 Editorial
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4-20-07
The Mouse
Trap at the Happiest Place on Earth
And other love stories
Well, it’s been over a year now since
I have written an article for the Springer
Connection. A lot of things have happened
since then.
For starters, Kimberly and
I got married last April at her Mom’s
house in Prince George and have since decided
to move back to VA once the house sells.
Therein is a key to something else that
has happened. The bottom has dropped out
of the housing market and however the market
is where you are, it is much worse here.
Why is the market worse here? Many
people have decided to pull out of Florida
due to high insurance rates, high taxes,
and the ever present fear of hurricane
seasons like the ones we had year before
last. So, here we sit with a FOR SALE
sign in the front yard just like 4,200
other people in this one county alone.
Last Christmas weekend
we decided to take Kimberly’s daughter
Kelsey, to Walt Disney World for the holiday
lights and festivities. That was a big
and expensive mistake. The place was so
crowded you could not walk from one attraction
to the other without being trampled or
run over by strollers.
The poor little
kids whose parents are dragging them
to Disney World were miserable also.
I never heard so much screaming and crying
in my entire life as I did there at the “Happiest
Place On Earth”. I’m here to
tell you that the happiest place on earth
was the exit from the parking lot at Disney.
We were starving to death and the only
restaurants that were not booked up solid
had a 2.5 hour wait to get in.
The Happiest
Place On Earth brought Kimberly to tears.
She vowed never to return there. And
what did we pay for the pleasure of this
misery? With our Florida residents discount,
somewhere between $225-$275. We definitely
got caught in a mousetrap.
I met a guy named Larry “Little
Wolf” Elmore at the local Harley
Davidson who is Cherokee and a tribal elder
in the local tribe in this area. He and
his wife invited Kimberly and I to their
gatherings called Moon Ceremonies. It is
their version of church. They are some
of the nicest people you could ever want
to meet. They all hug you as a way of greeting
because that is the Cherokee way. We have
really enjoyed attending the prayer ceremonies
and each gathering winds up with dinner.
They are a great bunch of folks and are
always asking us to reconsider moving to
VA.
I didn’t go to Daytona Bike Week
this year. The reason being is that basically
it is the same each year. I had enough
of it the last couple of years to keep
me for a while. However, once I move away
from here I will probably long for the
convenience of just “riding over
to Daytona” as they phrase it around
here.
Next month I will be going to Alfred,
NY to see my son and his fiancé graduate
from college. Now, normally this would
be the “Yippee! He finally made
it!” moment
but, they are both going on to get Phds,
so on it goes. But, I am proud of him
and just have to be there to see this.
I am glad to hear the Swing Into
Spring picnic will go on again this year.
I can’t
make it but I was hoping everyone would
keep this thing going and not let it
die out before I get up to VA. Need I
remind everyone what a fun time everyone
had and how good the food was courtesy
of Keith and Janice? I saw people I haven’t
seen in a long time. I even reconnected
with my dear cousin Susan Chaney whom
I’d
not seen since she was in high school.
So, get your tickets and get out and
have some fun.
See you soon-
Jack
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