The Thursday Ramble: Snowbirds

In the United States a person who lives in the north, and goes south for the winter is known as a snowbird.  Here on the eastern side of the US they commonly go to Florida for at least part of the winter.  There are places in Florida where the population doubles in winter. In other parts of the country people go to the Gulf coast of Texas, or to Arizona. 

We have had a couple of weeks of cold - at times snowy - weather that makes me wonder if there isn't some wisdom in going south for the winter. 

My family has a deep history of snowbirding.  My parents started spending winters in Florida when I was in the 8th grade.  They were following in the footsteps of their parents.  My father's parents had owned a small home in Florida since the early 1960's.  My mother's parents started going south in the offseason from farming just after World War II.  I was raised on a funny farm, my father and his father were large scale bee farmers. In Michigan honey bees are a seasonal farming operation. The work started around the first of April, and was finished by November 1st.  Disturbing the bees during the cold months most often did more harm than good. 

My father's first attempt at snowbirding was when I was in the first grade, we went to Phoenix for the winter.  With four kids in school, it was a disaster for a couple of us, and we didn't try that again until it was down to my sister and I in school.  We were pretty good students. We went to Florida instead of Arizona, because it was closer and the grandparents were there. My father never lost his love to for the desert southwest, and never really grew to love the humidity of Florida.  

My snowbird high school experience was unusual.  I would start classes in Michigan in late August, transfer to Florida around the first of November, transfer back to Michigan around the first of April and finish out the school year in Michigan.  For some classes I gained with brilliant instructors in one school over the other, in some classes I suffered from teachers who couldn't or didn't want to teach. (A unemployed PhD NASA physicist who didn't teach high school chemistry in Florida, but was paid to teach it.) 

After I finished High School, I moved to Florida and lived there almost 20 years. Then moved back north.  Every January and February when the weather is cold and slippery I wonder why I moved north, every hurricane season I am reminded why. (Love and opportunities also were a huge factor in moving north, I have had a great life.) 

The Condo keeps the water in the indoor pool at 88 degrees (f). The hot tub is 104(f). The air in the room feels tropical.  It has become my retreat. An hour there a day, keeps me thawed out.