Each state here in the U.S. has its advantages and definite disadvantages weather-wise. Folks from the north want to live in nice, warm Florida but will settle for North Carolina- better jobs to be had. Ohio, where I was born was a good place to leave 60 years ago. No nostalgia there: nasty winter weather. Upstate New York where I have lived for almost 30 years is famous for its heavy snows. No hurricanes, floods, forest fires or drought. We try to remember that while shoveling 3 feet of the white stuff. It could be worse!
In Ohio the Thanksgiving weekend of 1950 was remarkable for its 4 feet of snow. We had company in for Thanksgiving dinner and they couldn’t leave for home in Pittsburgh for a whole week. My father and uncle put away several cases of beer and chess helped to pass the time. In addition to loud political arguments. Photo credit: Andrea Costa Creative / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
We pulled up stakes and left for Ft. Myers, Florida in February of 1955. Like a lot of northerners Florida to my father was the promised land. The weather had to be better and it was a lot better. Too much for my father. He couldn’t stand the heat. Air conditioners weren’t everywhere back then. If the heat was too much there were always movie theaters that were air conditioned. Ft. Myers itself is 14 miles from the beach and the summers were unbearably hot.
After one year in the deep south we made the trek back to Ohio in a four car plus one truck caravan. Seven kids, one set of parents, miscellaneous cats and dogs and one large black spider tucked away in the tool chest in the truck. My father was intrigued by the enormous size of the spiders in Florida and wanted to take one back north to see if it could adapt to the cold weather in Ohio. The spider didn’t make it.
After one more winter in Ohio, Sarasota, Florida seemed like a better bet. Less humidity and the beach was right there. Hurricanes were not as frequent as they are now but we did have to hunker down for two of them. After a few years the family dispersed. My mother died, I got married and my father bought an old bus and he and 5 of the kids left for Denver, Colorado. One of my brothers owned a thriving junkyard out there and he would wrote back extolling the virtues of life in Colorado. And so the bus headed west and I stayed in Sarasota.
In 1965 my husband’s new job on the Winston-Salem “Journal-Sentinel “took us to North Carolina. A reasonable state, weather-wise. Hardly any snow so of course the occasional drought. Summers can be very sticky. Air conditioners essential. Spring time is beautiful with dogwood and azaleas. Winters can be cold and rainy and in 1985 when I left N.C. for N.Y the temperature reached a new low of 10 degrees below zero. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often.
In Upstate NY the weather is fine. People say “it builds character”. Summers are splendid and fall is spectacular with its brilliant colors. But winter always shows up. We’re right on the shore of Lake Ontario and the area is subject to “lake effect “ snows.
There’s a pristine beauty about it all but driving can be a little dicey. In my early days here folks would ask me -knowing I came here from N.C. “Well, how do you like our winters?” I would reply “they’re not as bad as I thought they would be”. And the answer was “Well, you should have been here in ’66 or ’77.” It seems in those years there was 12 feet of snow in this area and getting around was a real challenge. I missed that. Darn it!
This winter will be remembered for the extreme cold. Florida does not beckon.
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Thanks for stopping by!
Joan
We pulled up stakes and left for Ft. Myers, Florida in February of 1955. Like a lot of northerners Florida to my father was the promised land. The weather had to be better and it was a lot better. Too much for my father. He couldn’t stand the heat. Air conditioners weren’t everywhere back then. If the heat was too much there were always movie theaters that were air conditioned. Ft. Myers itself is 14 miles from the beach and the summers were unbearably hot.
After one year in the deep south we made the trek back to Ohio in a four car plus one truck caravan. Seven kids, one set of parents, miscellaneous cats and dogs and one large black spider tucked away in the tool chest in the truck. My father was intrigued by the enormous size of the spiders in Florida and wanted to take one back north to see if it could adapt to the cold weather in Ohio. The spider didn’t make it.
There’s a pristine beauty about it all but driving can be a little dicey. In my early days here folks would ask me -knowing I came here from N.C. “Well, how do you like our winters?” I would reply “they’re not as bad as I thought they would be”. And the answer was “Well, you should have been here in ’66 or ’77.” It seems in those years there was 12 feet of snow in this area and getting around was a real challenge. I missed that. Darn it!
This winter will be remembered for the extreme cold. Florida does not beckon.
If you would like to respond, just click the link below that refers to “comment.”
Joan
No state with humidity beckons me. After years in a semi-arid climate it's very difficult to visit any of those 'hot and humid' states in the summer. My childhood in Florida leaves me always longing for warm breezes, palm trees, and a beach - but not in summer! You are a true four-season kind of woman - let it snow!
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