The folks who run the big wholesale nursery where we shop in Apopka are either from the Philippines or Indonesia, and are Spanish speakers. Luckily, Jim is fluent in Spanish so it's great to go with him. Although they do all speak some English.

Like any state, there are large ethnic communities in Florida - a huge Cuban community in Miami and a pretty good sized one in Tampa as well. Fun to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there unless I learned Spanish. But if you moved to this area, you wouldn't suffer the snowbird traffic like your son does because you don't commute to work, and you'd certainly choose one of the communities that was not in an ethnic area so I'm sure you'd love it and feel right at home.

Listening to my son and daughter-in-law, they don't like snow-birds for three reasons, and the traffic is only one of those reasons.

They love to golf and say the golf courses literally double all fees/rates during the snow-bird months. My son is like me - he's somewhat "frugal" and that extra expense really galls him. And being in the mall business, he has to deal with the snow-birds, typically when someone is unhappy with something. He says they are gross, rude, and pushy.

Now, I can't relate to any of this, so I am simply stating what I hear. Talk about traffic. I have never seen worse traffic than in and south of Miami. Making the drive to Homestead was an ordeal. I don't know how or why anyone would spend their life, doing this day-after-day, year-after-year.

I don't play much golf and never shop at a mall, so I guess I'm missing out on those joys. You?

We play 9 holes in the evenings sometimes, at our local public course and quite often we're the only people on the course. Usually after Daylight Savings time goes in so, probably also after most of the snowbirds have flown north, too.

If you think your son hates the shoppers at his mall, you should hear the shop owners in Europe and Canada talk about the rude, pushy gross American tourists there! Bad reputation, wherever tourists go, I guess.

I have never played golf. Just thought it was a waste of "good" time. I like to accomplish things with my time. Way, way back, when I was in my late 20's, and just starting out in the business of dentistry, I had two good friends who were avid golfers. In fact one of them was so good that when he came back from Viet Nam, he had to decide whether to turn pro or enter law school. He went to law school and is a judge now. Anyway...........I mentioned to those two friends that I was interested in taking golf lessons so that I could golf with them. They both chuckled, and even today I can hear them saying: "Ken, you are a perfectionist and have little patience when it comes to failure. The last thing you want to do is take up the game of golf. It would drive you crazy and you would ultimately be miserable. Find another hobby!" I went out and bought a boat.

I have never played golf. Just thought it was a waste of "good" time. I like to accomplish things with my time. Way, way back, when I was in my late 20's, and just starting out in the business of dentistry, I had two good friends who were avid golfers. In fact one of them was so good that when he came back from Viet Nam, he had to decide whether to turn pro or enter law school. He went to law school and is a judge now. Anyway...........I mentioned to those two friends that I was interested in taking golf lessons so that I could golf with them. They both chuckled, and even today I can hear them saying: "Ken, you are a perfectionist and have little patience when it comes to failure. The last thing you want to do is take up the game of golf. It would drive you crazy and you would ultimately be miserable. Find another hobby!" I went out and bought a boat.

Those Americans are probably the same snow birds y'all get every year. My wife and I are "good" tourists. And we even bathe every day.

So true, Ken. It only takes a few rude, gross people to give a whole country a bad reputation as tourists.

As for golf, yeah, there's more than one way to play. I don't keep score, I pick up my ball and drop it beside my husband's so I don't slow him down, and I enjoy the nice walk and the pretty landscaping and the birds . . . frustrates him no end, because, well he's like you. He gets so frustrated with golfing that he 'quits' at least once a year and doesn't go for a month or two. Then we dust off the clubs again. I've been tempted to video him chopping at the ball (with my cell phone that takes HD video btw ) but it would just frustrate him more to know that half the time he uses the club like an axe . . .

I do hope tourists notice that I try to bathe everyday too, should I breeze by one here in DeLand!

I was talking more about traveling in Europe.

Couple of survivors coming along with the warm weather. White Giant calla putting up a new bloom, and Brazilian flame.

I sowed about 1.5 lbs. of phlox on the property today. Mixed up soil & got 4 plants moved into larger pots.

I planted 12 plumeria trees

This is what I faced today.

Wow!

I think those up north would say "Gosh, we see this all the time". But for me, and for others in the deep south, these scenes are like candy to a child (and some adults ). Snow has and always will just be delightful and amazing to me. It will mostly melt tomorrow, but it has and will make (tomorrow morning) wonderful winter-wonderland scenes.

Don't even get me started on snowbirds. The rise of snowbirds during tourist season here is directly proportional to the 1. amount of litter I see everywhere, 2. the public drunkenness, 3. the traffic, 4. the influx of hooked, injured seabirds at the wildlife rescue, 5. the overall crankiness of everyone, and for some reason the elimination of the organic/natural foods aisle at our island Publix. !?!? It returns as soon as they all go back home in September!

To each their own regarding snow..... I've been trying to move back to FL for the last decade and finally I'm here...I'm not leaving! My family has generations of history here. My great great grandfather immigrated here from the Asturias region of Spain, and every generation until me was born/raised in the orange groves. So the roots run deep in the blood, I guess.

Ken, good for you for taking the initiative to get that tropicals course rolling!!!! I have been looking at the Florida Master Naturalist and Master Gardener programs, but I have missed the first two modules here in Manatee county...they started beginning of Feb. D'oh!

This morning at 6:00 AM, in my backyard. We ended up with 6" and its really beautiful (and cold!) right now. The greenhouse stayed warm throughout. Notice the melted show near the peak of the greenhouse. All my garlic (300) is under that blanket of snow in the foreground of the final picture.

well....at least its pretty, and its getting to be the end of winter, not the beginning.

I did laugh this morning when I heard the news, looks like the police in Jackson Mississippi are going to be required to learn spanish. I guess you can run, but you sure cant hide

I would like to say, I have never had a problem with people as a group speaking whatever they want. They are great people, I loved loved to go down to Ybor city and hang out, they have always been hard workers, nice. As I said the other day, my problem is every day interaction out in public, and having people talk about you, and you cant understand it, especially at the DMV etc., were it really matters. I like to give everyone a fair shake, its a tough world, but.... sometimes

I hope things get better here weather wise, it was suppose to be sunny today, and it isnt looking that way right now. Its still chilly too if the sun is not out.