I used to think I wanted to live someplace cold like a state near the Canadian border,

[raccoon]

so the summers wouldn't be so long, hot, and humid.

I don't now.

180 degrees (If I may use the phrase) from a long, hot, humid summer is still pretty uncomfortable.

[Brickbat]

1. One reason I moved to Minnesota was because I love the weather. Four distinct seasons are wonderful

and a long, hard winter makes you appreciate the slow spring and quick summer. Fall is gorgeous here. I hate the climate change that brings us less snow and cold weather. I also get depressed if it's sunny too many days in a row, like reverse SAD. I thrive in the winter.

[meow2u3]

2. I would never want to live in the midsection of the country

The temperature extremes between seasons would be too much for me to handle. I'd rather live along the coast.

I would not want to bear year after year of 100 degree scorchers in the summer and -10 degree winter fridigity. Not only that, but the heating and air conditioning bills must be through the roof annually.

[Brickbat]

5. I don't live in the midsection, I live up on the shore of Lake Superior.

;)

We don't have an air conditioner, and we heat with wood, so our heating bills are quite low.

Where I'm at, it can reach 90, but it's rare. More often, heat waves are about 80-85, and usual summer temps are 70-85.

But yes, the winters are long and hard. Invigorating, though.

[TZ]

8. UMmm- parts of the coast do have those extremes.

This year DC hit 102 or 103 once or twice this summer...and during the winter we were down near zero frequently too. If that isn't a huge range of temps...I don't know what is.
I think in fact that I can officially say that Washington DC had the MOST extreme weather year in the continental US in 2010 (second worst winter, worst summer according to the Weather Channel)!

[raccoon]

3. You must be a different species! LOL. I'm glad you're happy with it.

I love to see the snow fall, but having to shovel it, and deal with black ice...I don't think so.

[Brickbat]

6. Yeah, I know it's not common...

...but when it's a sure thing and you know you're going to have to deal with it one way or another, you get used to it.

That's what passes for Minnesota philosophy, right there. ^^^

[Kali]

17. this is a good point

when you have real winters you are prepared for it - proper clothing, tight buildings etc

I live in a pioneer house that is open to the elements for 9 months of the year - the 3 months of winter usually have a few weeks of real cold and often have days I can open the doors and windows on the south side of the house, so when we get a cold snap (like right now!) we can barely handle it! Same thing in Phx and Tucson when it rains or dog-forbid a few flakes of snow! schools get closed, lots of fender benders, weather people freak out :rofl:

[rurallib]

4. This is why one of the Lib daughters ended up in Minnesota

[Crystal Clarity]

7. Hey me too!

And I thought I was the only one who tended to get depressed in the summer! I put on some weight again over this past one which is always a good indicator of depression for me, beyond just how I feel. But like last year and the year before that, I'm slowly working it back off. It makes no sense! Shouldn't I be adding blubber now for the hard winter to come and not the other way around? ...lol! :shrug:

Good question/statement as always raccoon... It took me a very long time to get used to the harsh Maine winters (my family moved here when I was only 12). But I'm pretty much acclimated to it now. We've already gotten our first of many-to-come snowstorms and since I doubt it'll get much above freezing again, I'm sure it is here to stay until "mud season".

I live not far the Quebec border. I used to do alot of my shopping there when the exchange rate was better. Many people in these parts speak french.

:hi:

[grace0418]

15. Good on you. You are the perfect person to be living in Minnesota. I've been in Illinois all my

life and I loathe winter more every year. I like the change of seasons okay, but could live without them. Especially if it meant that I wouldn't have to spend 3-4 months being miserable every year. And I am pretty much miserable from the first freeze to the following spring.

I've been to a lot of places in my life that I thought "I could live here"...San Francisco, Napa Valley, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Barcelona, Paris...but there is one place in the whole world that I've been twice and said to myself "I'm home." That's Hawaii. It felt more like home to me in one day than Illinois has in 40 years. I hope to move there someday, and I won't miss the change of seasons one bit. I definitely won't miss digging my car out once after each snow and again after they plow. I won't miss having to factor an extra 10 minutes to get ready in the morning to put on so many layers I can barely walk. I won't miss having to fly somewhere or drive for hours and hours to see something besides pavement or cornfields.

Sigh... until then I have another long horrible winter ahead of me.

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. I was raised in Michigan (now Tucson) and actually MISS harsh winters...

.
.
.
.
.
...though Michigan's winters were much milder than many other spots in the country.
.
.
.
I most HIGHLY recommend you get and read "Winter" by Rick Bass -- a novelization of
the winter he spent house-sitting in the Yaak Valley (the last valley without electricity)
as a young aspiring writer on the Montana-Canadian border.
.
.
.
EXCELLENT read. Make you feel better about YOUR circumstances, too.
.
.
.

[raccoon]

12. At first I thought you meant, "I was raised in Michigan, which is now Tucson."

I'm either not getting enough sleep or enough coffee.

[Swede]

10. I live near the Canadian border,too.

200 miles north of it actually. You can either be miserable in winter,or embrace it. Embrace it and it's fun!

[Crystal Clarity]

11. I agree Swede!

Ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating or just getting out and enjoying the beauty of a new snowfall helps. Also staying cozy inside during a snowstorm or bitter cold can have it's own rewards if you don't have to go anywhere. I love the smell of a pot roast (or whatever) slow cooking in the crockpot and watching movies on days like that.

What province are you in?

[Swede]

13. Saskatachewan.

Life is too short to view it as half empty.

[Crystal Clarity]

14. Oh brrr!

I bet the winds can be awfully harsh. But you're right. If there is nothing else you can do about it, you might as well accept the situation and find things to like about it. :-)

[grace0418]

16. I agree. That's why I'm going to move to Hawaii as soon as I am able.

I hate winter and no attempts to embrace it have changed that for me. So we're looking into buying a condo in Hawaii that we can rent to tourists until we can move there permanently. My husband says "retire there" but I see no reason to wait that long. I'm a freelancer and can work from anywhere. And the University of Hawaii uses the same software package he works on at his current university.

[KamaAina]

20. Consider the community colleges

In Hawai'i, all the community colleges are part of the University of Hawai'i system. The pay is slightly lower than UH-Manoa, but not that much lower, and they're relatively free of backbiting campus politics. Plus, there's at least one on all four major islands.

[grace0418]

21. He actually works on the computer systems, on a very specific software package.

So that would usually be a larger university (but if the comm colleges are part of that system maybe that would work). If I could convince him to move before retirement, anywhere that uses Oracle would be a possibility for him (even non-academic).

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. I live in coastal Maine. It's a few hours to the border from here.

[Redstone]

19. People tend to live longer in places where the seasons change. Really;

it's like you get whole-body excercise adapting to the temperature changes several tiimes a year.


Redstone

[driver8]

22. I grew up in Northern NY -- not too far from the Canadian border.

I don't miss those harsh winters AT ALL!!