Things I'll Miss about the South

Admittedly, there aren't many things I'll miss about the South, but there are a few.....

1. Spring. Yes, spring is gorgeous everywhere, but it's especially beautiful here. Right now the trees are blossoming, including the pink dogwoods, and the air smells heavenly. This area may have nothing else going for it, but it sure is pretty in the spring.

2. Two words: sweet tea. If you've never had it, try it. But only if you can get the real thing. Ordering an iced tea and then adding sugar is not the same. If you want an easy recipe for true Southern sweet tea let me know. It takes five minutes to make it and it's delish! I can make this at home no matter where I live, but there is something so right about being able to order this in any restaurant with my meal. I never order soda when we go out to eat, only sweet tea. Yum!

3. The food. Yes, I know it's not good for me. No one should eat green beans with bacon every night of the week. No one needs fried green tomatoes more than once or twice a year. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be damn hard to find either of these things in Granolaland (aka California), never mind the more unfamiliar delicacies like fried chicken livers (don't knock them until you've tried them!). Of course, it's pretty damn hard to find decent seafood, sushi or Mexican food here, which I know are abundant in California. I guess I'll survive.

4. Thunderstorms. San Diego doesn't get those. Well, maybe once a year they get thunder, but it's short-lived and never really amounts to anything. Here we get these about once a week from April to November. This is also why there are real flowers that grow in Memphis and not just freeway daisies, as in San Diego (unless, of course, you spend your entire paycheck paying the water bill for your garden).

And that's it. Four whole things I'm going to miss about the South. Wow. I could probably write for two days about all the things I won't miss, but I'll save that for later. ;)