Moving South

Today it was all I could do to keep going in this place where I have lived for almost half of my life. I am simply not a true Pacific Northwesterner. I try. I really do. There are many days, especially in the spring on a sunny day, that I can't imagine being anywhere else. But the truth is, I am familiar with blue crisp Colorado skies and sunny beaches in Mexico where the only cloud in the sky looks like a fluffy cotton ball. These are places that helped form my childhood. They are my memories. They are familiar and comforting. They represent adventures with my siblings. They are in my blood. So when I went to get my munchkin of the bus today, it felt like the sky was caving in on me. Everything was gray and heavy. Claustrophobic. I wanted to run. It hit me just how far north I really was. I called my husband on the phone to tell him I was moving south with or without him. Somewhere warm and sunny. Somewhere where there is very little rain. Somewhere where nothing grows except palm trees and little lizards sunning themselves on hot rocks. Fortunately, he did not answer the phone, and by the time he called me after he got off work, the sky was....blue. I am not kidding. It wasn't tropical by any means, but it was beautiful. Maybe I really was at the end of my rope, and God gave me a blue sky. I ran down the stairs, whipped open all the windows, and I told my kids to cover up with a blanket when the 40 degrees hit their little bodies. I breathed deeply and stared at the sky. It was amazing. Simply breathtaking.