We moved in January, 2018, from a mobile home in
St. Petersburg to a condo community in Seminole, Florida.
That mobile home park was NOT a lovely place, hemmed in
by phone wires which obstructed the view of the sunrises and sunsets that are so dynamic here.
So here’s the condo community we’re in now. On the sign
at the entrance, it says 9401 THE GARDENS, DOMICURCULUMS. I've never heard anybody here talk about it, but I think it's a coined
word that implies a circular domicile. The buildings are arranged like
the massive rocks at Stonehenge in a circular formation with a pool and clubhouse in the center, spoked with sidewalks to each unit.
On our side of that long drive, we have a pond in front and a canal
in the back that feeds it. Gators frequently swim through the pipe
to sunbathe in what would be our front yard.
Here’s a video of a slide show of The Gardens that I made with Apple’s “Photos” program (it used to be iPhoto).The background music was applied inadvertently. I didn’t write it but I liked it, so I kept it since it is royalty–free.
Fernwood Circle is all the way at the end of Garden Drive. Our circle is one of five. It was built in 1974 when not everything was up to code. Just about everything has gone wrong.
The big stuff––plumbing, A/C, electrical. Even so, we’re tucked away at the end of a long drive off a very busy thoroughfare, and we feel safe here in the back, away from the war zone –– that is, Park Boulevard.
Ours is a 55+ arrangement, but there are families in the buildings opposite us. Lake Seminole Park is next door, on the other side of the canal, but I never seem to go there anymore because the same birds and critters that go there also come here.
I walk the circle almost daily for exercise, and bring my Nikon with me. I usually talk to neighbors along the way and I've noticed that pretty much everyone appreciates the beauty we enjoy here.
I started a mailing list of those interested in having my photos emailed to them; they then often send them on to their friends or family. It's been fun. I’ve had so many more photo opps here and taken several contest-winning images just a few steps from my front door. In 2020, two of six photos taken right here were winners in the City of Seminole's 50th Anniversary photo contest.
Curiously enough, there is a Wildlife Rescue facility just behind the condos across from us. When we first moved here, we would hear the roar of the lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) living just over the fence.
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