shereads
Sloganless
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2003
- Posts
- 19,242
A rare 60-degree morning in Miami got me thinking about climate and how our lives might be affected by living in a climate to which we're not suited. I love Miami winters but the other nine months of the year drain me of energy; yet as much as I dislike hot, humid weather, I've spent my life since adolesence in places with steamy summers. When a storm comes, my biggest dread isn't that the roof will fall and kill me, it's that the power will go out before that happens and I'll spend the last few hours of my life without air conditioning. My idea of hell.
My god. What if I was capable of great things and lacked only a few more months of cool weather each year to achieve all of my goals? What goals? Nevermind.
I'm not the only one who likes cooler weather. There's also the dog. Poor animal has had no say in where she lived, and until this morning I didn't wonder if she might have been healthier in a cooler climate. She's been drooping like old lettuce for months, as you'd expect in an old dog. But this morning when I let her outside she had a fit of canine glee that sent her racing around the yard in crazy-dog circles (directionless running for no better reason than because she can). She seemed years younger.
My friends from Cuba and Latin America wear jackets on days like this. I'm Scots Irish and I'm comfortable outdoors for the first time since last winter.
Like most people, I've lived where circumstances directed me. How many people have the luxury of choosing a place and planning a life around it?
Questions:
How "at-home" do you feel where you live? I don't mean, would you rather live in a better neighborhood, but do you have a sense of permanency in the larger community - or are you just passing through?
If you could sever the ties that keep you and your family in the city or area where you live now and had the freedom to make a move - but only to a place where you could reasonably expect to afford a similar standard of living, educate your kids and interact with the locals - what would be your priority? Culture, climate, closer to relatives, farther from relatives, fewer outbreaks of ebola virus, less spectacular crime reports? Do you have a place in mind?
Do you live near the place where you grew up? If not, is it similar or very different?
My answers are: Miami is beautiful, no regrets, but it's never felt permanent to me. (On the other hand, neither has anyplace yet.)
If I could change one thing it would be the climate. I'm spoiled by the beauty of this place so I'd have to make scenery a priority too. A cooler climate, definitely. The western U.S. or maybe coastal New England. A college town with wilderness nearby, like Bozeman, Montana. (I know I haven't yet faced months of eyeball-freezing cold, but in small doses I've found it less draining than humid summers. You can always dress warmer, but when you're hot and soaked with perspiration there's not much you can do about it.)
I think the dog would appreciate the change to someplace cooler. She wouldn't mind staying here, if she could choose a mom with a backyard swimming pool.
My god. What if I was capable of great things and lacked only a few more months of cool weather each year to achieve all of my goals? What goals? Nevermind.
I'm not the only one who likes cooler weather. There's also the dog. Poor animal has had no say in where she lived, and until this morning I didn't wonder if she might have been healthier in a cooler climate. She's been drooping like old lettuce for months, as you'd expect in an old dog. But this morning when I let her outside she had a fit of canine glee that sent her racing around the yard in crazy-dog circles (directionless running for no better reason than because she can). She seemed years younger.
My friends from Cuba and Latin America wear jackets on days like this. I'm Scots Irish and I'm comfortable outdoors for the first time since last winter.
Like most people, I've lived where circumstances directed me. How many people have the luxury of choosing a place and planning a life around it?
Questions:
How "at-home" do you feel where you live? I don't mean, would you rather live in a better neighborhood, but do you have a sense of permanency in the larger community - or are you just passing through?
If you could sever the ties that keep you and your family in the city or area where you live now and had the freedom to make a move - but only to a place where you could reasonably expect to afford a similar standard of living, educate your kids and interact with the locals - what would be your priority? Culture, climate, closer to relatives, farther from relatives, fewer outbreaks of ebola virus, less spectacular crime reports? Do you have a place in mind?
Do you live near the place where you grew up? If not, is it similar or very different?
My answers are: Miami is beautiful, no regrets, but it's never felt permanent to me. (On the other hand, neither has anyplace yet.)
If I could change one thing it would be the climate. I'm spoiled by the beauty of this place so I'd have to make scenery a priority too. A cooler climate, definitely. The western U.S. or maybe coastal New England. A college town with wilderness nearby, like Bozeman, Montana. (I know I haven't yet faced months of eyeball-freezing cold, but in small doses I've found it less draining than humid summers. You can always dress warmer, but when you're hot and soaked with perspiration there's not much you can do about it.)
I think the dog would appreciate the change to someplace cooler. She wouldn't mind staying here, if she could choose a mom with a backyard swimming pool.
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But part of me does feel like I belong here. Not for the weather, other than the monsoons which I passionately adore, but for the mountains. I don't think I could live somewhere that wasn't surrounded by mountains.
D.C. and Baltimore are also easy trips.
