FOOD DETECTIVE

In The Community it's not very hard to know more about your neighbors than they would prefer. For instance, a leisurely bike ride around the community any morning will let you know by the aromas what people are having for breakfast. Most notable are bacon or steak, pancakes and fried potatoes. At my house we try and fool any food snoopers; we have dry cereal. In the evening smells of various meats on the barbecue, steak, burgers, and ribs are mixed with a variety of casserole dishes. Mexican food and pizza particularly are easy to spot. I'm getting so good at it that I can tell you what almost half of the community residents had for breakfast today: scrambled eggs, biscuits, and sausage gravy. I know that for a fact because we were all present at the same $3.00 breakfast whipped up by several residents. Such events are a prime example of what living in a senior community is all about. It may also be why seniors have to constantly monitor their weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. 

THE FOOTHILLS

Even though my postal address is Yuma, AZ, I technically am not a resident of Yuma. The city limit sign is actually about three blocks from where I live. I actually live in The Foothills east of Yuma city which is identified on Google maps as Fortuna Foothills. So named because it butts up against the Gila Mountains. (Yes, there are mountains in the desert.) It is an unincorporated area which is actually a growing suburb of Yuma. Before the area started rapid development several years ago people had to drive ten miles to Yuma proper to get much of their medical assistance, conduct other business, and do the shopping. But things are rapidly changing and have to since a sizable percentage of the 80,000 winter visitors to the area are located in this area. In the past few years a Walmart Supercenter has opened, a brand new large Fry's grocery store opened, fast food giants McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Starbucks have opened or are being constructed. A new Denny's will open soon. There's still not an Albertson's store (the other major food chain here) but it really doesn't matter. All you have to do is take the weekly newspaper ads from any grocery store to Walmart and they will "price match". We have a beautiful new branch library. There are new Walgreen and CVS stores. Medical facilities are also improved with urgent care facilities, medical labs and branch offices of some doctors. Many of the seniors who live in The Community now don't have to travel far from their homes for services. I'm sure that this makes them happy since I suspect that many have not even ventured into the Yuma Palms Shopping Center and other wonderful places "in town" since they have lived here. It makes it a lot easier to "cocoon". But if you don't go to the movie theater in town it'll be a long time before you get to see the final chapter in the "Twilight" vampire saga.