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When are you going to stop posting on this thread? Witch.
I am looking forward to coming back. But the weather is just a 'tad' boring, doncha think?
Not in the mountains. Nothing boring about the very distinct four seasons up here, with spring in the 60s, summer in the 70s and 80s, autumn in the 40s and 50s, and winter anywhere from single digits to mid 30s. And did I mention clean, clean, clean air, with LA, OC, and SD just ~100 miles down the hill?
Move back here and be our neighbour, and I promise I won't bring out a cauldron on you!
I think I know where you are. :-) When I get back there, we'll meet up and I'll take you out to dinner.
I'm going to Oceanside. I'm familiar with everything from northern LA county border to TJ. AND -- most importantly -- I have to be by performance arts centers, museums and the beach. I've gone to plays, concerts, operas and ballets ALL my life. I have to be able to get back to those things. So help me, in the past 55 years of my life, I've probably heard every major symphony orchestra from every major country -- at least twice. The Boston Pops. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (I heard them in Salt Lake City). I went every year, for 5 years, to LA to see "Phantom of The Opera." And when my kids were young, I started taking them.
Retiree transplants from The West Coast and The East Coast -- even NY and LA -- are not unhappy here. They have asked me why those cultural things are so important to me. After all, I'm just a middle-class woman; no 'airs'. And I could never explain. All I knew was that those things were not 'escapes' for me and they were very important to me. And then not long ago I watched a movie -- Stella Days -- with Martin Sheen. (Hardly a great movie but not a bad movie.) And, oh darn, now I've forgotten the exact quote. Anyway, someone asks Martin Sheen (the village priest), who is building this movie house in a small town in Ireland, why movies are important. And the priest answers something to the effect that God creates through us and movies are one of the things that God creates through us. And that's what I feel about plays, operas, etc., and even movies.
Certainly 'God' speaks through and is in nature -- I'm an agnostic, btw LOLOLOL (It's just so hard to live in NM and be an agnostic or even an atheist) -- but I'm not driving 100 miles to SD, OC or LA to a concert hall or Balboa Park or to the ocean!!
... I'm not driving 100 miles to SD, OC or LA to a concert hall or Balboa Park or to the ocean!!
I can see that. I wouldn't like to drive that far either, but since our extended family (~300 members or so) live in every city in OC -- husband's family home (since 1950) is a block from Laguna's Main Beach and my daughter lives 10-minute walk from Segerstrom Center for the Arts -- we're in OC at least one week each month. Nevertheless, after 13 years of living in small towns everywhere (3,000 - 16,000 in population), I've become very uncomfortable in large cities. Visiting, yes, living, no.
I can see that. I wouldn't like to drive that far either, but since our extended family (~300 members or so) live in every city in OC -- husband's family home (since 1950) is a block from Laguna's Main Beach and my daughter lives 10-minute walk from Segerstrom Center for the Arts -- we're in OC at least one week each month. Nevertheless, after 13 years of living in small towns everywhere (3,000 - 16,000 in population), I've become very uncomfortable in large cities. Visiting, yes, living, no.
Oh how I can identify with that; especially so since large cities breed smog and that's something we don't have here in the boonies. Of course, we also don't have a lot of "culture" but I think I experienced enough over my lifetime before retirement to last me until I reach my expiration date.
As much as I adored the OC of my youth while being raised there and living there for awhile as an adult I know that I could never go back.
As for summer weather (to be on-topic), even with May Gray and June Gloom, SoCal summer weather likely is better than ours but we do enjoy four distinct seasons and our springs and falls are gorgeous and not redundant.
i'm stuck down on the low plains with 100+ humid highs and 75+ humid lows, trying to save enough money to move up in altitude and lose the humidity. it's better than the killer 2011 summer for June, but may get even worse than 2011 in July and Aug, when the wind stops blowing. i'm determined to out-think and outlast the heat this time (for the LAST time), after suffering through it for several years. my car a/c doesn't work, but i'm just ignoring it. i'd rather save the money for moving. same with house a/c thermostat set to 80. mentally, i try to think back to the olden days before a/c and rediscover coping strategies. least possible clothing, fans blowing on wet sheets, quick cold showers, outside hose-off, no oven use, afternoon siestas, etc. my only concession to modernity is a backyard shed with a small, efficient air conditioner set in a wall - the sanctuary when all else fails. if the power goes out, i'll drive to the library and hang out with the rest of the aged fixed income herd. i also watch a lot of bootleg internet movie downloads that are set in the winter time, while dreaming of snow-capped peaks at 10,000 ft. and all the 14'ers in Colorado. I don't even know if old-timer flatlanders can live up there, but i plan to try next year.
This is my first year as a retiree, and it's interesting to see how my sleep habits are changing as the days heat up (and since I don't have to get up at a certain time anymore).
In the summer I find I'm waking up much earlier than I did when I was working. 5 a.m. or earlier, and I usually get outdoor activities such as my morning walk and outdoor chores in before 6 am (or 7 at the latest). Then, most days I take a nap during the hottest part of the day. There are a few exceptions, such as when I have a meeting to attend or want to go to a store or museum that doesn't open until mid day. Yesterday was the first day in a while that I hiked during the middle of the day--but I went to the mountains and hiked on a shady trail.
In the last few years I had also fallen into the habit of going to bed by 10. But this summer, I take my mid-day nap and then start doing more active things and going places after it cools down. I'm staying up much later than I used to.
I believe that our tolerance for heat decreases with age - a lot of people claim our tolerance for cold decreases too. Fat is an excellent insulator of bodies and if we let ourselves go weight-wise we are making it that much harder to cope with the heat. I am 10 or 15 pounds overweight and would love to lose that much fat; if I could do it I know I would tolerate the heat a lot better. I have no one but myself to blame, of course.
I believe that our tolerance for heat decreases with age - a lot of people claim our tolerance for cold decreases too. Fat is an excellent insulator of bodies and if we let ourselves go weight-wise we are making it that much harder to cope with the heat. I am 10 or 15 pounds overweight and would love to lose that much fat; if I could do it I know I would tolerate the heat a lot better. I have no one but myself to blame, of course.
I've definitely noticed my tolerance for weather of all sorts has decreased. We just spent a week in Bolinas, and while it was lovely I was surprised to see that I now have a hard time with the cold, damp fog. Soggy foggy weather never used to bother me, but to my surprise I was really uncomfortable there.
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Witch. 
