Happiness is a warm keyboard = I live to and love to write

Fall is in the air…but not here in sunny FLA., here it is summer, summer, summer all the time, every day and somedays I feel like I’m trapped in a spin off of ‘Ground Hog Day’. Except for when a hurricane blows through, then it's like an epic disaster movie.

I know most people would love this sand and sun lifestyle and most days I do too, but a recent trip back to my home state of New York made me homesick for the seasonal changes I grew up with.

Climate change is affecting every state and everywhere in the world it is growing warmer, but there was still a cool breeze through those New York trees at night  and I was in heaven. Here in Florida the temperature fluctuates from hot, to hotter, to ‘oh my goodness how hot can it get’? 

We do get a night now and again that drops down around 60F and if we’re lucky, we might even get a night or two around 50F.  And I’m hoping to receive a pleasant present for Christmas, with a night that drops down to 40F, ooooooohhh, now that would be a true treat for me.

But maybe, ths isn’t only about the weather, or not just about the weather. I think it’s more seminal, formative and inspirational. It’s about where I grew up.

When I was growng up, my hometown was how I viewed the whole world; the world was shrunk down into that safe space of home, family and neighborhood. I navigated that space from toddler to teenager, adolescent to grown up and it sprouted my ideas, opinions and self awareness. I know I thought that everywhere in the world was like New York. That childhood view of the world was a comfort zone and I didn’t know how much I’d miss it until I moved a thousand miles away to live in a different climate and navigating a new way of life .

The first year in Florida was a rude awakening and it took me a long time to feel a level of comfort and acceptance, eventually I acclimated.

I have a theory but I don’t know if anyone will agree it; I think where we’re born...planted...we’re like trees rooting ourselves to the land, drinking in the atmosphere, acclimating to the air, the fauna and flora, the sights, sounds, dialects and street grids around us. It becomes imprinted on our souls like an ethereal map home. That map remains even as we change the scenery around us; we’ll always have that inner compass pointing homeward.

Home is where we took our first steps into the world; home is where we feel stability on the ground beneath us and where our family’s arms surround us for support. Home is where our roots go deeper. To me, home will always be New York.

When I came back on my last vacation and took my first breath of that cooler air, even with exhaust fumes and pollution mixed into it, I felt a sense of homecoming and visibly relaxed; I know my soul smiled.

The rhythm of the city is hectic, everyone there moves faster. Even in cars, they’re driving like its a taxi. By that I mean, if they need to turn left even if they're in the far right lane, they will turn left and effortlessly cross four lanes of traffic to do it. But, even those crazy drivers comfort me because their roadway behavior was expected; it was stamped in my long term 'I learned to drive here' memory.

I feel a connection to the cracked sidewalks, the parks, museums, the scent of fresh bread in a bakery, even to the bagels and pizza... and especially to those cold nights. So that rat race traffic was welcoming me home, and I was happy to be back, even if it was only for a week.

Now I'm back in sunny Florida and that short trip home was just what I'd needed, a boost of adrenaline on a cool breeze to get me through the next months of a long, hot, Florida winter.

Thanks for listening!