the new england in me

We have lived in Florida for 12 years... This is home to me now- not that I don't occasionally get a bit homesick for Scituate, but I think it is more the memories there that I long for. That said, there is one part of me that is still truly "New England." It is my skeptism with the weatherman. I don't usually even listen to the weather report, and if I do, I'm usually in denial. I remember all of those chances of snowstorms and hopes of a snow day that passed us by without a single snowflake... and it has made a bigger impact on me that I would've ever guessed. This is the reason that I groan when my husband excitedly lays out the newest hurricane safety brochure every year. Sometimes I think he lives for Hurricane Season- not the hurricanes, but the preparation. He loves to buy the batteries, the soup, the lanterns... all ahead of time, without the need of even a tropical depression in sight. Don't get me wrong, I will actually buy a few gallons of water and some soup myself... once the storm has passed by Cuba and is actually predicted to come our way. I don't mind the lines... that's just me... Last Minute Lucy, I guess. I love storms... the excitement, the anticipation... not the destruction and loss that the past few years have brought. I love the bunkering down in my safe haven... endless hours of playing games, napping, watching out the window- with no guilt of abandoning my to-do list. But because I love the storms so much, I am careful to reign in my excitement until the last minute, as not to feel the disappointment of a normal day in front of me. The first time my husband brought home hurricane supplies, I gave him a glaring look. Now... it has become a laughing matter between the two of us. He makes a big deal of presenting the hurricane brochure to me, knowing I will glare, and then laugh. I am thankful that he wants us to be prepared. I am thankful that he thinks it is important. I am thankful that we have never been hit hard and have never had to suffer the loss that so many have.