dance of the snowbirds

It happened virtually overnight (or so it seemed).

One day our little community had a population of 42,000 and the next thing I knew it had exploded in population to it's wintertime numbers of 77,000. That's about 35,000 people who flock to this area to escape the cold winter chill.

I first noticed the increase when I visited the post office. It was well after the noon-time rush but there was a huge line of patrons waiting. I decided to do my farm market shopping and stop by the post office later. When I went to the market I found it was so crowded with people it was like an obstacle course and it was necessary to wait my turn to pick my produce out of the bins.

Here's what Wikepedia says about Snowbirds....

Snowbirds are typically retirees, and business owners who can afford to be away from home for long periods of time or have a second home in a warmer location. Some snowbirds carry their homes with them, as campers (mounted on bus or truck frames). It used to be that snowbirds were the wealthy who maintained several seasonal residences and shifted residence with the seasons to avail themselves of the best time to be at each location.

A significant portion of the Snowbird community is made up of RVers. Many own a motorhome for the sole purpose of traveling south in the winter. Often they go to the same location every year and consider the other RVers that do the same a "second family". There are places like Quarzsite, Arizona that have been labeled "white cities" because from a bird's eye view all the motorhomes cover the landscape in white and then in the summer are gone.

Photo by Wikipedia

Although I haven't had much chance to interact with our new feathered friends I had already noted that the elderly people I have met in the community are typically friendly and happy. They aren't in a rush and enjoy talking. I guess if you need to double your population happy and friendly people is the way to go.