The snowbirds have flown home.
The days of basking under the searing Florida sun are officially over for Canadian country music legend Tommy Hunter and his wife Shirley.
A skin cancer scare is among the reasons they've left their house in Stuart, Fla., and are building a new home, nearer friends and family, in Aberfoyle, Ont., just west of Toronto.
"I've had some small skin cancer things that were not serious, but warns me I have to stay out of the sun," says Hunter, 62, in a telephone interview.
And for the six years they primarily lived in Florida, they were soaking up a lot of rays.
"My wife would be out on the beach at 10 in the morning and she'd stay out until four in the afternoon. Many a time, I'd be out there, too. After you're there a while, you can take all the sun you want, but you're still getting beat up.
"Shirley had a couple things removed, but they weren't malignant. Mine were.
"I go in and have them checked once a year and (a dermatologist) just looks over everything, spots a couple and they either use a gas to get them or sometimes they have to cut. That I don't like. I just had one done last year that had gone for a long period of time, and it wasn't healing, so they had to cut. It took three or four stitches to clear it up. That was a bad one."
The skin cancer has not interfered with his annual routine, which includes a Canadian tour early in the year. This year's jaunt began Jan. 7 in Vancouver and ends Feb. 13 in Blyth, Ont. Tonight, Hunter and his Traveling Band perform at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
"People say to us we're crazy (to tour) this time of year and yet it's a good time for us to travel," says the host of The Tommy Hunter Show, the wholesome country music variety show which ran on CBC-TV from 1965 to 1992.
"During the summer ... there's a lot of activities going on and you just sort of get lost in the shuffle."
Of course, winter weather does pose its challenges.
"Remember two or three years ago when you had that real cold spell?" asks Hunter.
"That really played havoc with us. We were the first flight that got in (to Calgary) that day, but it was touch and go. We had to look at alternatives, like flying to Edmonton and driving down. You're facing those types of problems at this time of year."
Hunter, though, loves a good challenge and isn't afraid of hard work. In addition to his cross-Canada tours, Hunter maintains his own Internet website, www.tommyhunter.com, where fans can catch up on the latest Hunter news, purchase merchandise and send e-mail to the singer.
Hunter, living up to that gentlemanly reputation, often writes back.
"If somebody wanted to know if we're coming to Calgary, the office could answer that," he says.
"But if someone said, 'I remember meeting you and you came over for supper,' then the office will put that in a file and send it over to me right away. And I get 10, 15, 20 in a week. I sit down on a Saturday and Sunday and answer all the mail."
