the difference between here and there // 10 random things

I have been living on (or is it in?) the East Coast for just over four months now. Most days it feels like it has been an eternity. I can't express in words how much I miss home. My mountains. My grass. My blue skies and sweet smelling breeze. The coolness of night and the warmth of day. The vast openness.

Here are a few differences I have personally discovered between two the opposite sides of our country.

1 // It does not cool down at night. 
As it is getting close to summer days, the sun is out more and more. The days are hot and my apartment tends to get very stuffy. To my dismay, it does not cool down in the evenings.
Back home we would gather around a fire with sweatshirts and blankets as the sun began to sink. Here, it cools down some, but nothing like back home. I open my door for my porch at night but it doesn't seem to help very much.

2 // It's muggy. 
Now maybe it's because I am not "acclimated" but, man is it hot and sticky here! The air is literally thick. I can't remember what it's like to step outside and breath in some refreshing air. 

3 // It's buggy. 
So many bugs! It makes me not even want to go outside which is very different from the old me. Before, I lived to spend days outside in the fresh air. Now the very thought just brings to mind miserable nights of scratching at hot and painful bug bites covering my arms and legs.

4 // It rains in the "summer". 
Back home is known for the rain. The dark dreary days and gloomy skies. What people seem to forget is that is our winter months. Instead of snow, we get rain. The summer time is very dry, bright, and hot. Droughts and forest fires are real fears back home. Rain is not common at all during our dry seasons.
Here, one day will be bright sunshine, the night drizzling rain. And when it rains, it gets even muggier. I still have not comprehend that just because its wet and gloomy outside doesn't mean it's cold.

5 // To shop or eat you have to drive in all directions. 
Everything here is spread out all over the place. Back home, town was town. One big spot where everything was. The grocery store. The feed store. Countless restaurants. Gas stations. Coffee shops.
We would make weekly runs to "town".
Here, it's "I'm running to here" or "I am running to there". Not very much is side by side. One place is thirty minutes that direction, while another is thirty minutes this direction.

6 // People leave the house several times a day. 
Before getting a job at 16, it was completely normal to only leave the house twice a week. Friday nights for sauna, and Sunday mornings for church. That was it.
Everyone is always buzzing to and fro here. Stopping at this persons home. Back home. Running to the store. Back home. Picking up pizza. Back home.
If we did that where I came from, we'd be spending an entire tank of gas just to drive from one place to another. You can't just "run" here and back. It's almost an hour in driving time, let alone the time spent where you are going. Days are planned for groceries, rare shopping trips, and gas fillings. There is very little "spontaneous" activities.

7 // the mountains...
I haven't found them yet.

8 // It's hard to find a good cup of coffee. 
Where I come from, we have a coffee shop on every corner. Organic, chain, and one of a kind.
Here, coffee is abundant but only in Dunkin's, which I am not a fan of.

9 // there are a lot of ponds.
Everywhere.

10 // the butter cubes are long and skinny.
That may be the randomness fact you have every heard, but it's true! The butter here comes long and narrow while back home its short and stubby.

Have you ever moved and noticed differences between the two places? Was it hard to adjust?

May God bless you always!