Color coordinated........or not

So here I am, still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. Today, and for the near future, it will be a new (old) career as a realtor. We recently moved to Florida City, the southernmost city on the Florida mainland because we love it here. It’s not in the city, not in the suburbs, but is really in the country. 

I finally received my business cards, the first ones I actually let someone else design for me. The company required a picture that day so I had to resort to a selfie. It was a really windy day, I couldn’t keep my hair out of my face, and I had no idea what I was doing. I picked a red shirt (Everyone who knows me knows that my choice is any color as long as it’s red.) and was surprised when my cards turned out to be color coordinated. 

The red shirt and the yellow hair to match the color of the cards were not pre-planned. 

All I could think of was the time years ago when my son was about ten and fell off his ATV. My parents were having dinner with us and, knowing that his grandmother would freak, he didn’t limp in until he absolutely had to. Of course, he elicited the response he expected, and I asked my mother what would have happened if she had had boys. To that my father piped up “They would have been color coordinated.”

Color talks. In every language, in every business, in every situation. The colors in our part of South Florida are unique. We live in the country, not the city or the suburbs. What makes our area a country location? The people, the terrain, the population density. So many of the people are natives; they really have lived here all their lives, by choice. Others moved here because of the housing boom. There is affordable housing within commuting distance of Miami. 

Some of the communities resemble the gated communities all over Florida, with single family homes, both large and small, townhouses, apartments and rental units. There are also areas with homes on large lots and smaller, older homes, enough to keep the realtor in me thinking. The business community is alive and well, so I’ll be able to continue with my first love, commercial real estate.

What are we doing? We moved here with no real plans so we’re living in our motor home, trying out life in a small, very small, space. It’s us, our three dogs, our three parrots, and as much stuff as we could fit into our 36 foot motor home plus an extra trailer that we call “the annex.” It’s unbelievable how little you really need when you start to pare down. 

The rest of our stuff is in a storage unit, waiting for us to acknowledge its existence. Who knows? We may end up with another house and need some of the things we’ve so lovingly packed, but so far we haven’t missed anything. I’m beginning to like cleaning with a dustbuster, a paper towel, and some windex. 

A small refrigerator has its advantages. There isn’t enough room for the green, furry stuff to collect. Giant sized anything is out of the question, so every shopping trip is a calculation. I keep repeating: Live like a European. Shop every day, buy fresh fruits and vegetables, freeze nothing. (And sample what the local restaurants have to offer.)