I Miss the South!

It's official, I'm a southern girl. We've tried many places and the south just seems to be where I am most comfortable. I'm not even partial to the southwest vs. southeast, I'm all about green chili and cheese grits, they're even fabulous together.  I'm just not very good at anything north of, well... the south.

Let's start with location. I grew up in Albuquerque at the foot of the Sandia Mountains. Gorgeous! I miss those mountains and the desert, you can see for miles and sunsets are spectacular there. When I married Brian we lived in many southern coastal cities, VA being as far "north" as we went on that coast. It was my first real experience of living with trees all around me all the time, at first I felt claustrophobic. I LOVED the beaches, though, and the ability to go when the mood strikes, I regret not doing it more, really miss the beaches. Love the swampy area in Georgia and Louisiana and even some areas of South Carolina, Cypress trees and cool creatures. The Midwest has it's own beauty, being able to see crops everywhere you go gives you a real appreciation for the work that goes into the produce in your stores. Seriously, I have huge respect for these farmers. However, all farms all the time is too much for me, I miss other landscape. I would love to come back and VISIT these fabulous folks anytime, though.

Now the weather, I'm a warm weather girl. We had seasons in Alb., probably more so than any other place I've lived. It was nice. In the SE you get a more warm weather than cold, and while the humidity can be brutal in the summer, I would much rather be hot than cold. That's what the AC and the ocean is for, right? Yes, there are hurricanes, but you get tons of notice to evacuate and I'm thankful to say I've not had bad experiences with them, but do know people who have. Here, it's been snowing on and off all day (a week from Spring) AND we are approaching tornado season. I'll admit, I'm a chicken. They are real, big, destructive, you don't get much notice, and every spring I have to spend time in my basement. I'M NOT A FAN! Ideally my seasons would run something like this: Summer until school starts and then fade to Fall, Fall until Thanksgiving weekend and then bring on the snow, Winter until January 1 and then I'm over it. It should be Spring now (because I want it to be) because we just switched to Daylight Savings Time and I want my extra hour of light in the evening to be WARM!!! Actually, let's skip spring since it brings tornadoes and just bring on summer!

There are so many other things I miss about the south. I miss the accents and even the cliches about them...bless their hearts. I miss the food. From the SW I miss green chili and spicy New Mexican food. From the coasts, I miss fresh seafood, shrimp and grits, frogmore stew. I spent quite a bit of time in Louisiana growing up and I miss their Cajun attitude, and boudin, beignets, french coffee, and crab gumbo. I just was raised in the southern part of the country and that's where I belong. I'm glad we came up here and got to know these people and experience the area, but it has confirmed that, at heart, I'm a southern girl!

Until next time,
Julie