In the past 6 decades of my life (oh gosh, did I just say that?) I have had the privilege of living in 4 different States--2 of them twice. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or bad, or if I should even cop to that fact, but I will. Yes, 4 States. California (2 times) and Florida, Ohio (2 times) and Illinois. So with the knowledge, I've gained from my living experiences in these States I am declaring myself the Seasonal Weather Queen. At least for the areas that I've lived in.
Let's start with California since that is where I started. I was born in Northern California and lived there for almost 45 years. Therefore--expert. Wouldn't you agree? I lived predominately in the valley--hot, dry and also extremely foggy. Foggy? Yep, I said foggy. Here is how the seasons went down where I lived. January and February--foggy, sweater weather. March--get out the swim suit. April through September, wear the suit and sweat because most of the time the temps are near 100 degrees or hotter. If I had to make a determination on if there was a Spring where I grew up, I'd say it was March and April. The flowers bloomed, the grass was green, the weather was comfortable.
However, by the time May arrived, I was usually in summer hell. And each day it just kept getting hotter. We would make outdoor plans and I would be panicking on the inside. I hate the heat. By September, I was dreaming and praying for Fall. Autumn in Northern California was October and November. I would wear sweaters and pretend it was cooler--as sweat rolled down the center of my back. Yep, still kind of hot. We'd decorate though and bake and think about those cool Fall crisp days--happening somewhere other than where I lived. The leaves on the trees would turn brown and fall off, there just wasn't any real "color" where I lived. And then there would be Christmas. And it was still warm. Warm enough for our kids to play outside on Christmas Day, warm enough for me to have the windows open because the oven was making the house too hot, warm enough for me to finally give up and throw off my sweater and replace it with a cooler shirt instead. Seasons in California? Hot and Fog. Yep, just those 2. But, that's just my opinion. That's just as I see it.
And then there was Florida. We lived in Ft Lauderdale for 1 year. 1 year too long. Let me be frank, I hate the heat. Throw in humidity and I am suicidal. Put me in Florida for a year and you are left with a whacked out basket case. No, to be fair, there was 1 month, I think, that I might have liked living in Florida. Maybe. What I do remember is this--it's hot, humid, sticky, rainy (every afternoon at 3:00) and there were the notorious Palmetto bugs, i.e. gigantic beetles! And by gigantic, I mean some were 3 to 4 inches long, I kid you not. Yep, I hated Florida. I hated that it was so warm that we went to a park on Thanksgiving, to the beach on Christmas Day, and went camping in February. Florida has 1 season--humid. No colors, no mountains, no waves on their ocean. It's a monotone state and it's just not for me. That's just how I see it.
On to the Mid-West. Oh my, oh my, is it different from California! We moved to Ohio in 1999 for the first time. I can vividly remember landing at the airport with our 3 (almost adult) children. It was freezing--literally. And as we disembarked with teeth chattering, well, let's just say that I'm glad we were in public, or I'm not sure what they (the kids) would have done to me. We had just landed at the beginning of a long Cleveland winter. 6 long months of snow, ice, and wind. I loved it. They hated it. And me. They hated me. This is how winter shakes down in Cleveland. November through April is Winter, May, and June--Spring, July and August--Summer, and September and October--Fall. You can pretty much set you calendars to this, it was that way the first 11 years that I lived there. Long cold snowy Winters, just how I like them and short Summers, just how I like them. It does get humid sometimes in the summer. But nothing like Florida. Nope, we had glorious fall colors, waterfalls, hiking trails and even our Lake Erie had waves! Weird, huh? It sort of reminded me at first of Lake Tahoe, meeting up with the Pacific Ocean. Maybe they had a baby and called it Ohio? Maybe?
When we moved to Chicago 5 years ago we noticed that the winters were shorter, which meant the summers were longer. Bummer. And whether this is true or not, it seemed more humid there. Double bummer. I hate Summer, and I hate humidity. But, I think I have already stated that fact.
So, Winter started mid-November and went through March, then came Spring which went through May. Summer started up in June and it was warm through September, which left October and part of November for Autumn. not too bad, if you like longer summers, which I don't. While living there we did have a couple of mild summers--low humidity, cooler evenings, and boy, did I love that. However, I was in the minority. Even on the news broadcast, the news anchors would complain--where's summer, where's the heat? I'd yell at the TV--go to Florida, you crazy people! I really did yell that.
We are back in Ohio now. And this time it's for keeps. I plan on retiring with my long Winters and short Summers. I love my 100 plus inches of snow every year. I love my crazy weather, my wind, sleet, rain, and drizzle. I don't miss the fog, nor the humidity. I now get my cold Thanksgiving Day mornings, my white Christmas, my fireplace, and also, just a couple of months of warmer weather--not too much, however, but just the way I like it. At least that's the way I see it.
It's interesting to me how weather affects our moods. Some are happiest in the Winter. Me! And some in the Summer. Everyone else. And that's OK. If we all work together and try hard not to complain too much when it isn't our "season" we might just make it through. After all, it changes. Right?
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