We are just back from a road trip through north/central California and were hoping the heat would help Gary's arthritis. Weirdly, it seemed to get worse on one hand, then when we returned home the other hand flared up. No figuring it I guess. I do find that I prefer the humid heat of the southeast over the dry heat of the southwest.

Spending time indoors while it is sunny out just seems backward to me, whereas staying inside while it is stormy is comforting (couch, blanket, fire, good book). I don't mind the gray, but I do know for some folks it is depressing. But then the sun breaks are so very welcome! I could easily be gone for December and January (dark and cold) but I don't think I'd want to be a full-on snow bird. I also don't think I would care for air conditioning on a daily basis. Comme si comme sa.

I recall when it got sunny up in Vancouver, everybody would rush outside like they'd better get some sun while it was visible.

Here it's sunny so often, it doesn't seem like a waste to be indoors. I have a little lap pool so I do garden in short bursts through the day all summer, and cool off in the pool in between. Otherwise the weeds would consume the house.

LOL, air conditioning is a must in the heat and humidity here. I love when we have cool nights in the winter and can sleep with the windows open but unfortunately those times are few and far between. I love a cold, dark room for sleeping! My mom lived in the Fort Lauderdale area for a few years before she passed away and during her last two years I spent quite a bit of time down there with her. She was always cold and during the winter she kept her heat up pretty high so when it was 40º outside, I'd sleep on the sofa on her enclosed (unheated) porch with the windows open. She thought I'd be much more comfortable in the guest room but it was much more bearable on the porch!

It is the humidity that is the real bear, it is stifling. If you want to breathe you need AC.

I always wonder why folks choose to live in extreme weather (hot, cold, tornados, hurricanes, etc.) but I suppose they weigh the pros and cons and justify it for themselves. Or they have deep family roots there. Or something. Shrug. I'm pretty locked in to the PNW, but enjoy traveling to other areas to experience the vast diversity we have. I especially like taking the byways rather than freeways to really get a feel for the countryside. Always glad to get back home, though. A 'hot' day for me is 80 and we don't see that all too often. Suits me.

Lin, I too love the period of time we can just leave all the doors and windows open, airing out the whole house. I'd rather put up with some bugs for a fresh breeze. We don't get big mosquito hatches, although we do get some.

Bonehead said: Lin, I too love the period of time we can just leave all the doors and windows open. I'd rather put up with some bugs for a fresh breeze.

I love leaving doors and windows open to air out the house too but there MUST be screens for keeping the bugs out. Eeek, I don't like bugs and I don't want to find them inside the house!

LOL, Deb has not encountered our flying teeth, aka sand gnats or no see ums. They are adept at getting through screens, even the mesh said to be gnat proof.

I only experienced no see-ums once when we lived in Daytona. We had man made waterways behind the houses in our neighborhood and I walked out to the deck one evening and they were awful! We never had them get through the screening to our porch, thank goodness!

The south does have a lot of bugs that come with the heat; as well as gators, snakes, lizards ...

I don't use screens. My eyes are bad enough on their own without adding another obstacle. Oh wait, I do use my screens for drying herbs, they're out in the barn.

I am fortunate in the pest arena - occasional mosquitos, some biting flies that mostly hang around in the garden, no poisonous snakes or spiders, thank-gawd no gators or scorpions (yikes). Lots of singing frogs. Slugs and snails are my worse pests, gross and damaging to plants, but no danger to humans.

I have gotten bitten something fierce in Huatulco, Mexico, by sand fleas/no-see-ums, on the beach. Horrible. Took me almost a month to get rid of the itches.

James, hope you are able to live in FL for awhile and enjoy your new place. We lived in Northern Illinois for 35 years and winters are horrid. The skies are a lead grey for the most part of the winter and it's very gloomy. I never got acclimated to it!

I don't handle gray weather well either.

Me either!

I don't mind a gray, rainy day once in awhile; I don't care for storms with lightning and thunder so much but I love the soothing sound of rain!

It's a nice break from our constant sunshine here in Florida, but up there in the Pac. Northwest it goes on and on for days and weeks, plus in winter the days are already very short, less than 6 hours of daylight in December.

I do recall years ago a run in November, into December of at least 42 days in a row with no sunshine at all. Most days it also rained. Not good, hard rain that makes a sound, just irritating cold drizzle.

I truly couldn't take it, now. I'd have to migrate after about a week.

After our daughter moved to Arizona and had been living there for awhile, she called one day all excited and said, "it's raining!"

Of course no place is perfect but here in the piedmont of NC ..it keeps me happy. Lots of sun..mild winters and if we fpget sn occ ice storm..it is short lived and the sun comes..we have a few WEEKS of stucky but for the most part..whatever the season or weather pattern..it is short lived..good and bad! Lots of cool nights in the spring and warm sunny says ditto the fall. RARE hurricane winds reach us..we do have an occasional tornado tho.. and we do have copperhead, mosquitos, and those dreadful deafening frogs... a few cicada " happenings"

Once in fort lauderdale was sitting on sis's porch when all of a sudden out of the blue..Imfelt timy zapping stings..everywhere at once...felt like my crab allergy...right before the hives...I did not know what tomdo... went inside and it stopped...it was no see ums..my first exoerience

I grew up in the sandhills of NC and you can imagine my dismay when we moved to IL and it snowed in November and I didn't see the ground until April!

Welcome to DRY NE FL. I'm just down the road a bit on Fleming Island. Far enuf fm the city to be rural (I have chickens & honey bees), far enuf inland that I don't panic over tropical weather, and close enuf to the beach that I can get there when I want.

Sounds like you're perfectly situated! You've definitely got the dry part right. It's terrible. Where's the rain?