Came the cry from, well, pretty much everybody when we announced we were leaving the sunny climes of Phoenix Arizona, packing up the dogs and our worldly possessions (or at least, as many of our worldly possessions as would fit in the largest rental truck, a Ford F-150 and a horse trailer) and heading north, to the frozen wastes of Denver, Colorado. Our Arizonan friends genuinely couldn’t comprehend that yes, we knew it would be cold, but really, we were OK with that.
I’d lived in Phoenix for 9 years, Dear Wife for 19 and frankly, we couldn’t wait to see the back of the place. It wasn’t without its good points; prices were generally low, NFL tickets were easy to come by, even on game day, and the nearby Sonoron desert made for good camping and hiking. However, as far as the weather was concerned, you could keep it. Oh sure, being able to play outside while the rest of the country was gripped in winter held a certain attraction, and I like the sun as much as anyone, but like anything else, when you get too much of a good thing it tends to lose it’s appeal.
I grew up in the North of England and as a child was always mystified when people talked of “blue skies”. The sky was gray; everyone knew that. Every day, summer or winter, always, forever. The only relief from the rain was when it snowed and most of us developed webbed feet. When I finally left to begin married life in Phoenix, I vowed, “I’m not going to become one of those boring British expatriates who complain how they miss the rain. I’ve had rain for 30 years and I will never miss it. I’d been there about five years when I looked out through the window blinds at Phoenix’s parched and washed out landscape, I thought, “Hmm, I suppose a little rain would be nice”.
The problem was; I’d gone from one extreme to the other. Built in the desert, the dry and at the time, clean air was popular with invalids suffering from breathing related illnesses. They happily embraced the heat, even in those pre-air conditioning days and coped with the blistering summer nights by soaking sheets in water and sleeping out of doors. Once technology made indoor living a practicality, the place boomed as people from cold climates flocked there in their thousands to take advantage of the cheap housing, open spaces and mild winters. For most, the fact that being outside was physically painful for a large part of the year was a small price to pay. “But it’s a dry heat” they would tell themselves. The same could be said about nuclear explosions, but they had a point. New Orleans, Chicago and Miami may not see the same high temperatures, but are certainly unpleasant in their own ways when the humidity is running high.
However, dry or not, 120 degrees is unpleasant and in summer, life has to be planned around it. Errands must be run first thing in the morning, groceries must be transported from the supermarket to the fridge within minutes, no other stops on the way home, and forget about getting a healthy tan. Haven’t you heard of skin cancer? The doctors in Phoenix have. Because the city grew up in the era of the motorcar, it’s an enormous, sprawling wasteland, stretching over 100 miles from one side to the other. All that concrete retains heat, which means that even overnight; the temperature doesn’t drop to a comfortable level. I used to get up at 5am to walk my dogs but even then, the heat would simply radiate off the sidewalk and we’d begin each day tired and cranky. The end finally came when I was driving over to a friend’s house to watch the Superbowl, and realized I had the air-conditioning on full. Remember, this was on the last weekend in January. Mild winters are one thing; hot winters followed by even hotter summers are something else. It was time to move on.
So for almost two years, we’ve been living in Colorado. Deer Creek Valley, to be exact which nestles in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain, near the town of Bailey, about 50 miles from Denver. And we love it. The reasons are many, but for me one of the most significant is that while summers are warm, winters are cold. Which is how it should be.
The low temperature by our house last night was –3F, the night before was –7F, which is a tad chilly I’ll admit. However, here’s the thing. Daytime temperatures are significantly more comfortable, and yet still within a range I consider acceptable for winter. The Superbowl will be played in a little under 3 weeks (no, the Denver Broncos will not be there) and unless global warming really picks up before then, I can pretty well guarantee I won’t need the air conditioning on in my car that day.
At first I tried to convince my Arizonan friends that no, Colorado really wasn’t buried under the ice caps for 6 months of the year; that no, the 4 feet of snow we enjoyed during last winter’s 100 year storm did not last for months, but was almost gone in about 10days; and that Denver only averages 30 less days of sunshine than Phoenix. Firstly, they don’t believe me and secondly, the locals don’t want me encouraging people to move here.
The important point is; I have no desire to live in a place where the weather is cold all year round, or even for most of the year. Greenland doesn’t appeal to me, nor does Minnesota. However, I don’t see the attraction in being hot all the time. Phoenix’s warm winters are attractive to many, but personally I found that when coupled with the seemingly endless, stifling summers, I simply lost my appreciation for them. Rain is a wonderful thing and frankly, Colorado could do with a lot more than it’s had in the last few years. Even so, I have no desire to go back to living in a climate where dry days are a novelty and sunshine a rarity.
“Variety is the spice of life”. Said old Bill Shakespeare. The weather in Stratford-upon-Avon isn’t really like that of Arizona, or Colorado for that matter, so I suspect he was referring to something else. That said, he was still a pretty smart chap.
I’d lived in Phoenix for 9 years, Dear Wife for 19 and frankly, we couldn’t wait to see the back of the place. It wasn’t without its good points; prices were generally low, NFL tickets were easy to come by, even on game day, and the nearby Sonoron desert made for good camping and hiking. However, as far as the weather was concerned, you could keep it. Oh sure, being able to play outside while the rest of the country was gripped in winter held a certain attraction, and I like the sun as much as anyone, but like anything else, when you get too much of a good thing it tends to lose it’s appeal.
I grew up in the North of England and as a child was always mystified when people talked of “blue skies”. The sky was gray; everyone knew that. Every day, summer or winter, always, forever. The only relief from the rain was when it snowed and most of us developed webbed feet. When I finally left to begin married life in Phoenix, I vowed, “I’m not going to become one of those boring British expatriates who complain how they miss the rain. I’ve had rain for 30 years and I will never miss it. I’d been there about five years when I looked out through the window blinds at Phoenix’s parched and washed out landscape, I thought, “Hmm, I suppose a little rain would be nice”.
The problem was; I’d gone from one extreme to the other. Built in the desert, the dry and at the time, clean air was popular with invalids suffering from breathing related illnesses. They happily embraced the heat, even in those pre-air conditioning days and coped with the blistering summer nights by soaking sheets in water and sleeping out of doors. Once technology made indoor living a practicality, the place boomed as people from cold climates flocked there in their thousands to take advantage of the cheap housing, open spaces and mild winters. For most, the fact that being outside was physically painful for a large part of the year was a small price to pay. “But it’s a dry heat” they would tell themselves. The same could be said about nuclear explosions, but they had a point. New Orleans, Chicago and Miami may not see the same high temperatures, but are certainly unpleasant in their own ways when the humidity is running high.
However, dry or not, 120 degrees is unpleasant and in summer, life has to be planned around it. Errands must be run first thing in the morning, groceries must be transported from the supermarket to the fridge within minutes, no other stops on the way home, and forget about getting a healthy tan. Haven’t you heard of skin cancer? The doctors in Phoenix have. Because the city grew up in the era of the motorcar, it’s an enormous, sprawling wasteland, stretching over 100 miles from one side to the other. All that concrete retains heat, which means that even overnight; the temperature doesn’t drop to a comfortable level. I used to get up at 5am to walk my dogs but even then, the heat would simply radiate off the sidewalk and we’d begin each day tired and cranky. The end finally came when I was driving over to a friend’s house to watch the Superbowl, and realized I had the air-conditioning on full. Remember, this was on the last weekend in January. Mild winters are one thing; hot winters followed by even hotter summers are something else. It was time to move on.
So for almost two years, we’ve been living in Colorado. Deer Creek Valley, to be exact which nestles in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain, near the town of Bailey, about 50 miles from Denver. And we love it. The reasons are many, but for me one of the most significant is that while summers are warm, winters are cold. Which is how it should be.
The low temperature by our house last night was –3F, the night before was –7F, which is a tad chilly I’ll admit. However, here’s the thing. Daytime temperatures are significantly more comfortable, and yet still within a range I consider acceptable for winter. The Superbowl will be played in a little under 3 weeks (no, the Denver Broncos will not be there) and unless global warming really picks up before then, I can pretty well guarantee I won’t need the air conditioning on in my car that day.
At first I tried to convince my Arizonan friends that no, Colorado really wasn’t buried under the ice caps for 6 months of the year; that no, the 4 feet of snow we enjoyed during last winter’s 100 year storm did not last for months, but was almost gone in about 10days; and that Denver only averages 30 less days of sunshine than Phoenix. Firstly, they don’t believe me and secondly, the locals don’t want me encouraging people to move here.
The important point is; I have no desire to live in a place where the weather is cold all year round, or even for most of the year. Greenland doesn’t appeal to me, nor does Minnesota. However, I don’t see the attraction in being hot all the time. Phoenix’s warm winters are attractive to many, but personally I found that when coupled with the seemingly endless, stifling summers, I simply lost my appreciation for them. Rain is a wonderful thing and frankly, Colorado could do with a lot more than it’s had in the last few years. Even so, I have no desire to go back to living in a climate where dry days are a novelty and sunshine a rarity.
“Variety is the spice of life”. Said old Bill Shakespeare. The weather in Stratford-upon-Avon isn’t really like that of Arizona, or Colorado for that matter, so I suspect he was referring to something else. That said, he was still a pretty smart chap.
