Winters of discontent

It has been getting a bit brisk at night which is great given how warm it has been the past week. For the record, I am enjoying the hot, if not scorching afternoons. I love the feeling of the sun heating my skin.

It is easy to understand how I can hang in a place like Jakarta, Indonesia in the summer and not care at all as it cracks 110 degrees.

I am a warm weather guy. No doubt about it.

I have written a few columns on the trials of living in Wyoming winters.

The wind, the cold, the road closures and the digging out, makes me miss some of the temperate places I have lived before.

Winter is starting to come to mind because I have this huge, if not monster, cottonwood in my backyard which I have found as a sort of barometer that lets me know how intense winter is going to be. If the leaves start turning early in September, it usually means a brutal winter. 

This year it started changing in mid-August. 

Oh boy.

I have found myself a little anxious about this winter because I really am not quite ready for it. I don’t want to see any snow before the second week of November.

I know. That is pretty much the impossible dream, especially given the prediction of Mr. Cottonwood.

Then, the other day, I ran into some folk from Pennsylvania. I knew exactly the area they came from having grown up mostly in nearby Maryland. I have been in their area in winter, and it can be miserable.

The East may not have wind but it has humidity and combined cold and wet, you are going to be hard pressed to find a more miserable place to be in winter. Well, actually, a large portion of the mid-Atlantic states are like this spot in Pennsylvania.

The slush that happens so often, can be freezing to walk in. More than once have I been on a sidewalk waiting for a light to change in D.C. or Baltimore and been nailed by some vehicle spraying slush up as it drove by.

Winters in that area can be totally miserable because of the creeping dampness that seeps into your bones.

New England really is not much better although it is not as slushy because it is a bit colder.

My folks have lived in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont which means I have lived in those places too, even if it was for a visit.

That cold damp seeps in all the time. When I would ski, I would often have to take a break because sweating and the damp cold are a recipe for getting sick.

When I first skied out West at Steamboat, I was literally blown away there was no ice. It was all powder and the air around me was dry.

I found it amazing.

Definitely Wyoming winters are hands down better than what Easterners face.

I started thinking about other places I lived which had winters that were worse than what I face in Wyoming.

Shanghai has winter weather very close to what one faces in the East. It is rare for the city to see much snow but it does happen. When it does, stay off the roads. Nobody has a clue how to drive in it. Plus, because the city is very close to the ocean and on a river, it is very damp. I walked around a lot in Shanghai and sometimes in winter, because of the damp cold, it feels like it takes forever to get warm once you get inside.

An even worse city for winter is Beijing.

This city might win the award as the most terrible place to live in winter for me. Well almost. There is another, but I will get to that place in a second.

Back to Beijing.

Pollution is bad and it gets bone chillingly cold in a way I have never encountered before. It is an interesting city without a doubt and plenty to do during this time of year but once inside some place warm, you are not inclined to want to go outside.

I have never been as cold in Wyoming as I have been in Beijing walking down some street in December.

The strongest memory I have of being incredibly miserable in winter was Melbourne. This city has winter when most other places are having summer. I didn’t realize that. Nor did I realize by being so close to the South Pole and being on water, how cold the place could be. So, I was out and about way underdressed.

I paid the price.

I got a pretty bad cold. Runny nose, sore throat, cough–the works. The place I was staying was damp and drafty.

This was not my vision of how I wanted to spend my time in Australia, no matter how beautiful the city is, And it is really outstanding to walk around with all its Victorian architecture. 

Just not in winter.

I lasted there for about a week or so and then bolted to Queensland which is light years warmer. Like I said, Melbourne is beautiful, even in winter, but I doubt I will ever go there again when the weather gets cold.

As I thought about it further, even some of the warm weather places I lived in could be miserable during winter.

Honolulu would have two to three weeks of monsoonal rains in February or March. You never knew when they were going to come. It was not pleasant for the tourists who booked during these times because the downpours just kept going. There is no respite.

Umbrellas work, sort of, but I remember getting pretty wet during this time. The temperature is still pleasant enough at around 75 but getting drenched all the time when you go outside does wear on you.

Taiwan can really be bad in winter, especially up around Taipei. Fortunately, I didn’t live there. Taipei’s skies are constantly gray and it is usually rainy.  I enjoyed visiting my friends but I definitely didn’t enjoy going up in the winter. The temperature would stay in the 40’s. Damp and cold is how I would describe that city in winter. 

Taichung, Taiwan where I lived got the monsoons but it was warmer. Not Hawaii warm, but better than Taipei by far. 

I drove a motorcycle and now matter how I suited up in rain gear, I would get soaked if I went any distance around town.

I remember a few times having to strip down when visiting (I would be given a robe) and have my clothes dried for when I went back outside. 

These rains could last two months.

It was a real pain to get around during this time but it was because my mode of transportation didn’t protect me from the elements. A car would have been better. Traffic was so bad I seldom took a taxi because it took so much longer to get to any place. I could be at my destination in 15 minutes if I went by motorbike versus an hour in a car.

So, I just got wet all the time.

It is crazy to me that after my review of places I lived during winter, Wyoming ranks pretty high as a good place to live during winter.

The dry air really does make a difference. The wind may close things down but it will also push the snow out of the area too. 

The cold I feel can be biting and sometimes bitter but it does not seep in the way I remember some places.

Honestly, I am happy I recounted the places I have lived in winter as I face this year’s cold weather. 

Sure, I remember living in Queensland during winter was great. I admit part of the reason I have found Wyoming winters hard is they last way longer than any other place I have lived. 

But, being the beach guy I am, and I really am, I find winters better here than most other places I have lived.

A good revelation to have as Mr. Cottonwood tells me to get prepared for a chilly one.

I am just going to keep this epiphany in mind when I am shoveling my driveway.