Sense of Place

         I very recently moved to a new home here in Fort Myers in Brantley Pines. The area I live in is very built up and there is a lot of businesses where I am at. This means that there are also a limited number of trees and other wildlife. There are a good amount of palm trees, bushes, shrubs, and other trees around to still give the complex a sort of Southwest Florida feel, but it is nothing compared to where I previously lived.
     In my new apartment complex there is a decent amount of plant life, there are bushes that line the road, they are short and have green leaves with a purple tint to them. There are also many palm trees, but also other more "normal" looking trees that are tall with thick trunks. Out front where we park our car there is a shorter tress with many branches that separate low on the trunk and grow to branch off again and again with leafs and seed looking things on the end.
   My complex also has a man made retention pond that collects excess rain water and what not. It is your typical Florida pond with a fountain in the middle. There is a bridge that you can walk across and look at the fish below. My boyfriend pointed out some smaller and quite large bass and some snook that reside in there. He loves to fish and is very good with identifying fresh and salt water fish.
    There are also many ducks and turtles that live in there as well. The ducks range in size and some are much larger than others, and I noticed that the ones with red spots on their faces tend to be larger and I wondered if those were male ducks. The turtles are also different sizes but I am almost positive that has to do with age and not gender. There are typical looking turtles although I do not know that exact species and there are soft shelled water turtles that have the elongated necks. There are also white birds that have long, thin, and red-ish beaks. I think they are a sort of ibis, maybe a white ibis but I am not positive.
    These animals all live in the pond on the complexes property and as a result they are fairly domesticated. They do not fear people, and get fed often resulting in them coming close to humans without fear. We took bread up to feed the ducks, fish, and turtles, and one duck came right up onto the bridge to get the bread and continued to come closer and closer until my boyfriend was forced to shoo it off.
   There a decent about of trees and plenty of grass around our home. Many people have dogs so they need the grass for them as well. I see a fair amount of squirrels and birds around (that are non aquatic). It is clear that they complex owners tried to make is so there was enough trees and what not around for it to look pretty, and it does. However it is very apparent that our complex is surrounded by other apartment complexes and commercial sales buildings.
    I grew up on the east side of Florida and although this area is nice and pretty it is too busy and crowded for my liking. My sense of place is surrounded by Florida pines and forest. I miss being able to drive fifteen minutes in one direction and be in the country and then drive fifteen minutes in the opposite direction and be in town, all of Fort Myers is built up as far as I know there isn't really a country side. My sense of place is out in the country on a boat tubing, fishing or just relaxing. I do like some town and shopping areas but I just feel overwhelmed here. I do love Florida but I am not sure this is the state I plan on raising my children and what not. I am a fan of the seasons and I love fall and winter and I believe that my sense of place is somewhere where there are seasons but still in the country near some body of water.