One thing that's impossible to avoid in Southern California is the amazingly beautiful weather.
I often scoff at people who come home from vacations recounting a weather report - "The first day it was cloudy, then the sun came out. The second day it rained in the morning..." - and since I'm not a beach-goer, the weather on vacation is never that much of an issue for me. But man oh man, when the weather is perfect every day, how good you feel! I'm sure I mentioned this to my friends way too many times.
Almost every day is a perfect spring day. In the winter, it never snows and never gets too cold. (And if you crave snow, there are mountains nearby.) In the summer, it gets hot, but without humidity. My friends, both former New Yorkers, readily attest that 100F in SoCal is way more manageable than 85F in New York City.
I used to think I'd never want to live anywhere without a full spectrum of seasons. And I do love winter. But there's no getting around it, that gorgeous spring-like weather is just so conducive to being outside and being active. You want to garden, you want to walk, you want to bike. The famously active Southern California lifestyle is built around that gorgeous weather.
Here at home, I feel great when the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and you can walk outside in a t-shirt or a light jacket. So how would I feel if the weather was like that every day? Would it get boring? I doubt it.
I'm sure I'll never live in Southern California. And in the New York vs. L.A. debate, there's no contest. It's just that now I see the appeal.
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Sunny weather is nice, but every time I've been in San Francisco, I've walked around feeling like my skin was baking. The city's great, but I don't think I could take that much sun, that much of the time, long-term.
The only time I was in LA, it was so smoggy that I never saw the sun, the mountains, or even the city (I was at a convention in a hotel near the airport).
Well, San Francisco (one of my favourite places) has very different weather than L.A. There's the fog, of course. But summers are freezing there. I'm sure you know the famous Mark Twain quote, the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco. You have to bundle up to go to baseball games in the summer.
As I understand it, L.A. is much much less smoggy than it used to be. It's a rare day when you can't see the mountains.
Smog is Toronto is much worse than L.A. - although I know that's not a high bar. :)
And sunscreen is a necessity, year-round, of course. (And everyone in the northern hemisphere should be using sunscreen April to October anyway.)
Paging David Cho...
My friend says the place we went to was "Duke's" in Malibu, on the PCH, a few miles away from Pepperdine. It was not Santa Monica after all, although nearby.
Smog in Toronto is worse than LA? I thought LA was the smog capital of the world. But it has gotten much better.
In the summer, it gets hot, but without humidity. My friends, both former New Yorkers, readily attest that 100F in SoCal is way more manageable than 85F in New York City.
Humidity is not something I can tolerate. Remember spending a week in Orlando Fl in OCTOBER. Every time I stepped outside, it felt like getting ambushed by a wet slimy suffocating blanket. Before opening the door, I remember taking a deep breath bracing myself for it. And it was in October. OCTOBER!
Oh yes, Duke's in Malibu. I have been there several times. It's a fantastic atmosphere.
And just to show off more, I live 4 miles from the beach, and because your friend is more inland, when it's cold, it is warmer here, and when your friend's home is sweltering in the summer, I get cool beach breezes. My home is just fine without AC.
Oh well, enough of that :=).
Humidity is not something I can tolerate.
I am exactly the same way. Summers in NYC, we would stay inside with the A/C on ALL SUMMER. I hated it.
Philadelphia was even worse, and I didn't have air conditioning. I don't know how I did it.
Oh yes, Duke's in Malibu. I have been there several times. It's a fantastic atmosphere.
It was great, both food and atmosphere.
I get cool beach breezes. My home is just fine without AC.
But we have free health care, nyah nyah! :-D
Seriously, that sounds heavenly. We will remember that for when the Red Sox are playing the Angels.
Oh BTW, tell your friends from NYC that this past summer one of the two really worst summers my 27 years in Southern California. If they were saying that having gone through this past summer, I cannot imagine what NYC summers are like.
The other bad summer was in 94, which I will never forget. High humidity blanketing Southern California for a couple of weeks.
Is that picture you? Doesn't look like you. You are much better looking in person :)
If they were saying that having gone through this past summer, I cannot imagine what NYC summers are like.
Hellish. But of course nothing compared to Washington DC or places further south like New Orleans. Similar to your story, when I was in Florida for spring training games in March, that was as humid as I could stand it. In March!
Is that picture you? Doesn't look like you. You are much better looking in person :)
It's Joni Mitchell. I never used an avatar before, but I thought I'd try one on.
You are very kind. I look awful these days. But I thank you for being so nice.
I've been living in the west for about 15 years now, and I _really_ miss having proper seasons. Portland has a sunny and a rainy season, which is better than the sunny and smoggy seasons I suffered through when I was living in That Paradise That Is (Southern) California, but I still miss having snowy winters like G-d himself intended.
Though after 4 months of LA smogbanks, it was pretty nice to have winter come along to clear the smog away from the mountains. It would have been nicer if it snowed, but, alas, the closest the snow ever got when I was there was at about the 2500 ft line.
I've been living in the west for about 15 years now, and I _really_ miss having proper seasons.
I think I would, too. I really do.
I assume your references to proper and god's intentions are tongue-in-cheek. If there were a god, I think she would have created Antarctica and the Sahara, too. :-)
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