Staying Right Where I Am

One of the reasons I love to travel is the opportunity to learn about new countries, people and cultures.

But last week I learned something from a domestic trip. I spent a fun week visiting a friend in South Carolina (and neighboring North Carolina), my first visit to those states. And that trip helped clarify something for me.

We visited Ashville, Old Salem and Blowing Rock, NC. We had dinner with some of her friends, and I spent some time photographing their horses. We had lunch at the new Sierra Nevada brewery, where I enjoyed a half pint of orange-infused beer. I did a bit of walking (5 miles most days) and ate way too much. I helped take care of her four dogs (her father died recently, leaving behind his two chihuahua brothers). I walked the streets photographing the small town on whose outskirts she lives.

I enjoyed the greenery, which is lacking here in the high desert of New Mexico. There are trees everywhere in the Carolinas. What I did not enjoy was the humidity, which ran in the 90 percent range. Combine that with temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s (both humidity and temperature will get worse as the summer goes on), and just being outside was very uncomfortable.



My friend drove me to a new subdivision on the Catawba River, hoping that I would like it and want to move there. The houses, while lovely, are on tiny lots just feet from each other. They are all two-story, which I don't want. And they are expensive. 

I would love to be nearer to my friend. We get along really well, we have much in common, and it would be nice to have someone to help out when I need it. I also would like to be there to help her when needed. But the heat/humidity combination is just not to my liking. Going for a walk at 6:30 in the morning, when both temperature and humidity were lower, left me feeling hot and sticky. And conditions went downhill from there.

What I learned from my week in the Carolinas is that I can scratch those states off the list of possible places to move to. I realized -- not for the first time -- that I love the warm (OK, hot), dry climate in which I have lived for the past seven years. I loved the warm, fairly dry climate of northern California where I lived for 28 years. I love being near, but not living in, the mountains. 

So I will happily stay right where I am. I love my house, my yard and my views of the mountains. I love the 300+ days of sunshine every year, the amazing crystal blue skies and the lack of humidity. I plan to visit my friend again once she gets moved into a new house. 

Just as the heat and dryness of the high desert aren't for everyone, so the heat and humidity of the American southeast aren't for me. I will admire its greenery during visits, but for now at least, my heart -- and home -- will remain where they are. 



Copyright Ann Sullivan 2017.