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Perhaps there's a caveat: having endured rigors in our youth, and settled into more comfortable circumstances later in life, we adapt to the comforts, coming to regard them as basic and ordinary. Then, when suddenly subjected to new rigors, we've lost the fortitude of former times. But the reverse doesn't happen as much... if we grew up in mild conditions, and somehow later in life found ourselves in harsh ones, we'd not be able after a few years to find these harsh conditions to be normal and no longer harsh. We would keep shivering, resenting whatever it was, that brought the harshness.
Having lived in my youth in harsher climates, I didn't much mind them then. One is simply not cognizant of an alternative. Then I moved to Los Angeles - and adapted. When I moved back to the Midwest, I have been utterly unable to re-adapt... even after two decades.
I recall visiting in late January or early February and it was -20 and windy in Madison. My folks had a house with floor to ceiling windows - and they were fine with it.
I wore blankets around the house and never went outside.
Have you ever considered you might be cold now because you're old? That it isn't the location that has gotten colder but you can't tolerate it like you used to? I'm not being facetious.
Also, when I was younger I couldn't figure out why older people needed a sweater when it dropped to the mid 60s in the early Fall. When the temperature finally got up to the mid 60s in the Spring, everyone was shedding any outerwear. It's the exact same mid 60s temperature, right? Why do you tolerate the exact same temperature as the weather is getting warmer than when the weather is getting colder?
I know that when I was 20 - 55, I used to keep the thermostat at 68 degrees winter and summer. Now I keep it at 72 winter or summer. It's not about cost, either, but now I'm old.
I have siblings older than I am - they are 69 (a brother) and 75 (my oldest sister) - who are UNPHASED by the bitter cold, love walking in it and revel in the season. In Wisconsin.
I have siblings older than I am - they are 69 (a brother) and 75 (my oldest sister) - who are UNPHASED by the bitter cold, love walking in it and revel in the season. In Wisconsin.
So nope.
That probably because they live in Wisconsin. You’ve already get acclimatized to California weather. My husband came from England, much colder than California, the last 5-10 years he had to get out his winter coat. I cook more with ginger to help him keeps warm.
I have siblings older than I am - they are 69 (a brother) and 75 (my oldest sister) - who are UNPHASED by the bitter cold, love walking in it and revel in the season. In Wisconsin.
So nope.
There are 959,475 people age 65 and over living in Wisconsin, so your siblings are not uncommon.
And there are 863,940 people age 65 and over living in Minnesota - it is not an anomaly to enjoy living in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Or for those who would prefer otherwise but remain, to enjoy what is offered in their states pertaining to seasons, seasonal change, and the beauty of nature.
I recall visiting in late January or early February and it was -20 and windy in Madison. My folks had a house with floor to ceiling windows - and they were fine with it.
Somewhat off-topic, but the whole issue of housing-construction baffles me. Around the Midwest, so much of our residential housing is 2"x4" sticks, with a sheet of plastic ("tyvek") on the exterior, and then vinyl siding or decorative brick. Between the siding, it's fiberglass insulation...and that sandwich is sheathed in 1/2" drywall. That's it. And those floor-to-ceiling windows!!!
Why not build houses like they're built in Northern Europe? Thick, sturdy walls... generous insulation. Small, multi-layered windows. The house in which I spent my formative years - which decades before I was born was converted into an apartment-building (originally built in 1800 or so) had stone walls over a meter thick. Windows were effectively into a cavern... first the interior window, then space, then the exterior window. Yes, it was -20 outside, with some regularity. But between the insulation and the radiator-heating (hot water), it was toasty-warm inside.
Today is May 9th. We are finally recovering from the ravages of winter. Winter started around November 9th, 2018... I remember, because I was helping a friend to move, and carrying boxes from the apartment to the moving-truck, we were blasted by waves of icy wind. It has been effectively 6 months of winter. And you know, whether I have a headache or not, whether the stock market is up or not, whether my cat made another mess or not, the mere fact that it's tolerably warm outside (and inside!) already feels like ample cause for rejoicing!
Living in an excessively capacious, drafty country-house in the Midwest, I considered myself fortunate this past winter to let the interior temperate rise to 50 deg F. Even to reach that temperature, the propane-bill was considerable. Towards the end of February it started to occur to me, that this is sheer misery, and perhaps pathological excess. So, it turned up the thermostat. It was costly.
People who venerate "four seasons" generally omit to add, that they keep their interior living-space toasty warm. If the refrigerator shuts off, because the ambient kitchen temperature is lower than the fridge interior temperature, that adoration of "four seasons" might become a bit attenuated.
But back to your points, Avalon... when I lived in SoCal, indeed, it would frequently fall below 50 deg F on January nights (outdoors)... but having then lived in an apartment, and thus profiting from radiant heat from the neighbors' units, I never ran my heater... not even once. Consider the contrasts....
To step outside during a sleepless night into 47 deg F, is very different from -7 deg F, which hasn't been entirely uncommon lately here in the Midwest, courtesy of the Polar Vortex. I may or may not be able to justify returning to SoCal for retirement, but the heating-bill alone is sufficient to justify decamping from the Midwest.
Why not try to heat just 1-2 rooms instead of the whole drafty house in the dead of the winter?
I bet you can seal the room well from drafts and close the doors and use the heater just there?
Have you ever considered you might be cold now because you're old? That it isn't the location that has gotten colder but you can't tolerate it like you used to? I'm not being facetious.
Also, when I was younger I couldn't figure out why older people needed a sweater when it dropped to the mid 60s in the early Fall. When the temperature finally got up to the mid 60s in the Spring, everyone was shedding any outerwear. It's the exact same mid 60s temperature, right? Why do you tolerate the exact same temperature as the weather is getting warmer than when the weather is getting colder?
I know that when I was 20 - 55, I used to keep the thermostat at 68 degrees winter and summer. Now I keep it at 72 winter or summer. It's not about cost, either, but now I'm old.
In my case, it's absolutely because I'm "old". As I stated in my original post:
Quote:
I could picture that space heater working overtime to warm up these old arthritic bones. And the electric bill soaring. I guess it didn't bother me 20 years ago, but now I'm almost 70 and my blood is probably thin from being in Florida for five years.
Had I stayed in PA, maybe I wouldn't mind the cold as much because I never got used to anything different. But I do remember sitting in my living room in PA, with the heat on, but still my hands were throbbing from the cold outside. So maybe it's my arthritis that minds the cold. I'm going up to Philly next week -- I'll probably be chilled to the bone again with the temps in the 60s/50s. I do know for sure that, as much as I love my hometown, I will NEVER be able to move back.
I spent about a year and a half in San Diego while in the Navy. I was amazed at how cold the water was in mid summer when we went swimming. The water is 83 here in the Gulf right now and it is only May.
There is no place I would move to west of the Colorado river.
OP, you need Landsend.com Thermaskin silk underwear top with short or long sleeves, and matching Thermaskin silk underwear long bottom! I like plain black. Landsend.com is out of stock of all the sizes and styles right now, but at beginning of season all the choices are there. Very lightweight but very warm.
My Bermudian husband has lived in San Diego for the last 36 years and always complains about how cold our ocean water is!
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As I stated in my original post:
