Big Dreams and Snow Cream!

My middle son got the job offer on the job in Seattle, and it sounds good. Chances are he will take it. Of course, I have very mixed feelings. I'm happy for him and sad for me. But, as with all things involved with being a mother, I want him to be happy. If he's not happy, I won't be either. I can deal a lot easier with my emptier nest than him not fulfilling this dream he has for himself to get out of this state and live somewhere totally different.

My kids tell me I only like living here because I haven't lived anywhere else, at least not anywhere more than 150 miles or so from here. But there are definite things I like about living here. For one, mild winters and mild summers.

We are expecting one to three inches of snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. Snow is a fun thing in Alabama. The weather announcers broadcast it, people make mad dashes to the grocery, the grocery shelves quickly empty out, check out lines grow to enormous proportions, and then we go home, settle in, and watch for the snow. If it does actually show up, which is always iffy, then the businesses close, schools close, roads close, and people stay home. People who move here from the Northern states are always shocked. "They closed everything for a light dusting of snow and a little ice?" Well, we don't get that snow and ice often enough to have all the snow equipment needed (or the extra personnel) to keep roads cleared. I've only seen a salt truck once or twice in my life and that was to de-ice a bridge on the interstate. No, snow in Alabama means you stay home, make big pots of soup or chili, light the fire, make hot chocolate, play with the kids, read, and get cozy. And the best part? When it melts off, as it does quickly, life slowly goes back to normal and we probably won't get snow again for years.

Oh, and we always make SNOW CREAM.

SNOW CREAM RECIPE

You mix whole milk with sugar until it is sweet like ice cream (or use one can Sweetened Condensed Milk)
Add a dash of salt and a capful of vanilla flavoring.
Mix well.
Then go out and get a big pan of clean snow.
Scoop big spoonfuls of snow into the milk mixture until it's the consistency of ice cream.
Then invite all the neighbors over and eat. The extra keeps well in the freezer.

As for summer, I never appreciated mild summers until I visited my mother-in-law in Phoenix in October of 2003 and it was 112 degrees. She doesn't think much of air conditioners and it's the closest I've come to sweating to death. I don't like to sweat. Maybe it's the Southern belle part of me, but when someone says aerobic or elevateD heart rate, my first thought is "Yeah, right" and how to get out of there as quickly as possible. When I think of exercising, my body says, "You do it Bitch, you die."

I also like living here because it's got all the things you'd ever want to see as far as art museums, ballet, symphonies, Space and Rocket Museum, Space Camp, etc, but still has a home-town feel. I once asked my dad to show me how to change a flat tire. He laughed and said, "You live in Alabama, honey. All you have to do is stop the car and some guy will change it for you." In 51 years, that's never failed to be true. They also open doors, and the younger ones say, "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Ma'am." I even had a young man in his prom tux stop to help me with a stalled engine once at night. And once he got my car started, he and his girlfriend followed me and the kids to make sure we got home alright.

I like to visit other places. Travel is one of my favorite things to do. But I always want to come back home. I mean, what other state can you walk into any restaurant and order tea and it automatically comes sweetened in a tall glass with ice, which is refilled automatically every time it gets half full. I practically had to sell my soul in London to get two cubes of ice in a tiny glass of Coke. And I can order grits or turnip greens or pinto beans or cornbread and no one looks at me funny, except my husband. He'd rather have a burrito than any of that stuff any day. But that's the Arizona in him. He can't help it. Bless his heart.