Weather or Not?

I am a trans-continental guy. That is, I have lived on both coasts of the US for lengthy periods in my life. I spent 20 plus years in southern California and the rest on the east coast in three different states (New York, Virginia, and Florida).

There has always seemed to be a kind of rivalry between west and east coast. I first became personally aware of it when I was 18 and got into surfing. California surfers did not think much of Florida, or east coast in general, surf. Whereas Florida surfers were both defensive and envious of California surf. I later learned there were advantages and disadvantages to each, of course.

Weather is another, more prevalent, point of contention. Especially between Floridians and southern Californians. While in Boot Camp, my company was about half Californians and have everywhere else. I was the only Floridian. Weather came up often.

Southern Californians seemed to assume they have warm weather. Well, they do have a very moderate climate. I once described San Diego to some friends in Virginia as "air conditioned". Which is true only if you limit it to a strip along te coast about 5 miles wide. It rarely got very hot or very cold. I have to admit, it was the most pleasant climate I have ever lived in. I also decribed it as "boring" but more on that later.

I recall Jay Leno being interviewed once on some talk show about his coming to Los Angeles to host the Tonight Show. He was asked about how he liked living in southern California. He said the usual pleasantries about how nice it was and how exciting Los Angeles is and all that. And then he said something along the lines of:

"We have some things here that are different than the east. We have droughts and fires, mud slides when it rains, and earthquakes. Yet, when you ask someone why they live in California they always answer 'the weather!' "

Which brings me to the point. Whenever I discussed Florida vs California with a Californian, their concern was always about hurricanes. They didn't like the idea of them. They seemed to be afraid of them. Terrible storms that blew roofs off houses and tore down trees. My counter was always that they weren't all that bad, that houses were built to withstand them, and you got warnings. That seemed better than earthquakes. Yet, earthquakes didn't bother them nearly as much. And their counter arguments were much like mine except for the warning part. Plus they argued that earthquakes that caused any significant damage were pretty rare.

After mulling over each other's arguments regarding environmental anomolies, the conversation would turn to the tornados of the midwest, blizzards and icestorms of the much of the northern half of the country, the dry blistering heat of the desert states, and so on.

After having experienced much of that weather at one time or another (I have missed, thankfully, experiencing any tornados), I came to the conclusion that we are amazingly adaptable creatures. We grow used to our immediate environment and accept its hazards easily. In fact, we seem to be proud of them in some ways.

Oh, I promised to explain that "boring" remark about San Diego, didn't I? You see, San Diego doesn't get a lot of thunderstorms. Almost none, it seemed to me. I like thunderstorms. I like the smell in the air before they break, I like the crack of lightning, I like the rumble of the thunder. And, above all, I like the freshness after they have passed. I never realized how much I liked them until I spent a few years in San Diego and then returned to south Florida.

What about yours? Have you ever considered moving to another climate, a different environment simply to escape the one you are living in?