cards. If you are annoyed by people acting silly and that don't take games seriously, you won't like it here.

In the end you will be a very jealous of the lobster fishermen. In fact, people that love a simple life come from every occupation and area in the world. You will be very surprised! After you retire and you don't have a "job" or "salary" to define yourself, you are going to find out who you really are.

You might want to be a snowbird if....
  1. You love to meet new people.
  2. You are a lifelong learner.
  3. Adventure is part of your life.
  4. Judgement of a different culture is not part of your nature.
  5. You respect people that do not share your lifestyle.
  6. You love to play tennis, hike, play pickle ball, bocce or cards.
  7. You need or want to live a frugal yet full life.
  8. You have always dreamed of sunny days in the winter.
  9. Travel is in your blood.
  10. You are not afraid of new things or places.
  11. You expect to live a very long time and live your life so that you can enjoy it.
Granddaughters very exciting visit to the car wash!
We do poke fun at ourselves. As Jeff Foxworthy would say "You might be a snowbird if..."
  1. Changes in the weather tells you when to fly south.
  2. You discover that you can live in less than 400 square feet.and have everything you need but have a 4 bedroom house waiting in the north.
  3. You get beat at Bocce by someone 80+ and you are not surprised.
  4. You forget that it is Monday.
  5. Fishfry becomes a part of your weekly routine.
  6. The whole day can revolve around a dance or a chili feed.
  7. You have friends from around the world that come back to your landing area just to see you.
  8. For the first time in your life all the young people back home want to live like you.
  9. You wear your pajamas to visit in the street.
  10. You eat dinner at 4 pm and have breakfast right before you go to bed.
  11. You lay your pajamas out on the end of the bed at 5 so you can get to bed faster.
  12. Happy Hour is VERY important.
  13. You walk around in circles in the park and call it exercise.
  14. The high point of your day is adding 5 pieces to the park jigsaw puzzle.
  15. You show up at least an hour early for every event so you can get "your spot" in the room.
  16. The people around you know all of your stories...sigh!
  17. Jack is over 90 and the best Bocce player I have ever seen.
  18. When it is time to go home, you don't want to leave because it is not nearly as much fun back there.
I would love to see you here in Rincon Country East RV Resort in Tucson AZ. Look me up. I live in Space #74.

You will recognize the place...I am the one with the beautiful flowers! My name is Barbara.

b+




The Saguaro Cactus is gone...it tipped over
in a summer storm several years ago.

















 Older post from 2010, How to be a snowbird!

4 comments:

  1. I like what you wrote. You covered that "ifs"really well. For me it's meeting new good friends, playing golf and enjoying the sunshine. Ken

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're making it look tempting, although since I live in Central Texas, we don't need to escape snow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You got it! How about "you catch up on Friday because there is nothing on your schedule."

    We leave on Sunday, March 23. Want to have coffee before then?

    ReplyDelete
  4. thankyou for visiting. I will be having Coffee with Linda and Ken is a golfing friend. Linda, you need to come on down...I will leave the light on for you.

    b+ (Retire In Style Blog author)

    ReplyDelete

Leave your thoughts...I am interested.

Featured Post

Things that Go Bump in the Night

Do you live alone? Are you afraid? Do noises make you jump? My little dog is a barker and noises make her jump. She barks at her reflection ...