I've been marginally poor all my life, even when I was pretending not to be (i.e., owning a home, which I no longer do, and doubt I ever will again). I think they call that "the working poor" nowadays... Thus, I never considered the economics of that kind of community, let alone how a situation like that could create and maintain its own vicious cycle, because I know I could never touch the entrance fee.

And I realize my objection is as much distaste for the economic mindset as for the cultural that presented itself in that junk mail: a half-Boomer, half-Yuppie Xanadu in the midst of the desert of Erehwon -- pristine, completely manufactured, a Potemkin village of happy oldsters...

It sounds to me like you need a change of scenery -- or, more accurately, a change of state (i.e., not Florida). A place to live that is neither urban nor expensive. I know... easy for me to say. I wouldn't live in Florida on a bet, but that's for reasons of climate. You might think about Texas: still plenty of room, y se habla español. Si, menos Cubanos... pero mas trabajo -- especially for the bilingual.

But -- and I hate to do this to you, as you've rapidly become my second-most-respected writer here -- you didn't answer my question. Talves I wasn't clear enough in the asking: I meant the social trend, not the economic. Your latest post implied a connection between the two I don't find where I live, and that may be due to a total difference in economic environment creating ignorance on my part. Nevertheless... In the absence of economic forces chaining you in a child-free community, would you actively seek surrogates to nurture in the way you spoke of in your earlier post? Are there nieces and nephews? Friends' children or grandchildren?

I ask this out of respect, as you possess skills and knowledge deserving of passing directly, orally, the way these things were once done: sailing and celestial navigation, y la historia su raza.