This morning as I drank my coffee at my daughters house, I looked out the kitchen window at the robins just outside.

Several robins were foraging for food, and I realized I hadn’t seen a robin since spring.

I live in the South, and a robin sighting heralds the coming of spring. Before it gets too hot, they head north again.

I’m in the Midwest now, and the robins are getting ready to head south.

It’s full circle.

I miss having all four seasons where I live. Most of all, I miss autumn.

We just had a cold snap here, and I know that will brighten the leaves that are starting to turn. I’m looking forward to seeing the leaves glow bright before they release from their host to gently float to the ground.

At home, live oak leaves fall, brittle and green, year-round. Acorns cover my driveway, but most of them are still green, knocked down by the herd of squirrels that patrols my yard.

At my daughters house, the squirrels feeding alongside the robins are big red squirrels. They dwarf the eastern grey squirrels that patrol my yard. I even spotted a black squirrel in the back yard here.

At home the weather goes from temperate to hot, to hurricane season, to hot, to pleasant.

Nothing to indicate seasons changing, cycles of life, dormancy to new life again.

Just relentless heat, with a few breaks of nice weather.

So why do I live there? My parents, brothers, and three of my children call it home. My husbands job keeps us there for the foreseeable future.

In the mean time, I’m grateful I can travel. I fly to the Midwest to see Autumn, to bundle up on cold nights, sleep soundly without A/C blasting.

In winter I’ve gone to Europe and slept in feather beds in the alps. I go home to the Wasatch Front, reveling in the powdery snow and bright blue skies.

In November I’ll return home, and the weather should be pleasant. I’ll walk the coast and appreciate the most beautiful beach on the planet.

I’m counting my blessings, and my family is on top, so I’ll remember how far we’ve come, and tolerate the heat when it comes.