By SARAH SMILEY

Appreciating The Extremes In Places And People

I've spent much of the last few months sharing with you what I've learned living in the north for the first time in my life. I've had encounters with heating systems, black ice and most chilling of all, my basement.

One of my most pleasant surprises, however, has been the many readers who relate to these stories because they also have lived in both the north and south.

How so many Floridians have found their way not to Virginia or Pennsylvania or North Carolina but all the way to Maine constantly amazes me. Many of these people even live in both places at the same time, traveling back and forth between Maine and Florida as the weather permits (or requires).

Here I thought my Florida license plate, with its cheery oranges, was some kind of apology, or at least an excuse, for driving 15 miles per hour on the Maine highway because there is snow on the ground. Then I find out that a good number of passersby manage to drive just fine in both Maine and Florida!

There couldn't be many places more different than Maine and Florida, which apparently most of you already know. But please allow me to share what I know about living in the Sunshine State, just in case there is someone left in Maine who has not been to Florida, or vice versa.

Because of Florida's unique geography with water on three sides, practically anywhere you live can be classified as a "beach community." As the name suggests, beach communities have beaches. However, this does not mean that you will be at the beach every day. In fact, a good number of Floridians can't remember the last time they went to the beach. They just like knowing that it’s there.

But living in a beach community does mean that you always will have sand on the floor of your car, even if you haven't been to the beach in six months. It's one of life's great mysteries.

Florida's consistently warm weather makes it a perfect home for bugs, and without a harsh winter to stunt their growth, these bugs can become quite large. You will think you need a shotgun to kill most roaches. For all my complaining about the mosquitoes, snakes and fire ants (one of the most hateful creatures ever known to man), I sort of miss my daily battles with the roaches.

There are surprisingly few pests up here in Maine. I feel like the master of my backyard again. I can step outside without needing to look for ant piles. But, well, life gets kind of lonely without a good fight. Where's the pride in maintaining a green lawn and lush plants if you haven't had to battle the entire bug and rodent kingdom for it?

The heat, of course, defines Florida as much as the cold defines Maine. Winter in Florida is a two-week phenomenon in December when the thermometer plunges to 50 degrees. I survived 10 winters in Florida with only a handful of sweaters. Mittens and scarves were something fun to give and receive as gifts; they certainly weren't necessities.

Warm weather has its disadvantages, too. Wearing shorts nine months of the year gives you no break from dieting or shaving your legs.

Both Florida and Maine have their share of extreme weather events. The differences in preparation, however, for these situations can be summed up by the tortoise and the hare. Floridians must prepare quickly and on short notice when hurricanes sneak into the Gulf of Mexico. But Mainers spend their entire year slowly and steadily preparing their homes, cars and wardrobes for winter. Florida can go several seasons without seeing a major storm, yet, as far as I can tell, it has never failed to snow in Maine.

Florida is nearly bursting at the seams with military facilities and military families. But sadly, once Brunswick closes its air base, little military presence will be left in Maine or even New England. This means that my military counterparts will be far less likely to experience the north and its people, and vice versa. This is a lose-lose situation on all sides.

I didn’t expect to feel this way, but I feel fortunate that Uncle Sam has afforded my family the opportunity to get to know the people, places and even the climate of Maine as well as Florida. So much so, in fact, that if we were to get out of the military, I'd be torn about where to live: Maine or Florida. Like so many of my readers, maybe I would choose to live in both.

# # #

Sarah Smiley is the author of “Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife” (Penguin/NAL) and “I’m Just Saying…” (Ballinger), and her syndicated column “Shore Duty” appears weekly in military and civilian newspapers across the country. She lives in Maine with her Navy husband and three young sons. Read more about Sarah at her website, www.SarahSmiley.com.

« click here for more Sarah Smiley