The snowbirds are coming. The snowbirds are coming. Yes, the snowbirds are coming back to roost in southern Florida. The signs are all around us - storm shutters in surrounding condos are being opened, restaurants are more crowded than usual, traffic is starting to pick up and drive us all crazy, and in shopping plazas there are many out-of-town and Canadian license plates. But alas, before the snowbirds actually come to roost, snowbird wannabes are coming here to nest - - just for a while though.

How did I come to this conclusion? Well, I had my first "nester" this past week. A couple from good old Gnu Yawk stayed with me a few days. They nested on the east coast a day here and a day there until they perched in Pompano Beach for five days. They are now on their way up the west coast in pursuit of a permanent nest in the Sunshine state.

The old timers tell me that temporary nesters can be difficult. However, I was pretty lucky the first time round. My snowbird wannabes were great. They did their own laundry, fixed their own beds, took me out for dinner, and were as unobtrusive as possible. I must tell you they were rather impressed with Pompano Beach. In fact they are even considering moving to our city sometime in the future. They had an opportunity to meet many of my neighbors, my friends, and seemed to fit in quite nicely. I even hosted a brunch where they could meet my some more of my friends including the editor and his boss from the local Pompano paper.

As I said, this was my first experience with snowbird wannabes and it wasn’t as bad as everyone told me it would be. The horror stories about visitors from the north were indeed frightening. Have I been lulled into a false sense of security having had just one visitor? You tell me!

Many businesses are waiting patiently for the snowbird flock to fly in. It’s been a long, dry, hot summer and they really are looking forward to the much needed financial boost. Pompano’s economy can sure use a financial boost from the snowbirds. First, we must make them feel welcome.. I remember my first trip to Hawaii. There were endless public service announcements telling the locals to "be nice to the tourists." We could all take a lesson from them. The city would do well to make our temporary visitors comfortable

Write and tell me the best and the worst about snowbirds. I really could use the help. You see, I’m rather new at this.