northern lights

[Guest guest]

sun, your move to the tundra after a life of

miami and bali must have been interesting. after all

these years, you finally got to see what those people

were talking about when they spoke of 'seasons'. i had

a kind of similar transition, except in reverse,

when i moved from oklahoma to san francisco. while it

definitely would get cool there, it was difficult to make

out seasons--at least not the dramatically different

seasons i was used to. it was kind of unsettling in a

way, it took a while getting used to. not as long as

the cultureshock--sort of 'green acres' in reverse.

first day on the job, one of the clerks is an overt

tranny. our dept. secretary could have starred in a john

waters movie. great town though.<br>now, in san diego,

it's like the weather is on valium. interesting

weather here is a full moon. it's no fun really,

monotony. we need a really good hailstorm or something.

there was some lightning a couple of years ago, but it

didn't last too long. nothing like some heavy weather to

foster deep thoughts and brooding

[Guest guest]

"... nothing like some heavy weather to foster

deep thoughts and brooding...".<br><br>That´s exactly

why I left the West Coast. Couldn´t stand the

beautiful weather all the time.<br>"Bad weather" can be so

stimulating...

[Guest guest]

Don't tell me about it. I just moved back to the

west coast. But what about 4am moonlight like daylight

on the beach? The pacific ocean has its share of

brooding. I think its S California that is too sunny and

bright....but I admit prejudice.... I was born in Northern

CA.<br><br><br>Claudia when do you get to Mysore exactly? You can write

me on AnneBobb, it should get thru.

[Guest guest]

One of the greatest misconceptions I held about

Vancouver before I came here was about the weather. I

almost broke up with Mike when he told me he needed to

return to his hometown. I said "I'll never live there in

a million years." Canada meant walking around in

snow shoes, wearing coonskin hats and 10 layers of

thermal underwear underneath an insulated ski jacket. But

you know how love is--I dragged my tuckus up here

with him, and boy was I shocked to find that it rarely

dips below freezing and hardly ever snows in the city

(!!!) and the weather is actually milder than it is in

Miami. No "heavy weather" here--in fact, if you like

heavy weather, then the tropics is for you. Drastic

changes from one minute to the next: It's hot and sunny

and suddenly a thick army of black cloud advances and

you know in about 20 minutes the rain will be so

intense you can't see more than 50 feet ahead. Raindrops

the size pingpong balls. Eardrum-rattling thunder.

Gale-force winds, hurricanes and tropical storms. Air so

thick you have to doggie paddle through it. I sometimes

miss the tropics. Especially thunder and lightening.

And those big puffy clouds. When it rains here it's

like being constantly misted by one of those vegetable

sprayers in grocery stores. Towns like us keep the GoreTex

company in business. We don't even own an umbrella. The

whole sky is grey a lot of the time. I like it, though.

The foliage glows. Muted tones are so much easier on

the eyes than constant sunlight. I've been to San

Diego and I lived near LA; I know how consistently

sunny and blue-skied it can be there. We have four

seasons up here but mostly evergreen trees. We might not

have New England-like seasonal vividity, but we also

don't have to put up with those extreme temperatures

either. Summer in the 70s and winter in the 40s is pretty

easy to live with even for a gals named Sunshine. I

kind of wish summer was hotter though--it can be a

tease to go to the beach and not sweat, or to be chilly

on a July evening. I found San Diego to be a tease a

lot, too--it'd be warm and sunny but the sea breeze

made it cold. I don't think Vancouver is monotonous at

all, but some people find the rainy winters to be dull

and oppressive. I don't know if it's any more or less

inspiring here than other places I've lived (although

ANYWHERE is more inspiring than Miami). I wonder if I live

here long enough if I'll get sick of it. So far, I

think it's the most peaceful, gentle, and grounding

place I've lived. And if it was any prettier I think

I'd puke.

[Guest guest]

yes, the ocean is what keeps us all paying the

ridiculous mortgages and rents to live here. when i surfed,

i would usually only catch a handful of waves each

session. the real attraction for me was sitting there,

floating over the swells (they called me 'bob'), just

daydreaming and thinking thru things. it's like watching a

campfire-you just kind of sink into it, next thing you know,

it's 20-30 minutes later and you're a lot calmer. kind

of like a good savasana

[Guest guest]

<<I know how consistently sunny and

blue-skied it can be there>><br>you must have lived in

LA a long, long time ago. currently, they are only

allowed to have blue skies on two days out of the year.

those are the days that all the post card photographers

get to take their shots to try and fool people into

thinking the skies really aren't brown. <br>vancouver

sounds very san francisco-like in it's weather, maybe a

blend of SF and seattle, given the wet winters. i had

forgotten you had the coast there to moderate the

weather--i am as geopraphically challenged as i am

padmasanally

[Guest guest]

Vancouver is like a safer, smaller, saner, more

scenic San Fran. And it's only 3 hours (drive) north of

Seattle and has the same climate. Actually Vancouver

always reminded me of San Diego--the beaches are

similar, we both have nice seawall walks and lots of

apartments near the water. But here you don't need a car to

get around; it saves lots of money and hassle.

[Guest guest]

OH--about the smog--yeah I forgot. Sadly, it's smoggy here too! Not as bad, but

bad enough to get to the top of a mountain and be a bit sad.