My parents retired to the endless summer of San Diego, and my dad was happy there. Lovely breezes, tons of sunshine, that gorgeous (to him) ocean a block from the house. My mom adapted, eventually, but that was not her version of paradise, and when I had to spend summers there as a kid (or visit as an adult) I found it a nearly unbearable purgatory.
WAY too crowded, WAY too built up, WAY too lacking in greenery. Too many people wanted what my dad wanted, and all those people were cramming themselves into an ecosystem that was never designed for a dense population. Just looking at the ocean made me anxious.
But the other problem was… the SoCal climate disagreed with me. Nearly every day the same, with the big story on action news being June Gloom (fog that burns off by noon), or rarely, rain. Global warming has changed the climate in San Diego somewhat (and added wild fires to the calendar), but you still won’t find me moving there for a Highland Chocolatier gift certificate nor money.
I love the changing seasons, and the season I love most is at its best around me now. Nights in the 40’s, days in the 70’s. Some sun, some rain, some leaves coming down, some asters blooming riotously. Mums everywhere, the crickets singing alto, horses getting furry in preparation for winter. The deer have shifted from russet to brown coats, and thank all the merciful powers, the stinkin’ raccoons are less in evidence.
We have about twelve hours each of darkness and daylight now, and that seems to suit me. I wake up as it’s getting light, and I go through the day with more of a sense of, “No lollygagging. We’re burning daylight!” In summer, when it’s light until 9 pm, I’ll put off my walk until 8 pm. In winter… well, I rely on my days at the therapeutic riding barn to get the step count up in winter.
This is also when the windows are open and the fans are off. A chorus of fans can be loud, and I do not care for loudness in my house at all. I care less for flies and sweat though, so one compromises.
I regard fall as the sweetest season. Winter around the corner makes me treasure the beautiful light, the scrumptious weather, the last of the flowers, the open windows. If I ever do leave my bide-o-wee here in Maryland, I will have to move to someplace that has fall, however briefly, or I will go into a decline.
Have you ever had to live someplace that did not suit you? How did you cope or how do you cope?
Fall is now my favorite season also, although for decades summer was my happiest part of the year. As I’ve gotten older, I am less tolerant of the heat.
We’ve lived several places with gosh awful humidity, and that’s the worst to me. Hot and humid is just miserable to me. I lived for a long time in the southwest, and the dry air there is marvelous!!
I was amazed when I visited my brother in Santa Fe at how comfortable the desert air is, and because it’s so dry, mornings and evenings are cool. What a great plan…. but not one we’re likely see much of Maryland any time soon.
As an Air Force brat, I’ve lived in most areas of the country, and I found things I didn’t like about the weather in all of them. In spite of graduating high school in Massachusetts, I called my parents crying when it snowed in October! my freshman year at Michigan State. I actually dislike the heat and humidity here in Florida but I’m in a position similar to many who can’t afford to move right now. Of course, the other side of that is my asking my now-retired Hurricane Hunter brother-in-law where I could move that the weather was not actively trying to kill me and there wasn’t really any place any more. I will say that the 15 years I spent in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s registered as my favorite weather. It was very temperate and rarely got either too hot or too cold (we used both the air conditioner and the heater only a few days each year). I have heard, however, that climate change has made it less comfortable these days.
These days I mostly cope by being the opposite of people who live where there’s snow. I don’t go outside in the summer unless I have to and I don’t spend much time outside even then. So, as with lots of unpleasant things, my go-to is “avoidance.”
Bill McKibben, the climate change weenie, agrees with your brother. When people ask him for safe places to live, his answer is: Where there’s a strong sense of community, so that when disaster does strike–and we’ve reached the point that no place is immune–your neighbors will help you cope.
I love the change of seasons. Fall is my favorite. The weather is perfect for walking, yard work and sitting on the deck. Love the autumn colors! Baking season starts, too.
I live in the neighborhood I grew up in and even though I never thought I would return….I did and have enjoyed it.
Have a good week!
“Baking season.” I love that!
With you totally on the beauty of fall and a love for four distinct seasons. Ironically, the place that did not suit me was DC and the Maryland suburbs, close to where you are. Winter never really seemed to come; we were in a perpetual November. And spring wasn’t the joyous explosion it is here at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The oppressive heat made it hard to grow many of my favourite things (rhubarb!), and where were those sunny, windless, crisp winter days perfect for trudging through crunchy snow? Each to her own, I guess.
I am lucky to live just, just barely where the Appalachians create some altitude, rather than in the DC (former swamp) environs. The growing season in Maryland is still about a month longer than what I grew up with in PA, and a month muggier and buggier too. All of which makes fall even more appreciated.
I’ve always lived in the northeast, in several different states, so the change of seasons seems perfectly natural to me. However, I do find myself a little saddened by the changeover to fall, because the shorter days severely restrict our social calendar. As we’ve aged, driving at night is no longer an option, so when the sun sets at 6:30, we need to be sure we are home safe and sound by then. Over the weekend we were enjoying a lovely, relaxed dinner at a favorite spot. The restaurant was quite busy and service was a little slow. We ended up taking our entrées to go because we wouldn’t have been able to finish them before darkness fell! And we only barely made it home in time. Going to the theater is next to impossible because so few theaters within driving distance of our rural community have matinees. OTOH, my husband absolutely loves this time of year as we move inexorably toward his favorite holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I guess it all balances out. Stay safe. Stay well everyone!
I built my home in among trees (warning: Timber!) and my sister let me transplant a young red maple tree from her woods. Unlike the more common yellow Norway maples which hold their vibrant colors for a week or so, my poor tree changes from green to red in a couple days then the leaves promptly drop. Oh well.
For vacations I like any of the high mountain ranges. If you catch the aspens turning golden yellow they’re so striking covering entire mountainsides.
Here I am in a desert that has changed for the worse do to overpopulation and global warming. The summers used to be slightly annoying but are now brutal. When we get fall (which seems to be happening now I am so totally thankful. Our idea of winter is when one can wear a light sweater or more. I am stuck here because my dogs need a yard to run around in. I will one day go in search of big trees and large bodies of water
I lived in South America near the equator for several years and never felt “settled” or at home, because it never changed. Pretty much 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark year round, and November was the same as May, maybe rainy, but never cooler or hotter. Christmas and New Years were celebrated in t-shirts with fireworks and drunken revelry instead of with snow covered landscapes, winter boots and Silent Night with your candle at midnight. I was very thankful when I moved back home and again became part of the gentle cycle of the changing seasons, much more centered and at peace.
It’s funny that you talk about the sameness of SD’s weather. My brother and his husband have lived there for about 40 years. I love to visit them, mainly because they’re such wonderful hosts. When my brother visits here (Houston), he always hopes for rain. A good deluge makes him happy.
I’ve lived in a few different places because of my husband’s jobs. It’s important for me to have four distinct seasons. We returned to my childhood hometown of Houston a few years back. It was enjoyable for a while, but eventually the hot humid weather got to me as did the horrible traffic. I loved Houston for its spirit but I couldn’t take it anymore! I moved to a brand new to us town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, to enjoy the South, the seasons, the history, and the small town safety and ambience. Of course there are issues. Lots of things are less available than in the big city, but I find it worth it.
My niece maintains there is no bad weather, only poor gear.
In spite of fishing guide wear (vents, quick drying, high SPF) I don’t do hot, esp. muggy, buggy, weather well. Add smoke. These days fall brings aggressive bears including grizzlies, the odd lone cougar and a wolf pack or two. We stay inside and are careful outside.
I love parts of San Diego County, but it was also there that we received our first cellular, “This is not a test,” emergency broadcast on our cell phones. We visit.
Southern California did not suit me either! 32 years of sun that my pale skin had to avoid. And a lot of palm trees that do not cast any appreciable shade. I coped by being able to live in a house with a yard big enough for a ginkgo and birches which shed their leaves in the fall and reminded me that seasons still existed. The sudden fall of pure gold from our ginkgo is a joy I will always treasure. In Irvine, our city, most folks have attached garages and little or no street parking so you rarely even see your neighbors. Folks drive into their garage and thence into the house and you don’t see them, nor do they see you. I made friends through our school-age daughter by meeting her school friends’ mothers. And then through church activities, local political activism, and my work. But it was never my natural milieu. I finally got actually HAPPY retiring to Chicago where my new friends just suddenly were there! Everyone thought we were crazy retiring to Chicago, but our daughter’s family was there and we are in a super friendly neighborhood and how did I never really know that mid-westerners live up to their reputation?? I have not missed southern California for a single minute. Lake Michigan moderates the weather just enough that winter is not at all impossible with down coat and good boots and daughter’s family lives an easy walk away. And I now have the best friends I have ever had. And also a huge ginkgo, huge oaks, and a 100 year old spruce.