Thank You Pineapple Express!

Living in Phoenix definitely has it's advantages.  There's never any snow to shovel and unless you want to go off road out in the desert somewhere there's little to no need for four wheel drive.  Memories of winters in Northeast Ohio are becoming more and more distant each year that passes, but I have to admit, with a few exceptions, I was never really bothered by winter.  It presented a great opportunity to show off my once expansive sweater collection and I always enjoyed being able to snuggle up by a roaring fire.  Yes, driving on the snow and ice covered roads could be very treacherous indeed, but it came with the territory and it was something you just got used to.  When I moved to Seattle it was a nice mild transition and I thoroughly enjoyed the mild Pacific Northwest climate.  I loved the rain, though it was nothing like people make it out to be.  The chill there was a wholly different kind of cold.  While I was there I think it only got cold enough to snow once or twice and it was a mild nuisance at worst, plus it never lasted long since it melted by midday.  I know there have been worse snowstorms there since I left, but it was a fairly rare occurrence in the immediate Seattle area.  If you wanted real snow it was a mere short drive up into the mountains.  Both Ohio and Seattle also provided perfect football weather.  That's one of the things I notice every year here is that when football season rolls around it doesn't feel like it because it's still so hot, even into October and sometimes November.  This weekend, and the entire week to come, is providing my kind of weather, thanks to the pineapple express that has brought so much rain and flooding to California.  There's a chill in the air and the highs are expected to not rise above the low to mid sixties with moderate chances of rain here and there.  Yes, I know to those from a colder climate that seems ludicrous to classify as chilly.  These kind of temperatures meant the beginning of shorts weather in Ohio.  I've learned that it's true what they say about blood thinning and becoming adjusted to the warmer climate.

When I first moved here I was fortunate in that I arrived around Thanksgiving, after the summer heat had pretty much gone for the year.  I remember wondering why all the people seemed so bundled up as I spent most of the winter in shorts and t-shirts.  When the heat returned in the spring and I got my first taste of hundred plus degree days I thought to myself what in the hell have I done?  My first two summers here were almost unbearable and it became a game getting from one air conditioned space to another.  Until I lived here I never really understood the necessity for windshield screens until I nearly burned my hands off on my steering wheel one day.  This quickly explained why some people carry oven mitts in their cars and all the shady parking spaces were taken, no matter how far from the building they might be.  After the first two years had completely convinced me I'd made some colossal mistake coming here, something interesting happened.  As fall rolled in and the highs only reached the sixties and seventies I noticed that I felt the need to put on a sweatshirt.  I couldn't believe that I actually got chilled during such seemingly mild temperatures, but I did.  I began to realize that this time of year is the reward for enduring the blazing summer heat.  I still have thoughts of relocating to a more moderate and mild climate and if the opportunity every presented itself I'd be on my way back to the Pacific Northwest in a heartbeat.  I've never been a fan of desert landscape and if I never saw another stucco house I'd be perfectly fine with it.  I think, though, that these thoughts are more folly at this point as I'm getting too old and set in my ways to be starting anew somewhere else.  My connections in Seattle have dwindled and I'd literally be starting fresh all on my own, which at this point in my life doesn't sound all that appealing.  Who knows what the future will bring?  For now, I'm just enjoying the cool weather and being thankful for the roots that have grown for me here in the way of incredible friends and family.