Climate Change

Last March, I was struggling to decide whether to renew the lease on my apartment in Wisconsin for another six months or to give the required 60-day notice vacate at the end of the May. On the 30th, the call came that I was the choice of a church search committee to serve as interim pastor. Two weeks later, I was in El Paso for interviews, signed the lease on a house I found through the web, and three weeks after that, I arrived in Texas.
Whew! What a quick change! What a climate change!

A visitor from Europe who had no idea what Wisconsin was like asked me to describe the place I had most recently called home. "Just think of the opposite of here," I explained. That was all I need to say.
From the predominance of one feature of climate/culture to the abundance of its contrasting elements, here's some of my observations of opposites or difference between eastern Wisconsin and west Texas :)

Rural / urban
green / brown
evergreens / cactus
wetlands / desert
grass / gravel
trees / rocks
wind chill factor / heat index
wild turkeys / hummingbirds
sandhill cranes / doves
deer on the highways/ traffic jams on the freeway
Brats / burritos
Southwest / Upper Midwest
storm windows & doors / barred windows & doors
unlocked / double locked
polka / mariachi
cheese / chilis
beer / tequilla
space heaters / Swamp coolers
ice fishing / ???
Greenbay Packers/high school football
fleece and flannel / sunscreen and sunhats
Canadian border / Mexican border
Dairy cattle / pecan groves
Opening Days deer season and fishing season / Cinco de Mayo and Day of the Dead