I hope you saw the invite that all the bloggers in the Southern Blogs ring shared. "Southern Blogs Ring, the premier source on Southern culture, manner, missive and nostalgia will be holding a group blog to celebrate being alive, southern and free all at the same time." You may be asking yourself what the topic of discussion will be so here it is. The topic for the day is why I consider myself Southern.

I've talked about the Southern Blogs ring before and how being southern is for all those bloggers who take pride in the rich heritage of their southernness: the south side, south of France, south of the border, southpaws, South Bend, or just plain south of center. I fit in by being a southpaw and pretty south of center but that's a whole 'nother post. So I started thinking about what my contribution to the group post would be and here's what I came up with - it's definitely in the environment.

I mentioned on my other blog, The Garden's Gift, how being southern is in my genes. Well not only do I have southern in my genes, it's also in the environment. When I lived up north (even though it was considered the more southern state of the north) I remember thinking how winter was so gray and raw I just didn't know how long I could last. When my husband and I married and ultimately decided to move to Florida the reasons were pretty simple. We LOVE being outside enjoying nature, working in the garden and frankly just being warm. Other than getting married, moving to Florida was one of the best decisions we made and neither of us regret it. Every day we consider ourselves lucky to live here. Even in February we have windows open to sleep at night and marvel at the sound of the birds chirping at 4 AM. Yes 4 AM but that's ok. The ice and snow and gray, literally raw days of winter just were no longer tolerable and we both feel as though we died and have gone to heaven. Even with the hurricanes or threat thereof, there is nothing more enjoyable than the life we have now. The last time I wore a coat was the winter before we moved here when, oh by the way, we had 3 friggin' feet of snow to deal with and weeks of ice that never seemed to melt.

So here we are. We work hard but the difference is we work smarter now. We get up every day with a smile on our faces and enjoying our lives. (Driving is a pain in the caboose but there's no escaping that no matter where you live.) The grass is literally greener for us, the flowers are more vibrant, and the pool beckons. My wardrobe consists of crop pants and shorts most times and, when it really gets cold (based on our definition) I even pull out some sweats and socks. And you know what is even the best, best part (if there is such a thing)? Our family followed us here. My mom and dad live here now, my oldest sister and her husband came down from Maine, AND my sister is a PTFLP (part time FLA person) as is my husband's mom. What more could we ask. So, we are southern. Is it in the genes or is it in the environment? I think it's a little of both. If you are southern, feel southern or have any inkling of southern in your genes or environment join the ring. You'll be glad you did. Happy Florida Gardening.