The End of Smugness

I grew up in Washington state. There was only one season south of Seattle. It was rain. I have lived in Japan for a while. There seems to be two seasons, Hot and Cold. It gets muggy and unbearable in the Summer. Then there is a few days of moderate temperature then the temperature loses pressure under its wings and tailspins. It goes from close to 90 to around 60. One day you need AC then it seems in a matter of days you need heat. The smug humidity is gone and the bracing chill comes.

I grew up with ice on the windshield in the morning. I rarely get that here but it feels colder. That is for two reasons. One, the older houses have poor insulation and are like having only a Windbreaker on a  Winter’s day. Two, I walk more here. I have a 7 minute walk to the subway station whereas in the Seattle area I walked to a cold car and waited for the heater to kick in and scraped a windshield in the Winter.

How about you? When do your seasons kick in?

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38 Responses to The End of Smugness

  1. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    Pennsylvania gets a lot of freeze’n’thaw in the winter, which (they say) is what makes our roads so awful, but it doesn’t start till late December or January. Spring is very pretty here but it always seems too short, usually just in April/May. The Memorial Day parade is almost always hot and sticky (though this year we had an unusually long cool spring) and summer weather goes through September and often into October. I remember many of my son’s birthday parties (Nov. 10) when his friends would still be running around in tshirts because it was so mild outside. But that’s boys for you!

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      I remember when I was young it hit the upper 60s or 70s and trying to convince the one who knit me to bring out the kiddie pool. Nothing doing. That’s moms for you!

      Thanks for sharing your life in the State Penn with us, Pencil. Are you a lifer?

    • AvatarTempTime says:

      Grew up in Erie … spring was always beautiful as was the fall. Every year folks would have little debates on whether the “reds” were prettier in PA than NY or NJ, or if it was the oranges, golds, and yellows. I loved all the seasons up there.
      In Miami, well, it’s just weird. There are seasons of sort, but they are all damp and muggy.

  2. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    Yes, I’ve scribbled here all my life. I’ve never been further west than Minneapolis – and that was in the summer, and just as hot as here – but I’d like to see the western half of the country sometime.

  3. MLHMLH says:

    Fall pretty much hit here on Sep 21 or 22.

  4. BrentB67BrentB67 says:

    I think it was 90 in Dallas today. It is summer here until it is not.

    We are God fearing folk so every 2-3 years God brings the ice and we let Him take it away.

    Worst thing that ever happened to Texas is air conditioning.

  5. PencilvaniaPencilvania says:

    Brent, they should ban AC in DC too. Then everyone there would only want to work part of the year, and get out of our hair the rest of the year.

  6. drlorentzdrlorentz says:

    In Southern California we have two seasons: winter when it’s 72 and sunny with occasional rain and summer when it’s 74 and sunny with hardly any rain.

  7. RightAnglesRightAngles says:

    In Chicago, it was winter from October till May. Five minutes of hot weather and then wearing a down parka that covered your whole Halloween costume. I planted crocuses each year but never saw them because when they bloomed there was still two feet of snow on the ground. My daughter’s first Halloween it was 12 degrees outside.

  8. Percival says:

    I haven’t started wearing a jacket yet but I think this next week will be the beginning of that.

  9. DevereauxDevereaux says:

    RA talks about the old weather in Chitown. It is less so lately. Previously we always had a week of 100 or so (temp and humidity) some time in August. Never stopped us kids from playing outside. Winter time Old Man Wind just cut through those wool pants you wore like you had nothing on. Made waiting for the bus nasty.

    Nowadays it doesn’t seem so bad. My wife complains all the time about the lack of snow, but I’m good with that. Hate getting the snow blower out and having to get rid of all the driveway snow. She insists on cleaning not only enough to get the cars out but the front driveway too. Still it’s cold enough that my tires never really heat up so never stick properly. Makes for “interesting” driving if you’re injudicious with the go-pedal.

    Funny. Last years on active duty I was in Newport Beach. I hated it. No cold to wear decent suits. Now I want to move to Dallas – where it’s too warm to wear decent suits much. Somehow jeans have become my new uniform (or cargo pants). My wife bemoans the loss of “decorum”; I welcome the new “freedom”

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      Dev, it is hard to imagine you in a suit other than an uniform.

      Thanks for the weather update on Chi-Town.

      What amazes me is the new type of tee-shirt-thick thermal underwear that really protects me here from wind chill. I also love my double zippered winter coat that helps also. We have so many options above wool now.

  10. MLHMLH says:

    It’s 75 degrees F with 11% humidity. I keep snorting saline but. . . it’s dry here.

  11. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    It is 70 here with 84% humidity. My weather app says it will be 78 with a 10% chance of rain. It is still cooler than it was but Summer is hanging on a bit longer.

    I don’t know if I have ever lived in a place with 11% humidity.

    • MLHMLH says:

      This time of year it goes up to the 30%s at night. In the summer, days will be 30%s and evening/early morning in the 50%. Then there are the summer thunderstorms.

      I thought Cardiff/Encinitas was dry until I moved to Twentynine Palms. I thought 29Palms was dry until I moved here. I don’t think I can do humidity.

    • MLHMLH says:

      There needs to be, I think, 4% to sustain life.

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