This Southern Life.

When you tell people that you live in the south, certain states automatically jump to mind.  Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama...but oddly enough, never Florida.  

I've even heard some folks say "..that ain't the south!".

Really...?

Well, I'm pretty sure it is.  And I'm pretty sure there a sign a little more than few hours south of here that says "southernmost point" of the U.S.

Maybe it's because you hardly ever meet someone actually from Florida, someone that knows what a Florida cracker is. (Hint...it's not a snack.) 

A Florida cracker is someone that comes from a long line of Florida-born folks.  

And it's a good bet that it's someone who can trace their roots back to the pioneer days where cracker houses were nestled along the St. Johns river,  where you could jump into Blue Springs and cool off and make nice with the gator giving you stink eye for being an interloper.  That's ok...that stink eye gator better mind his manners because he makes a wonderful dinner.  Tastes like chicken.

  

Can you spot the crackers above?  They're the ones wearing long sleeves.  We crackers stay cold until about June.

I might even confess to still having the space heater in my bedroom.  Maybe. 

.The great thing is i don't have to spend more than a little over an hour in my car to see this.   

And Southern Living can only give you so much eye candy in one issue.  Here, you can walk the streets with a camera for days and never see it all.  Or smell that jasmine that you see climbing up the roof line.
 

It's good to be a native.