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Friday’s Weekend Column
About a Minnesota Man Exploring Life in the South Perfect, Just Perfect
I can remember back in Northern Minnesota thinking on a fine fall day how perfect it was, but down in the South where I am now, you don't think in terms of a perfect day. You think in terms of a perfect week, a perfect month, or even a perfect season. Here I am living 50 miles east of Tallahassee, north of the City of Madison in North Florida, and I have had perfect weather for the last month, and I expect to have this weather continue for at least the next five months. Perfect for one might not be perfect for someone else. Like this morning, somebody from the South might have thought 47 degrees was a bit chilly, but a transplant from Minnesota thinks it is just great. I was driving in to Tallahassee this morning and the sky was clear, the sun was behind me, and as I drove I could see the temp on my truck's thermometer going up and up. By the time I got to the studio it was in the mid fifties, and what wonderful weather that is to work in. Perfect! Now this is terrible of me, but I was listening to my sister in Minneapolis on the phone tell me how she has her yard all ready for winter. Her leaves are raked up, her annual plants are in the compost pile as they have already frozen, and she has covered the plants she is trying to winter over. I'm listening, but at the same time I am thinking about what I am about to plant. I can think that because it is perfect down here. It is November, and I am still working up my new vegetable garden, and our camellias are just now starting to bloom. Wanda has been planting snap dragons, petunia, and pansies. I can remember Novembers in Minnesota when you couldn't dig in the dirt as it was frozen, or you couldn't even see the dirt for all the snow. Yes, it is perfect down here! It is November, and we are still thinking about doing some perennial planting of trees or shrubs. I am thinking about what kind of decorative fence I can put around the garden, and how I am going to build my potting shed. In the winter I am thinking of these things, Not for next summer, but for right now. Yes, it is perfect down here. It is November 20th, and last night Wanda and I went out to dinner. I wore a long sleeve shirt and had a vest in the truck, but I didn't need it, as it wasn't that cold. I have been down here for a few years now, and still can't get over how nice it is month after month for about eight months. True, summers are not perfect, but I am more than willing to trade those four months for the eight good ones, because they are, yes, perfect. |
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