Still wondering about the weather (Gladstone, Branson: schools, live in, shop)

[Leslie70]

Actually, we are Marmac but it just gets irritating after awhile reading all the original posters "junk" about "why do you live there?" etc. etc. He/She asked about the WEATHER. We told him/her and no one complained. We were merely warning him/her about our lovely montage of climate changes. Why does anyone live any where?

[SW Missouri Dave]

Originally Posted by marmac

my, my, how friendly you Ozark folks are . sarc

Just curious marmac. Why does a retired dairy farmer / meat cutter from Minnesota, who wants to leave Minnesota and move south, spend so much time on the Missouri board taking any shot he can at its residents? I see on a former post you made that your own Minnesota neighbor wouldn't do anymore than crack the door open and hand you a phone when you were broke down in a blizzard. Friendly? Down here you're more likely to find someone that will invite you in, give you a warm drink, and call cousin Pete (who can fix just about anything), to put on his long john's and come over and see if he can help you get your vehicle started. In the mean time, we will tell some jokes, which if your not local, you may or may not understand, invite you to church, and give you a canned jar of beets to help you get through the winter. (I must add that blizzard or not, if you are carrying a Watchtower magazine when you knock on the door, you'll get treated the same here as you were there)

I would ask if there are bored Missouri people harassing the Minnesota board but you would actually have to spend some time on the Minnesota board to answer that, so I won't trouble you.

As I have stated before, the funny thing about it is, I think you would fit right in down here. I have more than a few friends that fit your online persona, and while independent old cuss', they make pretty good neighbors. They'll shot your dog if its chasing their chicken, then kill the chicken themselves and bring it to you for dinner as an apology. If they see someone around your house and you are home, they'll call and warn you - and if not, they'll take care of it themselves (I really do miss our old chimney sweep - may he rest in peace) You'll come home one day and find your garden was freshly dug up, and even though it will now be on the wrong side of the house and not where your wife wanted it, you'll just wave and say thank you because you know it was his way of saying howdy.

Many Missouri and out of state writers have pointed out that Missourian's have their own unique style of humor. This means most of us have not spent the better part of our life staring at the rear end of a four legged milk producer, but we can tell the difference between what comes out the udder and what Bessie leaves on the floor to remind us she was just there. The world is full enough of the latter, so when some of us sign on to the forum, we try to tone down the rhetoric and leave the shoveling of Bessie's love pile to the real world. In general, Missouri welcomes all comers, so if we tend to be a little less welcome on the board, it's mostly in fun, and disguising a jealous passion for our community.

We get it. You aren't fond of Missouri, our people, our humor, our different way of doing things, our rocky ground, our reservoirs, our weather, and even our skinny dairy cows probably tick you off. So you won't be moving to Missouri anytime soon. That's ok. But if you do - you are welcome to my neck of the woods.

[marmac]

I'll bet the Ozark man, selling a few acres of his steep,rocky terrain to a Californian for a high price $$$$ ,isn't complaining about Californians moving in.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by theresnoplacelikehome

I have quotes for you, but they would not be as kind as Mr. Lincoln's.

Excuse me......well-digger's ____? Please.....spare me the
brutal and blatent portrayal of your supposed homeland. Why don't you just leave????? Are you afraid you might miss a flood or tornado??

If the OP didn't want an honest answer to his/her questions then why post to begin with?

The evaluation from ozarksboy is quite accurate and informative. While our winters are mild compared to northern states they can be quite bad if one is acclimated to 70 degrees and sunshine. When one speaks of Southern Missouri the assuption is the Ozarks. The Ozarks are relatively rural with the exception of Branson/Springfield and Rolla/Ft. Lost-in-the-Woods.

One thing about Missouri weather that one can count on is that it is unpredictable. If you don't like it wait a couple of hours and you just might see a 40+ degree temperature shift. The most severe temp. shift I've witnessed was a 75 degree shift in 24 hrs one February. It reached and unseasonably hot eighty degrees one day and by the next morning we had wind chills hovering at zero. It happens. The 35-55 degree temp. shifts are more common in a 24 hr. period.

The humidity of living near the two largest rivers in the country (Missouri & Mississippi) is undeniable. Folks in FL thing their humidity is bad until they come to Missouri. We do not get those ocean breezes to blow it away either.

As to the constant questions about why don't we move? Some of us grow deep roots where we are planted. Some of us are just as stubborn and contrary as the hard land and unpredicatble weather. Ever hear the expression "subborn as a Missouri mule"? It applies to people too. Some of us wouldn't have it any other way. Live an easy life long enough and you lose appreciation for what is infront of you every day.

Living in rural Missouri is not for sissies. It was contrary enough to keep the early settlers moving West for the more temperate climates and tillable soil unlaiden with rocks.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by theresnoplacelikehome

Excuse me......well-digger's ____? Please.....spare me the
brutal and blatent portrayal of your supposed homeland. Why don't you just leave????? Are you afraid you might miss a flood or tornado??

Well, I could have said it gets as cold as a witch's teat, but I didn't want to offend you.

I thought you wanted the plain, brutal, unvarnished facts. I guess you want me to sugarcoat it. I don't sugarcoat, but there are plenty on here who do, so listen to them and ignore me.

This is my homeland. Although I'm a native of Georgia, I packed up and moved my family to the Ozarks way back in 1953, so I've been here 57 years. I think of it as home.

I will never leave, not even after I assume room temperature, as Curmudgeon says. I love this place, especially the changeable, unpredictable, mystifying weather. It gives us good ole boys something to talk about while we drink coffee.

I don't think you're interested in Missouri; I think you're a troll, and I wish the moderators would give you a good spanking.

[SW Missouri Dave]

Originally Posted by marmac

I'll bet the Ozark man, selling a few acres of his steep,rocky terrain to a Californian for a high price $$$$ ,isn't complaining about Californians moving in.

No argument there. It's all about the rush for the dollar.

And few hands are clean, local or out of state.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by Leslie70

You should stay in Cali!!! You will just complain and moan about our weather and want to go home and then start talking about going home and then we will have to tell you "GO HOME!". ...Stay in Cali!

I wholeheartedly agree. Why won't these people listen to us? We try to save them from unhappiness and they call us unfriendly. I won't call them morons, but I might think it.

Originally Posted by Leslie70

@ Ozarkboy: I don't plant until atleast May! LOL

Me either, but I have a friend who moved here many years from Oklahoma, and he still tries to get a head start. He replanted three times one year because of late frosts. I am always the last one to have my garden make, because I don't worry about getting everything planted until mid-May or even the last half of May for some bedding plants.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by SW Missouri Dave

Just curious marmac. Why does a retired dairy farmer / meat cutter from Minnesota, who wants to leave Minnesota and move south, spend so much time on the Missouri board taking any shot he can at its residents?

What? You're kidding. Marmac's a man? I never bothered to look up the complainer's profile; I just assumed Marmac was a rich northern farmer's wife who had lots of time to sit around on the computer and complain. Marmac always wrote like a mean-spirited, gripey old woman. A man, huh? Well, who'd have thunk it.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by marmac

I'll bet the Ozark man, selling a few acres of his steep,rocky terrain to a Californian for a high price $$$$ ,isn't complaining about Californians moving in.

No, but his neighbors will (to one another, quietly), once the Californians arrive and start whining when they discover the nearest mall is plumb up in St. Louis, the nearest small town doesn't have a dog park and the town rolls up the sidewalks at sundown. After the neighbors get tired of that and start trying the avoid the transplants, the Californians will add "unfriendly locals" to their list of complaints.

[mrschilicook]

Originally Posted by theresnoplacelikehome

I am still so curious to know, as in my previous post, if anyone has moved from the southern California area with the 70+ degree, beautiful weather to southern Missouri and experienced the summer in Springfield. Did it take you long to get used to it? Was it so humid that you just wanted to go back to California?

I have read so many posts about how humid it is there. I am still trying to figure that one out. Can you even go outside or do you have to hibernate for 3 or 4 weeks in the summer in your home? I know, I know, I'm still on the edge about Missouri, but hey I am leaning.....just a little bit. Then, of course I can start grilling you about tornadoes!!

LOL....I'm from the the East Bay of CA (Pleasanton)...born and raised
Californian....moved to Las Vegas for 5 years (now that is HOT..day and night in the summer).. I don't know of anyplace that enjoys 70 degree weather in CA year round....where did you live?

As far as the humidity....you get used to it to a certain degree...and your attitude about it is half the battle. How you dress is the other half. I've in MO before, so I knew what I was getting into. This summer has been hotter and more humid than most...not to say we broke records every day, but hotter than last summer for sure. Normally, some days are hot, some are humid, some are hot and humid. But seldom like Florida or Houston, or any worse than the east coast (maybe better...no black flies). Does it get humid...yes. Is it every day...no. Does your body get used to it...yes. Does that mean you love it...no. I used to HATE humidity...now it's okay most of the time.

And tornadoes....? If you can live with unpredictable earthquakes you can live with pretty predictable tornadoes...but you'll probably never see one.
Californian's worry about tornadoes....everyone else worries about earthquakes....the fact is you have a better chance of your house catching fire or getting in a fatal car accident.

Come visit though....come is summer (July is usuallly the hottest) and the winter (January/early Feb)....then decide if it's too much. But if you come,
come with the attitude that it's a good change....that makes everything much easier.