Passed the test today, now certified to volunteer for AARP Tax Aide in the coming tax season.

While waiting to finish the exam, received a call inviting me to the Waterfront Inn for drinks and dancing.

Left the dance floor with a new nickname…Corky.   Not sure if anyone can tell or not, but apparently I talk too much!!!  Joe asked the bartender for a cork, specifically for me!!!   We had a wonderful time (I THINK) dancing and watching the other dancers and…uh…talking.   :)  ok, I was doing most of the talking.

Joe is looking for someone to travel the world with him.  During the evening, Joe hooked up with Patty and will be heading to the golf course, with her, in the very near future!    I assured Joe that there is a reason that I’m single…he concurred, with a smile and a chuckle.  I got to visit The Waterfront in…had fun dancing (and talking), laughed a lot, too.

So, all ends well…I had a wonderful break from the usual routine that is my life and Joe, from Dallas, just might have met the woman of his dreams.

If Patty doesn’t fit the bill, I have at least 2 other candidates!!  So, Joe, if you are reading this, keep my number!    And, thank you for the fun, the dancing (you are a “great” dancer!!!), and for the memento.  I probably should have had YOU sign the cork from the wine bottle!!!

Also, Joe, I found my wallet!!  Only in The Villages can you leave the house, in a hurry, in a golf cart, AFTER DARK…lose your wallet somewhere on the way, and be able to retrace your route and find your whatever fell from the cart.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again!

I love The Villages!

The temperature reached the 80’s in Orlando today, only in the 70’s here in this place.   Instead of dancing, or watching recorded tv, I took a walk to the Spanish Springs Square.  It’s market night, and there are vendors of all kinds.   It’s January, so the snowbirds are standing in line, 2 deep, at the drink huts.   And the dancers…a country western band is bringing the many feet to life around the gazebo…bustling, hustling, and those just watching from the folded chairs…it’s like something out of a dream.   A wonderful RETIREMENT dream for most everyone.

For me it’s a chance to marvel at the full moon on display as I walked.  The air is clean, the sky is clear, the moon shining brightly.  The golf course at night is my own private walking path…on the full moon nights, a brightly lit path among the palm trees and the oaks with moss dangling from the limbs.   I LOVE IT HERE.   I love seeing nature on display.   I love the FEELING of peace.  Off in the distance, when the wind shifts, one can even hear the band playing Mustang Sally…I can just imagine the line dancers sliding away.

The new Disney cruise ship left port today, fireworks on display.   The mood on that ship must be ecstatic…folks heading off on vacation, others starting to work serving the paying customers.    Living here is like living on a ship, one that doesn’t leave the port, no chance of pirates or storms at sea.   The storms here are internal…individual.

As I walked, I wondered if Christina’s spirit is visiting the gunman as he sits alone in his cell, staring.   I wonder what he was thinking when he turned the gun on a 9 year old.   There are those who say that we are ALL of the same atoms, Hitler, Kennedy, Mother Theresa…  There are those who say that forgiveness is the key…   Something drove the hand that pulled that trigger nearly 2 weeks ago…I have to believe that, although it appears to be from a place of anger, the real source of the action was more likely pain and sadness…sorrow disguised as depression.

PBS announced that there will be more earthquakes this year, an active “season”.

An ambulance sings out as I type this post…    God bless the one for whom the siren tolls, and the loved ones who will be affected.   The beautiful full moon is shining on the home that is the destination of the vehicle…just as it shines on the ponds and lakes and oceans…

Work beckons…best get back to it!

After all, it’s just life.

Watched “Harriet’s Law and Fine Shoes” earlier tonight…and loved it.   Have missed the creativity and originality of Mr. Kelley!   Kathy Bates and the other actors did a great job!

My opinion.

Just checked online to find that I AM IN THE MINORITY.

So be it!!

A child in Boston is alive as a result of the tragedy in Tucson.

I give thanks (most) every day for the life I’m living here in The Villages.

Most of the time the sky is blue in sunny Florida.   The temperatures are moderate most of the time.

Nearly ALL of the time the lifestyle of the residents in The Villages is one to be thankful for…lives spent well, we hope, and being lived out now in this adult Disney World.   Most of us do not see the “STD Capital” that we can read about in at least one book and the occasional article.  I’ve never seen that activity in the time I’ve lived here.   What I do see is people helping one another, even with the grumpy folks - you know them, they are everywhere, even here - honking their horns, and otherwise doing what grumpy people do.   But, for the most part, everyone is civil, helpful, smiling, especially at Katie Belles, or out on the dance floor, or while walking at one of the squares.

It occurred to me today that had I NOT lost MOST of my savings, I could own my own home here in The Villages.   I could be living comfortably.

Then it occurred to me as well…that had I NOT lost MOST of my savings, I wouldn’t even have known this place existed.   I wouldn’t have know what it’s like to live by my wits, scrambling to keep a roof over my head…learning how resourceful I am, how capable, how brave.   I’ve met people who care about me even though I’m not rich, successful or well dressed.   I have dear friends who call just to see how I am doing, people in their 70’s and 80’s.   These are people, some who have lost a beloved child, or some who’ve suffered the loss of a spouse, others who’ve also lost savings through no fault of their own, OR because they trusted friends who took advantage of them.   Ordinary people who have lived decades, and have stories of their own.

Yesterday we learned of a war veteran who paid $1500 a month for rent on his “option to buy” home in Stonecrest, a development just north of The Villages.  He paid his rent for over 4 years, only to learn that the people he paid never put that money towards the mortgage.  The house was foreclosed upon and this man is now having to find another place to live.   He’s also just found out that the Veteran’s Administration is not going to pay any more of his benefits, not until he pays back $15,000 that he’s been told he owes.

A friend of mine, a breast cancer Survivor,  has been looking forward to purchasing her dream home in The Villages, and has been looking for that “perfect” house…  She just learned that the cancer may have returned….she’s waiting to hear the results of a biopsy.

There are Tucson’s everywhere.   On Desperate Housewives tonight, I was reminded that those people on dialysis, waiting for a kidney…they know that in order for their “lucky” call telling them that a kidney has been found, someone has to be facing death.   That the “joy” of their road to recovery is the pain and sorrow of someone.    Christina Green was shot, she couldn’t be saved, and her family chose to donate her organs in order that some good might come out of their personal tragedy.

The headline read “Christina Green’s organ donation saves life of child on East Coast”.

The Circle of Life, indeed.