One thing that surprised me more than anything else living here down south, is how my body has changed. I cannot stand the cold-at all! My internal thermostat is broke. I will admit this here little gem that most people (most y'all) do not know about me-I now use a little electric heater in the bathroom in the mornings to stay warm as I get ready for the day. I really have turned into a weather wimp.
It may have something to do with the Tallahassee area summers that are constantly over 90 degrees in the shade and a humidity you can cut with a knife. I can remember the very first day I stepped out of the airport in Tallahassee (it was the summer) to get a cab to my hotel, I open the doors to go outside and take my first step out , I could hear this great swooshing sound and my eye glasses immediately fogged up with the humidity-“What the heck!?” I exclaimed, and as a true Yankee, I ask the cabbie “is it like this down here all the time?
He answers “Yes, it is, it’s not so bad today”
I do romanticize about the snow every now and then..I remember the fun times as a kid, the snowmen, throwing snowballs and even saving a few snowballs in the freezer for the summer -they were REALLY kind of hard by the time I got around to taking them out , I remember the sledding and most importantly..the time off of school! Oh and Hockey, how can I forget about hockey, up east it’s baseball, apple pie and hockey, they put us on the ice at age 3 and leave us there until we learn how to skate! Our heroes were Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and the like. We didn't go to the prom-we went to the rink!
I will always remember the silence right after a snow storm, the snow on the ground absorbing all the regular street sounds-kind of eerie but calming.
It does not take me long to also start thinking of the not so pleasant features of a snow fall, like having cold snow find its way down your neck and into your shoes, how after a storm you have to be shovel ready to rescue your car from the fallen heap and after you uncover the car, be careful not to get stuck on the ice because you will be tearing up the nearest cardboard box to stick under the tires to use for traction and that’s after you take a lighter to your car lock as it is frozen over. Driving in the snow, your car has a mind of it's own- I forget, is it if you start to slide or skid left while you are driving am I to turn the wheel right or is it the other way around?
*SNAP! snow days dreaming is over --back to the Florida sun for me.
Every now and then we do get a little of the white stuff down here, in a bad winter we may get ½ inches of snow. It’s fun to watch the locals (Me too!) navigate through the blizzard :)
So I guess you can say I miss it but yet I don’t, I could have fun throwing a few snowballs and call it a day..take me back to the warmth, It would be a disaster if I had to confront a snowstorm now, I would not know what to do-those crazy up east drivers would be laughing at me at the sight of my car going 20 miles and hour with my emergency flasher on! Yup, I have turned into a weather wimp!
I do want to give my northern brothers and sisters a gift from down south-
A Southern Snowman:
!......until next time
~G
