Florida Adventure

I've been in Florida one week now. I'm going up to Liveoak Thursday to see my grandparents for a brief visit, and then it's back up to Georgia! I've missed Georgia a lot, which surprises me quite a bit. The quiet country highway roads, winding through cotton fields and through groves of ancient oaks where old family graveyards, housing tombstones made of weathered rock, lie in the shade, full of their secrets. Tiny, two-stop sign towns with shady old gas stations, perhaps a diner and an aged vintage consignment shop. The towns all looking more or less the same but all with their own personality: A large, grand brick courthouse in the middle, a statue in the town square bearing some Civil War Hero of long ago, and downtown nestled all around it. The sleepy, slow-paced feel of the deep south that makes you think you are the only person in the world as you drive down seldom-traveled roads and highways you've never heard of. Those beautiful groves of pecan trees, little ponds dug into patches of green farmland. Atlanta's fast-paced flow, the feel of the city that envelops you as you find yourself traveling down I-75 through downtown, watching as the cars weave in and out 6-lane roads. It's terrifying, but you learn your way if you travel it enough.

Georgia is sleepy, and not the same as where I grew up. Shopping has become something you plan, a trip you look forward to, because there's not that many places close by. Eating out is only once in a while when the nearest nice restaurant is over 30 minutes away. People know who you are, in fact, it's all about who you are. Who you know matters.

The cold winters, the hot hot summers, the falls where the leaves turn gold and red and yellow and the sky is a cloudless blue, the spring where cold rains drench the landscape and bring multicolored flowers to life all around you.

It's different to me, and I've come to love Georgia.

It's been a fun trip, though. I enjoyed the break, seeing my family after so long, my mom and Dad who I never get to see as often as I'd like. It hasn't been about Diabetes this week, or stressing out about school, or worrying about work being slower than I'd like it to be. It's been about seeing old friends, traveling to all of my old favorite places, spending quality time with people. Sleeping in my old bed, in my old room, now painted a light, neutral green instead of the bright, vibrant shade of blue that I'd made mom promise not to paint over - I don't mind though. I've missed petting my cat and greeting her at the door, her soft fur rubbing against my ankle and hearing her purr by my head as she sleeps on my pillow with me at night. It's a comfortable fit for me here, full of nostalgia and my childhood and old memories. I'll miss it when I go.