Country Girl vs Surfer Queen

So Baby and I have our marching orders. We’re moving to the Sunshine State – in about two weeks. One minute I have a busy Wisconsin summer planned, and the next – whoosh! Off we go. Whoever said marrying someone in the military makes for a lot of moves should try marrying a chef. Gourmet on the go, that’s my husband.

In between the whirlwind of packing, closing our apartment up here, and generally dealing with the adventure of moving across country with three weeks notice, I haven’t had much time to dwell on the long-term effects of the move, which is probably just as well since I’m sure I’d be depressed. I knew from the moment the move was brought up that I would miss the people in Wisconsin fiercely. All my family, friends, and connections live here, and leaving them behind is hard.

Up until this morning I thought the people were all I was going to miss. After all, it’s not like we’re moving to Kansas, or the depths of New York City (some deranged people’s idea of heaven, I understand). We’re moving to Florida, the Sunshine State. I’ll get to swim in the ocean every day if I so desire, with dolphins or pelicans or whatever takes my fancy. I’ll get to explore the Everglades on the weekends, and wander through neighborhoods filled with fruit trees and flowers. Key West will be a few hours away.

And yet I woke this morning with a lump in my throat and that all-at-once knowing that comes most clearly when you first wake. And I knew I would miss Wisconsin terribly. I’m going to miss the clear, crisp, blue smell of Lake Superior. I’m going to miss the red-brown glint of agates on the beach. I’m going to miss galloping a horse through fire-colored autumn woods filled with the mustiness of falling leaves. I’m going to miss secluded, daisy-chocked fields in the middle of nowhere. Maple trees. Sunwarmed raspberries. Crunchy wild apples which taste of summer and sunshine. Farm fields, blue with flax and golden with corn. Red barns and silver silos. Chipmunks eating out of my hand, and chickadees twittering in my ear. I’m going to miss the wild rose-colored glory of an orchard in blossom.

I love Wisconsin. Even though winter lasts forever and we get blizzards in May and the average temperature for snowy months is twenty below.

I know I will also love Florida, and all the other places we travel. But the one truth I know most surely as I watch Wisconsin vanish in the rear-view mirror?

This will always be my home. I’m a Wisconsin country girl, and always will be.