Whenever the talk turns to weather, South Floridians can expect the inevitable question from someone up north:
Don't you miss the change of seasons?
I have a one-word answer for that:
No.
Sometimes I have two words:
Hell, no.
After 19 years of living in the Miami area (longer than I have ever lived in any other place, now that I think about it), I have pretty much become a weather weenie.
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| I PREFER THIS ... |
I'll take my 80 degrees and love it.
Growing up, I often suspected that tropical living was a life I could aspire to, and that suspicion was confirmed when I spent my first tour on active duty in the Navy on Guam.
On that island in the tropics there were two seasons, rainy and dry, but they shared one thing in common: they both were warm. The temperature never got below 75 degrees or above 85.
I must confess that the temperature here in South Florida often drops below 75 in the winter, but the days of temperatures in the 50s are relatively few and below that fewer still.
It does get hotter than 85, but I don’t mind. Besides, many times it’s just as hot and humid in say St. Louis or Chicago in July and August as it is in Miami.
As I write this, the temperature here in Miami is 80, but it was much warmer than that earlier this afternoon (it is just after 5 p.m. here). In Crawfordsville, Indiana, just to pick a town at random, it is 44 degrees, according to a quick Google check.
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Brrrrrrrrrrr.
Now, all this said, there is one thing I do miss about the seasons, however, and that time is approaching.
There comes a time in the spring, when life is beginning to emerge from the dark, dread, cold days of winter, when the temperature has gotten comfortably above “chilly” that you are driving around and all of a sudden, you realize your car windows are down.
A gentle breeze is actually bringing in warmth from the outside world, not a biting cold, and you can hear sounds of outdoor activities, especially if you are driving around a campus such as that at Indiana University in Bloomington.
This particular moment is what I miss, and the only thing I miss, about the change of seasons.
And it lasts for only one day. After that, the novelty wears off.
That’s not enough for a weather weenie to give up his warm winters for.
I'm the same way but with one exception. After 16 years of living in Los Angeles I only want mid 70's and I'll take the smog if it means no rain. The only day I want for the change is a fall day in the south on a day where I know an SEC game is about to kick off somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat's a close second, Alfred! There's nothing like going to Toomer's Corner and... oh wait. Make that Dreamland Bar-B-Que. That's what I mean to say!
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