The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support Forums60 hours ago I was sitting on my surfboard, the temperature was nearly 80.
The sky and water were two different, but beautiful shades of blue. Looking out to sea, waiting for the next wave, I could see Catalina Island to my left, the green hills of Malibu an equal distance to my right, and all was well in my world.
Now it snowing, barely 15 degrees outside, while I'm waiting for my truck to be unloaded in central Indiana. I drove most the night through freezing rain in Missouri, then pretty much blizzard conditions through Illinois and Indiana, making my appointment with barely 15 minutes to spare.
As soon as I get the green light I will drive to eastern Indiana to pick up a single pallet before I can shutdown and rest before having to drive through another blizzard to southern Wisconsin to pick up the rest of my load.
How the hell do you Midwesterners and North Easterners live in this cold white hell?
marym625
(17,997 posts)But Chicago absolutely rocks in the spring, summer and fall. Though I believe this is my last winter here.
denbot
(9,901 posts)I got my boss to find me a load to Florida, we rented a condo on Coco beach, for 5 days around the 4th of July weekend.
On the way home we had to haul a load from Florida to Chicago, where I dropped my wife and daughter off to spend the day, while I went to the same place in Wisconsin I'm going to tomorrow to pick up a return load.
That day the weather in Chicago was a very mild, 75 degrees with no real humidity, and my daughter came away with the idea that Chicago has the same weather as Los Angeles
Maybe 3 or 4 days a year.
But this city is the best in the world, 100 days a year.
orleans
(34,085 posts)marym625
(17,997 posts)But just a little. 3 months of summer but you can pack a years worth of fun in.
orleans
(34,085 posts)i love the autumn, spring, and even winter (but not with tons of snowfall or with sub zero temps)
and i like summer days when you can go outside without breaking into a sweat
(i'm in a chicago suburb btw--i think we have a LOT of good days as long as you don't prefer one single type of weather such as "hot"
marym625
(17,997 posts)Absolutely love it. Like your whole world just comes alive in a way that doesn't happen when you don't get the change of seasons. I used to like fall but it seems fall only lasts about 3 days anymore.
But summer! Yay!
orleans
(34,085 posts)watching the melting snow form a tiny stream down a driveway and listen as it trickled onto the street and down a storm drain.
i was so "one with nature" as a kid
and it's stuff like that, moments like that, that so many kids in this generation & the last generation don't notice/get/understand. it's too over their heads. (if it doesn't have anything to do with being a princess, watching a disney movie, playing video games, or roughhousing then they are disconnected from it which is really too bad. i blame the parents. and society. but i digress. )
marym625
(17,997 posts)A north side school here went all green and is saving something like 800k gallons of water a year. They raised the money themselves, changed the school and, in so doing, changed the curriculum, have a completely green greenhouse and compost and all that good stuff. An elementary school.
I see what you see as well. But not all hope is lost
csziggy
(34,139 posts)Though I wouldn't want to be in Chicago in July - it's as hot as Florida though maybe with less humidity. (Maybe not, since it's on the lake.)
denbot
(9,901 posts)Saved on the condo though. My daughter was 17 at the time, and when she suggested a trip out with my wife (who had recently accompanied me on a short run) and me, I decided to jump on it since she usually is reluctant to be out with us in public.
Strike when the parental iron is hot, and the teenager is cool.
csziggy
(34,139 posts)For everything but the attractions most popular for children. And the beach is not all that bad in July so long as you use sunscreen.
I'm glad you had fun and that your teenager was a willing participant!
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Last edited Mon Feb 16, 2015, 10:32 AM - Edit history (1)
Correction: It's now down to 40°. At 8:30
raccoon
(31,127 posts)nirvana555
(448 posts)literally 2 blocks from the ocean. (I live only about 20 minutes away in Redondo Beach). On Sunday morning we took our usual walk and, even though I've live in CA for over 25 years, I'm still awestruck regarding the beauty of my state. And yea, there were A LOT of folks Surfin'' U.S.A.!
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)we survive it!
mackerel
(4,412 posts)I spent the weekend in Pacific Grove it was 75 the whole weekend.
tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)See I have the opposite problem. Once the mercury gets above 80, I go into hibernation mode. I hate heat and humidity. I despise summer weather.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)I live in CT. Just dislike snow. But the other three seasons here are amazing.
Fla Dem
(23,785 posts)While you may really hate winter, the snow, freezing rain, the cold, the early sunsets, the grayness of winter, if it's what you grow up with it's all you know. You bundle up, hunker down and shovel snow. You wear 2 pair of socks, three to four layers of clothes, mittens/gloves, boots, hoods and scarfs. You do this for about 4 months, from December to the end of March.
Then when spring finally comes, the grass starts to turn green, the crocus poke their heads out of the ground, the Forsythia start to bloom, the song birds return, the tulips bloom, all is right with the world again.
You don't know anything different until you move to a more temperate climate. Then you say...How the f--k do people live like that.
For a New Englander, even I'm amazed at the resilience of the folks in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine this winter.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)There is a god!