I spend a week in The Villages with our good friends, Hank and Becky
(i.e. they are sooooo nice and such good friends). One of the “magic Iowa group”
told me this while eating lunch after golf.
In 2017 the earth's population was 7.53 billion people. In 2017 the
population of the United States was 325.7 million. Divide 325.7 million by 7.53
billion and you get 4 %. That's how fortunate we are to be living in this
country. Think about that folks. But The Villages is like a senor Disney World. Sooooo of that 4%, about 120,000 currently live
in The Villages. Ok, of the 120,000
folks in the Villages, some like to play pickleball. Each winter season, approximate 5,000+ attend
an introductory meeting about pickleball.
They are told about pickleball and it is explained that they must have
some physical condition to play (i.e. the reason they do that is that there was
a very high rate of folks who got hurt who should not have attempted
pickleball. Of the 5,000, a thousand
never go one to attend on-court pickleball 101 lessons. Of the 5,000 maybe 2,000 will actually play
on the 200 pickleball courts. That’s
pretty interesting. BUT the number of injuries has gone down significantly.
Sooooo what does that tell you folks.
That is a no brainer. SusieQ, for you, that means that you should go and
play dominoes and eat! It’s as simple as
that.
One morning Hank and I went played at the Truman pb
courts. I think the players were rated 4
or better the way it looked to me. We
there as well lined up and went in when it was our turn. My partner in a game was a guy who had a
running prosthesis with a shoe on the bottom.
We played against a couple of 4 rated seasoned tournament players. He held his own very well. And besides he was very fun to play
with. We actually won that game. He was really amazing to me. I think we all can push our envelope a little
more than what we do. What do you think?
That is what I thought.
We went to an open house of a 1.2-million-dollar house (i.e. none of us really
liked it). I talked to the realtor and
asked her what sells houses in The Villages—lifestyle and relationships. She said approximately 30% of the folks buy a
house on emotions the first time they are here. I think The Villages build
about 200 new houses a month that range pretty much in a price range from
$200,000 to $450,000 (i.e. that means that a lot of folks can’t afford this lifestyle). Many folks from the Northeast sell their
houses up there for big money and move here (i.e. they think it’s a bargain and
they seem to enjoy the lifestyle). Oh,
did you see or hear how many folks are moving from CA to TX and FL to get away
from the high taxes and other stuff? Now
how is that all going to work for CA? That is really interesting to me. BUT not
tooooo many moving to Butler County IA in the middle of a corn field! haha
WorldClassLarry says—"You can’t rip people off! You really can’t fool folks if you are a
nice person or a jerk, folks know. And surely you can’t fool God, can you? God has said that he will meet your needs if
you ask for his help (i.e. be humble) and maintain your integrity. You don’t
have to be dishonest to get ahead. You don’t have to get ahead—period!” We were
waiting in line for our turn to play pickleball early one morning. We were talking to Tony when a ball was hit
in the court near us and a player made a line call as to if it was in or
out. It was close and maybe a bad
call. Tony said—Most folks make honest
calls but there are two that don’t (i.e. they make calls always in their favor
and one is standing pretty close but I’m not saying who that person is— but everyone
knows who they are). That confirmed my
theory somewhat—If I know it and you know it, others know it tooooo; we aren’t
the only ones who see and feel that way (i.e. both good and bad). I was sitting
at a musical show, Gary Puckett, with friends and a friend from Grundy County who
made a “out of the blue” comment about an observation. I had the same observation, but most folks
don’t talk about this observation (i.e. not always popular). Again, if he and I think that, there must be
others you would think that tooooo but maybe never reveal their thoughts (i.e.
not popular).
I
meet many many folks who are friends of Hank and Becky in FL. Nice folks!
The itinerary that Hank and Becky had for me was full let me tell you
(i.e. we didn’t waste any day light) but what a hoot. We sure did a lot of laughing. Had such a
great time. Dr.J says—"Hopefully,
you don’t have enemies. But everyone has neighbors in one form or another. And
we are to love both—enemies and neighbors—as we love ourselves. Do we spend
money on ourselves? Do we go out of the way for ourselves? Do we treat
ourselves with kindness? That’s how we are to love others. Look around today.
If you see a neighbor or `enemy,’ take the love-leap and do for them what you
would do for yourself.” ItchieBitchie says—Are you kidding me; I get along with
my neighbors but just not that well! haha We went to Live Oaks Community Church and met
many of their friends/my friends from IA. ANYWAY this is what I learned—the
pastor said (i.e. maybe just his opinion or maybe not) that we gotta serve
others—desperate folks do desperate things—you can’t just think about yourself
soooo much but think about others (i.e. he was probably directing that at me)—be
humble! It’s soooo easy for me tooooo push
the envelope for the enjoyment of little ol’ ervie toooo much, maybe. Now that is
enough toooo think about; at least it was for me; besides, I gotta go as I have
a tee time and then play pickleball. haha
I had the opportunity to go with Hank and Becky to their
small group that meets in the leaders’ house each week. There were maybe 16-20 folks there. They call the groups Encore. None of these folks knew each other, I don’t
think, before they started but they have become friends. They share their thoughts about the previous
Sunday’s sermon. What great folks who
shared their faith and feelings and emotions.
It was a great uplift to be around them (i.e. real folks with good
hearts; my kind of folks). I think they
have about 25 of such groups in the church.
We went to some of Hank
and Becky’s friends to look at a problem they had with their chandler. They again were such nice folks. Anyway 80-year-old IN-Guy told us this story
that was sooo funny. They live on a golf
course and had a tree that grew wide that sorta kinda blocked some of their
view of the course. A friend of the
IN-Guy said he would come over at about dark and they would trim that sucker. They
really trimmed her good (i.e. they were not supposed toooo do that I guess—he was
pushing the envelope). The next morning
a company representative came to their house and asked if he knew anything
about that tree being trimmed—he put out his hands (i.e. like they could put the
cuffs on him) and said I did it; haul me in.
He got a lecture but no jail time!
Sooooo the moral of the story is…! His wife, the IN-Gal is big into
collecting verses and had a lot of memorabilia in their house. She had this verse which was on a piece of their
furniture. I liked it. We visited some IA friends and she had this
by her kitchen. I laughed at that. I don’t think cookin’ is a priority in The
Villages! Their house is on a golf course
also and there was a sand trap quite close to their property. Larry said—A lot of folks get in there and
have a hard time getting out—physically!! haha! One of our golf buddies from IA
told us as we were paying our golf fees to play one morning—I pay all my golf
fees in cash; that way my wife doesn’t know how much I spend on golf! What a hoot!
I was at some friends’ place in IA recently being
entertained with a meal along with a couple of other long- time couple friends.
We were reminiscing about our past. We
had such a good time. We poked fun of
each other and even shared some funny stuff about ourselves. It was a hoot! Especially this time. Why, I don’t know for sure. Maybe it was the wine! haha
Sooooo real and open everyone was; no one was trying to fool anyone else
(i.e. not pushing the envelope). We know
each other for soooo long that we can’t fool each other even if we tried. Really for me, life doesn’t get any better
than this. I was also at some long-time friends’
home recently who I haven’t been around for quite some time (i.e. friends who
are the salt of the earth—good folks with good hearts; my kind of folks—married
for 66 years they told me). They were
some of my first clients about 45 years ago.
ANYWAY, we had such a good time reminiscing some of the good times we
had of the past. I learned much from
them but here is a couple of gems of our conversation—Don’t give up and keep
praying--One of their granddaughters was estranged from her dad and from the
family for quite a number of years; she has come back (i.e. what a day of
rejoicing that was)—One of the siblings of her family who is 90something, got
infection in his knee; it was a result of infection in his teeth. It is just amazing what I learn. My visit was just like old times, I drank
their coffee and ate their cookies. Such
a good time as always. Such is life.
On my flight home I was tired and slept some (i.e. the week
was busy plus we had to get up at 3 to get to Orlando for my flight). ANYWAY, the senor gentleman next to me spoke
with me. He was coming back from taking
his family to Disney World for a week and had up to 20 family members at times
(i.e. he said it wasn’t really relaxing). He was a financially rich man result of selling his company for big bucks and seemed
very humble and ordinary about himself. He asked where I was in FL. He asked me if I could live there; he said he
couldn’t; I love my life style in small town WI—Are you moving there--I don’t
know what I’m going to do tomorrow and told him about Arlene having Alzheimer’s—He
said--I’m sorry to hear that.
My flight from St. Louis to Des Moines I slept again; I was
tired. As we were deplaning the young
man beside me got a garment bag from the overhead and I asked him if he’s
getting married—no no, here in Des Moines for a job interview with an insurance
company—as we were walking through the ramp to the terminal we talked more—he
introduced himself to me and I did likewise--he told me about this interview
and I said—I don’t know if you believe in prayer but I will pray for you that
you may discern what is best for you and your family--he asked me where I was
coming from and where I was going. He
too asked me if I was going to move to The Villages and I gave him the same
response—he toooo said that he was sorry to hear that and would pray for me. We
walked to the baggage claim area and continued our conversation—he told me that
his father died when he was young from cancer and it really affected his life
and now they are expecting their first child and that tooooo is really
affecting his life. This guy was class;
he will really do well in life, my opinion.
There are soooooo many great folks in this world (i.e. and many of you
are such folks). Thanksamillion for being my friends. Like the realtor told
me—life is about relationships. I
believe solid relationships are very valuable (i.e. my opinion), not sooooo
much about stuff but for some it might be!
BUT I do think that money gives folks a lot of options; some good and
some not soooo good! Such is life.
We were playing some board games with friends after a dinner
that my friends put on in in their house at The Villages. I sorta kinda made a rather poor move and
said—What am I doing other than picking my nose. Sandy, our old neighbor/friend from A’Town said—I hope you got it erv! Sooo there you go. I hope you got this “It’s Saturday!”
Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:
erv
MyFriendJean says—Don’t discourage another person’s plan
unless you have a better one.
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