When my husband and I were first married, we decided to move south.
We’d spent our entire lives in the northeastern part of the country, where the weather is wet and chilly for the majority of the year.
We were tired of the need to shovel snow, scrape ice, carry an umbrella and drive a four-wheel-drive vehicle. We were ready to say goodbye to sub zero temperatures, gray skies and enormous heating bills. My husband had the opportunity to attend welding school and achieve his certification, and I found a really wonderful nanny position. We relocated in the early part of January. We left behind a blizzard and drove toward steadily warmer temperatures. The weather in our new location was absolutely beautiful, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We were delighted by the palm trees. We rented an apartment on the second floor of an older building. By the end of January, winter was definitely over and the temperature climbed into the high eighties. It didn’t take long for the triple digits and humidity to become unbearable. We quickly discovered that the small and ancient air conditioner in our apartment couldn’t keep up with demand. Because heat rises, our living space is constantly overheated. We invested into a window air conditioner and several box fans. We took multiple cool showers every day. When my husband completed his welding course, we were ready to move back north. We decided to choose a location in-between where we grew up and our southern apartment. We found a spot where neither heating or cooling are essential for more than half the year.