…but not so early this time.  Have to be in Orlando by 5:00pm to pick up my sister, who is arriving from San Francisco.  I haven’t seen her in a year, so am looking forward to the reunion.  We will continue south to my other sister’s home in Vero Beach, where we will spend time together and hopefully get some beach time in to spark up my tan.  The tan is important as we will be returning at the end of the week and then heading north to my other sister’s daughter’s wedding in Va., and it seems you always look and feel better with a little bit of color.  Also, I think it is expected that if you live in one of the sunniest states you should have a tan.  I don’t want to upset any dermatologists but even with sunscreen a little color does come through. Well, I can procrastinate no longer, I do have to pack and do quite a few last minute things, but just wanted to give a heads up.  I have not forgotten my blog, just away and I’ll be back at the end of the week, maybe with some pictures of the beach, and my tan.

……have returned to The Villages for its 13^th year with over 1220 participants registered and competing in over 111 events, with 11 age divisions. Friends from all over the state come to compete, not only Villagers. I say friends, as many have made many good friends from around the state and through out the  country, while taking part in their particular events.  The games started last Monday and finished up today, Sunday.  I happened to get caught up in the excitement at the Hacienda Recreation Center, when I stopped over to pick up a guest pass.  I didn’t know what was going on, but the minute I stepped into the center, the atmosphere was electric.  I thought to myself, what a group of upbeat Billiard players. It seemed like old home week as they greeted each other.  It wasn’t until I got home and saw the paper that I realized I had stumbled into the Senior Games Billiard event. The competitions that were held this week were Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Shuffleboard, Bowling, Billiards, Basketball, Bocce, Horseshoes, Swimming, Track and Field, and Archery.  The pickleball events are being held April 18, 19, 20. I’m not sure when golf and baseball events are being held, or if they have already competed.  The Villages Senior Games are a stepping stone to the biennial National Senior Games.  The top five places in each age division advance to the state games in Lee County, where they will get an opportunity to qualify for nationals. The National Senior Games will be held in Cleveland Ohio this year, and from the articles I have been reading many of the Village participants have qualified and competed in the Nationals, and are hoping to do the same this year. Some of the residents that compete are living here in The Villages, as they heard about our community at the Nationals and decided to come down and take a look.  They said it can’t be that good, the people are just bragging, but they came and realized how great a community it is, and how much support they receive as athletes.  I thought people only came here for golf..fooled again.

Tomorrow, Monday the final event will be the Celebration of Athletes at the Saddlebrook Softball Complex.  Gates open at 3:30pm, the program will begin at 4pm, with dinner being served at 5pm.  The event requires a ticket, although the athletes are free.  I hope I’m not too late giving this information, but if you would like to attend I would check with the box office.

…is right here in The Villages this week-end, as it is being hosted by our very own R/C Model Boat Club.  I don’t know if you have ever had the opportunity to watch the different model boat races, but the owner’s of the boats are as competitive as if they were racing in the The America’s Cup. There will be sailors from The Villages, but also they will be coming from all over the country, and will participate in more than 20 races.  The top five finishers will receive trophies.  It is a very prestigious race, as the boats are modeled after the 12 meter boats that sailed in The America’s Cup.  All the boats will be inspected prior to the race by the director of the American Model Yacht Association to make sure they meet the 12-meter standards. The commodore of The Villages R/C Model Boat Club said the boats are typically 46” long and minimum 16 pounds and the boats dimensions are measured and entered into a formula.  When the formula is solved it must be 12 meters or less to be legal. He went on to say that he and many of the others competing have sailed all their lives, and when retiring to The Villages were delighted to find they could continue their love of the sport.  He said all the principles are the same, the biggest difference being you are not on the boat, but they get the same feeling of competition and will use all the same rules that the big boats use.  You have to see the boats and the equipment needed to control them to appreciate their commitment to the sport, as it is very impressive. If you would like to see them they will be racing at the Ashland Pond on Lynnhaven Lane off Belvedere Blvd. 9:30 am to 3pm Saturday and 9am to 2pm Sunday.  It’s a beautiful day, grab your hat, sunglasses and chair and go off to the races, that is The Villages’ America’s Cup.

…marks the spot.  Central Florida, who ever thought?  Many years ago my Administrative Assistant was thinking of retiring in a couple of years and had mentioned they had bought property in Lady Lake Florida, which they didn’t have to build on for a few years.  Because I had never heard of Lady Lake I asked her where it was.  Central Florida about an hour north of Orlando.  I remember shaking my head as I walked back to my office thinking, I thought she was smart..that doesn’t sound too smart to me.  Central Florida? Little did I realize at that time that I was the dumb one, she was smart. To me the only good thing about Florida was the ocean or the gulf, and I know many people who still think that.  For those of you who love living in Central Florida, and for those that want to see what living in Central Florida is really like, the Daily Sun has  their yearly  Pictures in Paradise Contest and they have just published all the pictures our phenomenal Village potographers have submitted and they are wonderful.  They have a group of Around The Villages, but even if you   go to the Sports section a lot of the pictures are also in The Villages, such as our Dragon Boats, Pickleball, all the Polo pictures of our Polo teams, and much more. I included a few but for a real treat go onto www.thevillagesdailysun.com and on the right hand side is Pictures In Paradise and you can get a real feel of what it is like  here in Central Florida.  Many of the Sunrise and Sunset pictures are taken overlooking Lake Sumter.  They say Key West has the best sunsets.  I’ve seen them and they are spectacular, but I feel we have every bit as spectacular ones right here.I love Central Florida, and it is nothing like what I expected.  So for those who wonder why I’m here in Paradise, check out the Pictures.

…of Goldwings. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Goldwing motorcycles, but in the event you aren’t, one of the things that sets them apart from other bikes, is that they have three wheels, one in the front and two in the back. Yesterday they had their Motorcycle Show at Lake Sumter Landing, and by the time I got over there the square was jumping.  I enjoyed checking the Goldwings out, and also the owner’s of the Goldwings.  They were a happy group of people who were still having fun even though they had been there for four hours. Pride of ownership was the obvious motivator.  While there I sat for awhile and listened to the band and people watched and wondered why I didn’t do this more often. It was fun to see all the visiting Grandchildren having such a good time, as well as their parents and grandparents.  I’ll finish this with a few more pictures and hope I have redeemed myself for publishing a Harley.                                       

…I know I may be upsetting some people as this is a picture of a Harley and I am going to be telling you to check out The Villages Goldwing Association Club’s luxurious motorcycle show tomorrow, March 29th,  at Lake SumterLanding Market Square, from 5-8PM. To whoever I offended, I will have a picture of a Goldwing very shortly, but I wanted to get your attention, and I only had a Harley, and I bet I got your attention. …Also coming up this week-end at Brownwood Paddock Square on Saturday and Sunday, 10am-5pm, is an Easter Craft Festival, which will feature 150 crafters from 30 states.  I’m  sure you will be able to find most anything…paintings, clothing, ceramics…you name it and it will be there.  The Villages is humming with Holiday visitors, and it is always fun to see the happy smiling faces, riding in golf carts with their Grandparents, enjoying Easter Egg hunts, ice cream and dancing in the squares.   I think the weather will be warming up this week-end, so hopefully they can get some pool time in before heading home.

…is not here in The Villages, but some very hard working dedicated volunteers are offering a lucky winner a prize of a lifetime; a round-trip, six-night stay at St. Andrews, Scotland, which also includes five rounds of golf. It may behoove us all to be kind to everyone we know, as the winner can bring along three others, so you don’t necessarily have to win, you just have to have someone who likes you enough to invite you along.  The Rotary Club of The Villages has organized a golf ball drop, which will be a sudden downpour of golf balls (6000 to be exact) onto The Villages Polo Club field from a helicopter, hot air balloon or crane.  The ball  closest to the flag posted on the field will win.  This event will take place on May 26^th, at 4PM, and should be fun to experience even if you don’t win.  The second-place prize is also a round-trip ticket for four, this time to Pasadena, Calif to  attend the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade and football game.  Third place is a Home Spa, and fourth is dinner for eight at Bonefish Grill.  I love the idea that you have four chances of winning something yourself, and three more chances of being someone’s best friend.  This could be a nice Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift, of course mother would have to wait a few weeks to see if she got a gift, and we would have to keep it under wraps if we won for a deserving father. The money raised goes to several local charities such as Shelter Box, Project  SOS, food pantries, Special Kids Foundation, Lady Lake Little League, Operation Shoebox and The Villages Regional Hospital.The price per golf ball is $20, or three balls for $50, and again there will only be 6000 balls sold.  Tickets can be bought Monday Nights at Spanish Springs Town Square, Tuesday nights at Lake Sumter Landing Market Square, and online at www.atrotarygolfballdrop.org. Thanks Rotarians for all your hard work and I know I’ll be over to take a chance.  I haven’t mastered the game of golf, however have mastered the art of shopping and after visiting St. Andrews several years ago I have to say I loved the village almost as much as the guys loved the course.  If you are not into either sport, St. Andrews is located on the North Sea, so you can spend your time strolling the beach.  Good luck to the winner, but also remember to be nice.

…on the dogs back leg?  If you haven’t seen this dog, you owe yourself a trip down to the main entrance of Brownwood, off Rt.#44.  He is one of many bronze statues that greet you, along with a cracker cowboy on his horse holding a newborn calf, and the cowboy’s herd of cattle.  The bronze statues were designed and cast at the Mountain Trail Gallerys in Park City, Utah.  The cows and bull weigh about 500 lbs each, and the horse and rider approximately 1200 lbs, to give you an idea of the enormity of the job. When completed they were shipped on flatbeds and lifted off with cranes and set in concrete.  The artists, whose project this was, and The Villages did not miss one detail when designing them.  The Villages built the natural environment they were set in and that was to have a cracker cowboy coming out of the scrub land, after a hard day rounding up his cattle.  The native plants and cattle tracks in the concrete lends to the authenticity of an old Florida cattle ranch, outside a thriving Cattle Town.  The attention to detail is so thorough that this is not just any ordinary herd of cattle, this herd has a personality and attitude all its’ own.  As you look at it you see a tired cowboy arriving back at his ranch with a newborn calf in the saddle with him, his dog, diligently alongside him, still doing his job.   The mother of the calf is looking back at the cowboy as the others are migrating over to the feed trough. The proud bull is overseeing his herd of cows, which consists of varied personalities, one is aggressive, another jealous and there is even a very timid one amongst them. It has been known to be said that all a good Cowboy needed was a whip to crack to keep the herd moving, a good horse and a good dog…and a bandana.  The bandana was essential and was used for many different  things..wet it and put it on your forehead to cool yourself, use it when picking up a hot pot, hobble your horse with it (strap two legs together so the horse can’t stray, this is done on the prairie where there are no trees to tie them up to) and use it as a bandage, cover a wound with it.  So when you look at the dog’s back leg, to me it looks like a bandana and what I think happened is he was probably bitten by a snake and the cowboy wrapped the bandana around it to protect the wound. Sounds pretty authentic to me, but what do you think?

..swirled around the O’Flynn residence this past week.  They arrived to a wonderful week of weather, leaving the cold, rain, snow and ice back in New Jersey and Colorado.  They played for six days straight, early morning tee times and after that a quick lunch and another 9 or 18 holes, whatever they could get in before dusk.  I’m not sure who enjoyed their visit more; the two brothers, Mike and Sean, reuniting after a year apart, Alec, their good friend and Pastor, who loved being a part of the Irish family competition, or Sean the Father, whose game held up under the pressure of holding up. They would drop him off however after the first 18 holes, giving him a chance to recover before the next early morning tee time. He was no stranger to playing 36 holes, but that was in his heyday. Cooking for them was not difficult at all as their focus was golf, every thing was secondary.  They had every electronic device to analyze their swings, to watch training films on their booklets, or ipods or whatever they were holding in their hands.  They were busy as bees all week, determined to keep the edge they had over their Father.  They regripped their clubs, they had a tool that sharpened the grooves in their clubs, they even had a little gadget they attached to their club, that was hooked up to their computer, that recorded their swings. Sean would keep telling them, stop analyzing, just get up and hit the ball. Which brings me to another subject.  They were totally connected to their families and at any given time one of them was texting or talking with their wives or children.  Alec, who has three sons and the only one with a teenager…just…13 years old, spent quality time on the phone making sure his influence was still being felt at home. After watching all three of them over the period of a week, brought back vivid memories of ourselves at their age;addressing home situations and situations that were arising at their jobs, Sean and I decided we will take retirement any day. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, it was only in recent years they were able to beat their Father, even though he always gave them a good run for their money, this past week brought success to all.  The last day was the best day, though.  They were playing from the gold tees, and they kept telling him, Dad you can play from the blues today, and his response was oh no, I’m not going to give you any excuse when I beat you.  I’ll stay right here.  He went on to beat all three of them, and they all shook their heads in amazement, how did you do it Dad, how?  Well, I have this little gadget on my club to analyze my swing on my computer, that is after I regripped them and sharpened the grooves…alls well that ends well.

 …and me. If you had to bet money on who was going to win, I most definitely would place my money on the computer, however I have a computer guru in the house, Sean’s son Mike. I hate to bother him while he is on vacation, however I am so stressed out about my situation that I am going to call upon his expertise and I’m hoping he will be able to help me.
I am confident he will know what to do, it will be whether I can carry on when he is not right beside me telling me what to do. My son has been helping me in the past, but I hesitated to call him, and didn’t until today, as he told me several months ago to write my blog and copy and paste it, as I had had a previous problem like the one I am experiencing now.  Well it happened to me Friday, and I hadn’t done what he said, and it happened again yesterday. I finally broke down and called him and the first thing out of his mouth was, Mom didn’t I tell you…wait a minute, who’s the parent here…my response was why don’t you think I called you sooner, I was desperately trying to do what you told me to do and I can’t do it. That’s the only reason I called. Of course we both laughed and I’m sure he shook his head. He said I’ll call you tonight and I will walk you through it. Wait a minute, Mike is visiting, and he can probably sit me down and make me do it…I’m hoping to have this all done before my son calls. If you get to read it you will know that Mike was successful in teaching me. PS (post secret) My daughter-in-law Laura worked me through the problem.  Thanks Laura, I Love You