I think you made the right choice. You might ask around, sometimes farmers/cattle sellers will sell a side of beef.

I just have a small freezer in my fridge, so no sides of beef for us. One trip to the grocery store should fill it for me.

We decided not to go to the Caribbean this winter . Too many hoops you have to jump thru.

In this area the butchers who also slaughter are behind. Many stopped taking orders back in July. You might look for a CSA that has meat shares to see what is available. That is where I purchased mine earlier this year.

We had no problem getting a half of cow. We ordered it last week and picked it up yesterday.

I'm glad your choosing to be safe. This is what I'd like for everyone to choose. ☺ It's not worth getting covid and being sick. I'm sure you'll make the holidays special wherever you spend them.

We're revising our plans in order to cut down on utility costs. It's expensive to heat the pool in Cathedral City in the winter and it is even more expensive to cool the house there in the summer. We are better off spending more time in Los Angeles, where utility costs are low all year. We had been planning to rent the house in CC as a short term vacation rental for additional income, but Cathedral City put an end to all new (and renewals of) STVRs - right at the worst time for us. We might be forced to rent the house as a long-term rental, but we would prefer not to do that.

It is probably a wise decision, but aren't the numbers in Michigan every bit as bad as they are in Florida?

Smart move!

You will have peace of mind staying put. You will not have to travel.

For Michigan‘s winter you might need a fur coat. It’s super cold there. :-)

What’s the population difference between your two hometowns? I am guessing FL is more crowded. Stay away from crowded area is a smart choice.

If you aren't used to Mi winters, make sure you got nice warm boots, gloves, headgear, and maybe a scarf or two too! Some long johns, warm slippers... and a heated blanket or mattress pad on the bed is a delight on extra chilly nights :) Ice scraper and some extra winter gear for the car, if the battery is old- get it checked for cold cranking amps. Snow shovel and a couple bags of salt for your walkway- and if you got a decent sized driveway, either a snowblower or find a plow service now before it starts snowing a lot.

We huddled in place over the summer. Normally go to our mountain house over summer to leave heat of sunny south. So happy we stayed in place.

We had no problem getting a half of cow.

that reminds me of the land restrictions (I forget what it's called) where I live. I do remember that we are allowed to have half of an elephant on each 2.5 acre piece of land. I should ask a neighbor if they want to split one with me... I'd definitely want the front end of it on my land.

No elephants permited here. It would be funny to see how someone would keep the elephant half on each perspective side. .

Good suggestions for a Michigan winter. I might add firewood, lanterns, bottled water, a goodly food supply, books, keeping your gas tank full, good snow tires and plenty of batteries.

Kathy, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend! This virus is just relentless.

I think you've made the right choice. Travel right now is just too questionable. Maybe you can find some great meat specials offered in prep for the holidays, fill your freezer and eat gourmet to help make up for losing the nice weather. (truthfully, I've never lived in a really harsh winter climate and I'm not sure how well I'd do. Rain is one thing, ice a whole other story ;0))

For enjoying MI - jumper cables.

We are both born and raised in Michigan. Our driveway is 200 feet long and our plow guy was charging us only $20 a plow. DH goes out and shovels snow around the sidewalk to the garage, but he wears shorts, flip flops and a winter coat. We do have a snow blower, that hasn't been used much the last 15 years.

We have snow boots, scarves, gloves and mittens galore! And if the plow guy hasn't come by, you don't go anywhere! Our whole county has only 1 traffic light, so traffic isn't terrible near us. In Florida we were in Venice, very busy!

Thanks for all the good thoughts, this has been really tough to realize that such a nice, sweet guy has passed and we will no longer see him.