Though our trip has been planned for some time, we will be leaving what may be the coldest air mass of this winter season to visit our condo on Longboat Key, off Sarasota, Florida. Leaving tomorrow, it will be a two day journey, taking us southeastward to Georgia and then southward into the Sunshine State.
Like many migrant species, we will escape conditions for which our bodies are not designed to reach a life zone where survival would be possible even without the adaptations that our complex brains have enabled. Unlike the other migrants, however, our relocation will be brief; indeed, we will return to northern latitudes before the winter solstice.
Nevertheless, a week in the warm Florida sun will feel good after the bone-chilling cold of the past few days. After all, whatever climate one may prefer, our collective human memory, imbedded in our genes, reminds us that we are tropical creatures. For the next ten days, we'll heed that inner call to visit our natural home.
