Traveling After Living in Paradise

I have two assignments coming up (Yeah!), both in northern climates, with potential for the second one to be meaty and keep me busy for quite some time (Yeah, again!).

I've become a Miami wimp as far as cold weather, being here almost 11 years (in February). I noticed it when I was working in Memphis for a project in November 2008 and the weather was colder than I expected that week. I had a coat, but not my warmer winter coat. It's much easier to ease into colder weather than it is to come from sunshine, green grass, and 80 degree (F) days and lows in the 60's during a cold snap to gray skies, brown grass, and lows in the 30's. That just ends up being a bit of a shock. It does make coming home sweeter.

I guess I'll be getting a real dose of winter this year, traveling to the Northeast and to Canada beginning in about a week. I should see which sweaters fit and are ok for wearing to work, and scotchguard the winter boots I haven't worn in 10 years since they are bulky for travel (and gym shoes work pretty well as long as the snow isn't deep). I'll have to use the bigger suitcase to fit the bulky winter clothes.

Maybe I'll get to ski, throw a snowball, enjoy the crisp air on my face, practice taking photos of sun on snow and icicles on trees. I hope that any gliding on ice is something I initiate, and not a surprise (oooohhhh... splat).

The thing about being in Miami is that you don't even think about a coat. The week after being a little chilly in Memphis with the wrong coat, I almost left my coat at home when I was headed to the airport. I was 2-3 miles from home when I realized I had left it in the laundry room at home. We don't have coat closets here, and I hung it there to keep blonde dog hair off my black wool coat.

So I'm in the car debating, do I really need it? Do I have to go back to get it? The answer was Yes, I do need it. I'm not going to shop for another one in Memphis the way I might if I realized I left my hairbrush at home and I'm going to be very unhappy without it. It's good I usually leave early, with lots of time ,when I head to the airport.

I keep a light jacket in the car in case a movie theater or restaurant is over-air conditioned. Other than that, you just don't need them most of the year here. I took Destine for a walk this morning and didn't realize it was in the 50's, so I was outside in just a thin shirt. I thought about going inside and getting a jacket or something, but decided I better start to get a little hardened to cold.

If I lived in Michigan right now, I'd be thinking it was balmy... It's a matter of perspective. It's perfect weather for jogging - just cool enough to make it nice and not get too hot and sweaty. I should go put on sneakers and take advantage of that. I like to open all of the windows in the house and give it a good airing when the weather cools down like this, especially since the house gets stuffy with no air movement when the air conditioner isn't on.

As I hear of winter storms across the country and my Michigan friends shoveling constantly, I look at my green grass, blooming Bougainvilliea, palm trees, and blue sunny skies, and sigh. It's nice to be able to enjoy this at home. I may miss it when I'm traveling for work, but at least I get to come home to it every weekend. When I first moved here and was diving off boats in Fort Lauderdale, I saw people parasailing on the beach, sailboats and other pleasure boats out, etc., as we ran parallel to the beach and back to the marina. All I could do was grin and say to myself, "I really live here!"