Tag: Better Weather

“I don’t know how you live here in the Summer.” Not so much a question but more of a statement directed at my sanity for living somewhere that sustains temperatures in the 100’s for months at a time. I say the exact same thing to people who can live in snow. “I don’t know how you live there in the Winter.”

As a desert dweller, I love to be warm. Hotter the better. Warm to me does not go below 75. At 70 I question a sweater. Down to 65 I now am wearing layers. If we reach 60 this lizard is whining about freezing and searching for her ear muffs. Single digit temps or even wind chills in the negatives? You’re going to have to set me on fire.

The Canadian travelers I meet this time of year at the museum where I volunteer, openly laugh at how bundled I will be in such “pleasant” weather. But I tease these Snow Birds right back. They want to stay “pleasant” all year round? Never getting much past say, oh, 78 degrees eh? That sounds awful to me. I need that blast of sunshine a good 350 days out of the year! Plus, I enjoy a tan. Then we laugh and share stories. Total strangers talking, laughing and connecting… about the weather.

The smell of rain in the desert is wonderful. We need the rain, but I’m good after a day or two. During Monsoon season the storms just roll through. I’m good with that. Weeks or months of grey skies and rain or snow? Nope.

Snow birds “Yeah, we don’t do that either, eh. That’s why we come here for 6 months.”

My husband and I lived in Port Royal, South Carolina for a year. It was there I was officially introduced to humidity. We are not friends. For a lotion slathering, dried out, desert kid, I could barely comprehend the smothering feeling that occurred every time I stepped outside. I spent 90 percent of my time at the beach, not to tan but to get what felt like fresh air blowing around me. SC also has more tiny flying bugs than I prefer but Port Royal is beautiful.

But almost immediately living there I realized I didn’t need lotion anymore. In the desert, for me at least, applying lotion happens all day every day and my skin still wants to be dry. I plan to make you all a video showing how quick a regular piece of bread dries out here in the Summer. It will be our little Science project so when we talk dry heat we mean DRY heat.

Does it make it easier to be in the extreme heat when it’s dry? For me it does. Hot in humidity to me was yucky, bad, smothering, wet, nasty that included flying bugs and having some form of repellant on

Hot in the desert…well, there ain’t much flying, more like circling overhead. Are those heat waves moving across the road…? My shins are burning from the radiant heat coming off the pavement… the SPF 75 should be strong enough… it’s a dry heat.

I say the same about the cold. I’m fine if it’s dry and windy but wet and cold? It literally hurts my feelings.

Everyone has their own personal opinion on what the perfect weather is. That’s what makes the weather one of the oldest universal topics of conversation. No one even expects to agree about it! It’s a badge of honor to brag about the weather conditions you come from and what your preference is.

Where you were born and raised seems to also play a big part. Through my many absurdly non -informed conversations with Snow Birds we have come to the conclusion blood thins or thickens due to heat or cold where you live. Is this medically sound? No idea. Doesn’t matter anyways. It sounds good and is part of playing the Better Weather Game. Why you like what you like has a simple answer “It’s in the blood.”

Snow as high as your roof versus bright and sunny? Rainy versus the ocean sunset? We all play because the Better Weather Game really has no right or wrong. You can’t compare a tornado with ten feet of snow. But both are worth talking about. Or how about a wall of dust so dark it blinds entire freeways? Flash floods? Winds tearing off roofs?

We all have moments where the weather gets extreme to the point of questioning our sanity.

I guess unless you are a Snow Bird…. eh?