There’s an old proverb. ‘Home is where the heart is.’
The origin of this phrase is unclear. Some say it may have begun as “Home is where the hearth is, acknowleging that fireplaces and warmth once made a house a home.” Others say “Home doesn’t mean house, it’s wherever your family is. It’s wherever you feel safe.” February is the month of the heart, since St. Valentines Day is at the heart of the month. Since home is where the heart is, February is our home issue.
Most of us are not living in or even near our original homes. Most have relocated here from places that are traditionally colder this time of year, even snowbound. Our hearts have made our homes in this Paradise we moved to as we were able to escape the harsher climates of our youth. I talked my family into moving here when I graduated high school in Ottawa, Ontario, fifty years ago. I never cared to go back in the winter. It’s not that I dislike snow. It’s mostly that I remember winter as a dreary dark time of year and summer as a brief reprieve from that. This place where summer lasts nine months was very appealing. Years after that move I made my peace with snow and found it was fun to visit for a short time as long as there were hills and I did not have to shovel the snow.
This time of year folks travel from snowy places to spend a week or two in the relative warmth and sunshine, hopefully on our beaches. We feel bad for them when winter’s wrath invades us for a few days, making the beach less welcoming, knowing that they spent a lot of money and precious time to escape the cold and too soon are headed back into it.
Our ‘height of season’, that time when there are lines at our favorite restaurants at dinner time, when it takes a few minutes longer to cross town due to seasonal traffic increases traditionally starts on St. Valentines Day and ends at Easter, or tax filing deadline, whichever comes first. It’s just sixty days or so when local businesses hopefully get to put a little profit away to get them through our long hot summer and hurricane season.
We suggest folks eat dinner out early to beat the crowds. Even our favorite places have quieter times of the day when we can enjoy a leisurely meal. There are also a few places we know that do take-out particularly well, like Barracuda Deli Cafe’ and the St. Pete Beach Mediteranean Deli to name just a couple. We also know that sixty days from now, the reliably great weather will return for the shoulder season, the crowds will thin and we will have glorious spring sunshine, a warmer gulf to swim in and available seats in all of our favorite restaurants.
In the meantime, there are more events, performances, activities and festivals to choose from this time of year, and careful planning keeps us hopping and fully entertained. The Renfest is back in town for the next six weekends in north Tampa, for example, so we can even experience the 16th century without leaving Tampa Bay. Our staff works hard to include a very comprehensive list of things to do in the area in each issue. It is one of the main reasons everyone “LOVES their Paradise NEWS” and hangs on to it until the next one comes. We also have an active online presence. If you have not subscribed to our weekly e-newsletter, check it out at www.paradisenewsfl.com.
You can subscribe for FREE and we will email it to you each Thursday with the top five things to do each weekend and some late-breaking tidbits of news.
Renee & Peter Roos & All the Talented People That make Your Valentines Month a Little Bit More Special
“Do you work to live or live to work?” – Line from “The Last Laugh” (movie)