glories of small town living

This unincorporated village is peopled by folks of just about every description and we are visited by all kinds of exotic folks.  Your typical resident is most definitely from "away." He or she is over 50.  White, for the most part.  Yankee, almost guaranteed.  Well-to-do more often than not.  With kids, somewhere.

We are not far from a state park and a wildlife refuge.  To the east is the ocean.  To the west is Lake Okeechobee.  There is plenty of recreational opportunity if you are a water baby.

This little place supports two grocery stores, a harware store, two Chinese restaurants, a biker/sports bar/restaurant, a burger joint, several other restaurants including a barbeque joint, who knows how many golf courses, very expensive homes and not so expensive homes, three pizza joints, small shops, a tackle shop, a lawyer, a Hawaiian shirt store, a CVS pharmacy, two elementary schools, trailer parks, a Bible college, several restaurants, two liquor stores, a locksmith, an automotive store, a Wendy's, a Subway, a Tire Kingdom, four gas stations, real estate agencies, builders, several nice parks, two fire stations...  It sounds like a metropolis but if you were to drive through you might consider it to be just a waste stretch of highway that's just delaying your arrival at your destination somewhere else.  God knows that's how people drive through here. And it's ok with me that they just keep on going.  The heart of the town is less than a mile long in any direction.

This is the kind of town where someone like me practically poops her pants when she meets another homosexual.  Oh honey!  Thank God!  Instant bonding. I have two gay friends, Carlos and Lisa, that I hardly know and rarely hang out with, but I adore them.  They both live here. Wow! (I was able to introduce them to each other at Pridefest.) And I hear about others.  I know they must be here somewhere, but since we don't wear signs... what's a girl to do?

What are the best things about small towning it?  Well... what immediately pops into my head is food.  (I'm hungry.)  Chicken wings at the "biker bar." Sweet potato salad and ham sandwich with champagne mustard at the bakery/restaurant.  Yeah.

And the opportunity to get to know the people here is a good thing, too.  As a library employee, I have a very public face and when people see me out somewhere else they treat me like a rock star. (My eyes are rolling.)  I've been hit on by lonely old men and had women try to fix me up with their nephews.  I've met millionaires and street people, erudite people and the truly clueless.   Diversity is a good thing.

And I am officially too tired to expound on this thought anymore.  Good night/morning.