“I ran to Minneapolis, where it’s cold, and I figured I’d keep better.”
Valerie Harper as Rhoda.
Rhoda Morgenstern
A simple quote from an older sitcom that speaks to me today.
I hate the heat.
We are stuck in the summer soup that is heat and humidity.
For years, the goal was to move away from the Northeast U.S. weather, retire to someplace warm.
A place without harsh winters. A place without snow.
We had a 4 year stint in South Carolina. On our house-hunting trip, we commented to the realtor that there were no visible children in this community.
We quickly learned…they “summer” indoors. They don’t emerge voluntarily until about October.
There was no real Autumn, the brown leaves fell a little bit at a time. I missed Autumn.
Flowers bloomed all year long. While lovely, it always denied us the anticipation of a welcome Spring.
There was no snow. The first year there, we wore shorts to cut down our Christmas tree. There was something so very wrong about that.
A snowy reminder.
So we ended up back in our home state of Pennsylvania.
The year we arrived here, there was a blizzard, almost 40 inches of snow in 2 days.
My kids were elated. The neighbors blamed us.
Now, we are free to go anywhere.
There are still some family obligations that are keeping us grounded here, but there is so much more to it than that.
I think we just might stay. Or move even further north.
And no one is more surprised than me.
vanbytheriver 
I love the distinct season changes. Our (S. Ontario) Spring and Fall can be quite short, but the contrasts between July and January are incredible! It certainly never gets boring!
Never boring, for sure. Back in the day, we’d drive to Toronto for the weekend, to tour, and cool off. ☺
🙂
yeh, I don’t think I’ll move any further north … unless she’s a Sugar Momma in Canada and then I’ll consider it. 😉
You are far enough up there already, Jim. ☺ Enjoy it.
I tried to move as far away from the north as i could, but like you I missed the seasons. Wishing you cool breezes to dissipate that summer soup.
We’re re-evaluating our retirement goals, Julie. Every day. Thanks. 💘
I tell myself I love summer. And I do. But my natural inclination, I think, is to autumn all year. Or even winter. I don’t know why. This really makes sense to me. Without understanding it! 😀
I get it. Autumn…a favorite, for so many reasons. 🍃 🍂 🍁 🌾
Got to have all the seasons too!!
Agreed, Jane. I thought I’d never miss winter…I was wrong. ☺ Thanks.
The change of seasons is therapeutic, in my opinion. 🌟✨💫
It seems to be something I truly need. 💘
I get it. 🌱🌞🍁⛄️
Every once in awhile, my husband says something about moving south. But I can’t tolerate heat – the 90+ degrees we’re getting now is even too much for me. I’d rather take the -20 degrees in the winter (blizzards and all), and I do love fall and spring, so I’m inclined to stay in the WNY area.
I understand that one, CM. Even around Buffalo in winter. 💕 So I guess, once retired, we shouldn’t even have to dig out too soon ?? ☺
I do not think I could stand the heat for too long.. Here our homes are not geared for it, no AC.. and I love nothing better than a beautiful crisp morning walk crunched leaves underfoot covered in frost.. 🙂 Jack Frost I would miss. 🙂
Hope it cools down for you Van. xxx
It will happen for us, Sue. Late August, the air seems to clear, and starts to feel like Fall. “Back to School” weather. Love it. 💖
🙂
I don’t mind heat but the humidity is what makes me feel exhausted and gross. My Scottish complexion isn’t used to it either and I look like a broiled lobster. What I do love about the PA climate though is the distinct seasons and the feel of shifting between them. I could do without winter, truth be told, but then I wouldn’t get to enjoy that feeling of spotting the first signs of spring. I also love that there’s daylight in Autumn and Winter here. Those seasons in Scotland were so dark and bleak.
I’m with you on the humidity. But, we lived in the desert once, and I came to dread the color brown. So, I guess I’ll take the green that comes with the moist air. That season shift…very desired. 🍁❄️ 🌺🌞
You’d love Canada! ❤
Diana xo
I know. We spent vacations there often while living in Michigan. ☺
I loved the Vermont seasons, but have to admit that since moving to Oregon I don’t miss the -35 degree winters and shoveling snow. 😀
We don’t really need it now, but we have always had a snow blower. And we kept our snowmobile suits from decades ago. So…well-equipped, D. Not sure about -35 though. ❄️
-50 below with the windchill, Van. It was crazy cold. Fortunately that was only for about two weeks out of the winter. The rest of the time was a balmy -15. 😀
Not sure what’s wrong with me right now, but that sounds inviting. ☺☺☺
Ha ha ha.
We’re likely to retire north — from Northern VA to Maine. I’ll love it until the first time I fall on my butt on the ice
Husband threatens to buy me knee pads. ☺ I wish I fell on my butt. I tend to fall forward.
New Jersey is not supposed to be hot like this- I wanna move to Maine. Love the article
Thanks, Ana. And NJ…always finds its own way. ☺ Too hot, even for the beach !
Maine sounds just about perfect right now !!
A cabin in the woods, with a working fireplace. Dreaming. 💘
Overlooking water … And I’ll be right with you 🐥
Check out the view at the 2:30 mark, Val. Cabins in New Hampshire.
Remember I went to Univ of PA. I couldn’t go back for the gray rain and humidity. We hit 114 degrees this summer here in Southern CA. It is beyond me that so many retire to AZ (where it’s hotter).
So Cal at 114, yikes. 🌞 We know folks in AZ, they are promoting it, all the time. My skin tightens up just thinking about it. ☺
I’m glad to know the move is working out for you. Sometimes moving back to a place you’ve lived in and left just feels all wrong. Other times it can be perfect. Just keep the snow there, okay? 😉
Huge hugs.
I’ll do my best, Teagan. Thanks for the sweet message. 💖
We’ve had such a hot, humid summer in Virginia. I’m ready for autumn and so are my sheep and chickens. 😊🐏🐓
I hear ya, Tonya. ❤️
I’m so with you Van.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. You made me feel normal.
Cabin fever can happen, even worse in summer. Thanks, Sawsan. 💘
Hot and humid is awful, so I have a lot of sympathy. It can be difficult to get the perfect combination of seasonal conditions. I guess if we were all billionaires, we could have homes in four different places and get the best of everything. 🙂
Four different places…seems like a plan, Bun. Thanks. ☺ This comment ended up in my spam. Glad to rescue it.
Oops, sorry about the visit to your spam folder. Thanks for rescuing me. (I hope the helicopter wasn’t too expensive.)
Nope. I have connections. ☺
You are clearly having a tough spell
It’s true for much of the country right now, Derrick. We’ll survive it. September is not far away. ☺
That’s what I’m talking about! Love duckies too 😎
The river…always a draw for this Van ! ☺
Lol…funny how that works. Like you I hate this kind of beat but I’ll take the freedom of going out in shorts and tshirts, knowing that I can, instead of heavy coats and the uncertainties of winter storms and snow blowing. For me it’s a different kind of freedom. But this weather is why I’ll never go to Florida in the summer any more.
It does take less time to dress for the heat, George. But in winter, you can layer it on. Summer…only so far one can strip down. ☺ We are lucky to have A/C, but how did we survive growing up with open windows and a 6 inch rotary fan in the bedroom?
Where’s the bus going North!
Stay tuned ! 🚌
I come from upstate New York, and I remember those winters and all the snow we’d get. We still get snow, here on the shore of Lake Michigan, but it is so very flat here. I miss forests, and hills, and mountains, and bundling up just to catch the school bus (not that I want to catch a school bus, now it’s the city bus). 😳
We lived for a while near Buffalo when the kids were little…we didn’t leave the house much in winter. ☺ Except to build a snowman. ☃️ Thanks, Karen.
I grew up in New York, and I got stranded twice due to lake affect blizzards off of the lakes. Now I live on the other side of the lakes, on the shores of Lake Michigan.
☺ I did hit some of that Lake Erie effect driving to Pittsburgh. It was overwhelming.
I love the seasons!
So do I, Lynn. 🍁❄️ 🌺🌞
I am so excited for Fall leaves and pumpkins
And cool nights. ☺ Sweater weather.
Oh yes x
I just got home from Pittsburgh! Same rain and heat and humidity as Ohio right now. I often say apart from a harsh winter now and then, how lucky we are to have the weather we have the rest of the year. I love the change of seasons as well. Visited the Phipps Conservatory today and looked like I took a shower after I left! Not a good day to be in there among the plants and flowers in their tropical environments! lol
I get it, Kelly. Husband grew up north of Pittsburgh. It’s like a second home. ☺
I have a client there so I travel there frequently for work. Have a good night! xo
☺
Of all the places I’ve lived, Valley Forge, PA was one of my favorites – also loved living in Sonoma County, CA.
It’s a beautiful area, with a lot of history. Sonoma, actually all of So. Cal. looks dreamy to me. Thanks, Kitt. ☺
We lived in Valley Forge during the bicentennial of Washington’s stay there. People reenacted the history, staying in the park as the troops did. As a middle school aged kid, great history lesson. Much more respect for history in NE than in California.
Sonoma County is north of San Francisco, just west of Napa County. I live in Southern California in Orange County now, but miss Sonoma County.
I lived in Connecticut and loved it. But the the heat this year, according to friends, is extreme. A friend of mine who lives in New London said that yesterday the temperature was 100 degrees before noon. Heat like this makes people who can’t afford air conditioning crazy.
Many who live a bit north never needed that A/C, for the most part. This stuff is a bit of a shock. Further south, we take it for granted, mostly July and early August.
I know that New York and New England can have wickedly hot Summers…
But you’re right…100 degrees temps with 100 percent humidity was averge for August in Charleston.
It was pretty oppressive, Robert. Not sure I ever acclimated to it.
The weather is going to get more extreme and this is why we must stabilize our political system.
We have the small matter of the repairing the ecosystem that sustains our lives so we can waste them on political bullshit to address. 🙂
When you say Summer, it’s blinding and sweltering over here. The Winter season is great this way (no snow) though it can get bitingly cold due to the desert wind, but my best season is Autumn.
I’m so partial to Autumn as well, Jacqueline. 🍂 🍁 🌾 Thanks.
I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I love the seasons in Atlanta. Summer is hot and humid for a couple of months, but not any worse than a lot of places in the Midwest. Winters are usually mild but can be cold with some snow & ice. It’s Spring and Autumn that I really love – they last for months and months! Glorious!
I actually love Arizona too. Southern Arizona that is. I graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson. There’s something really spiritual about the desert – it has a beauty all of it’s own. A beauty that not everybody can appreciate unless you’ve lived there. And a dry 110 is much, much better than a 85% humidity 95! Trust me on this… 🙂
We lived in Utah, and leaving the airport at 100 dry degrees, we came into Philly at 80 and humid. You’re so right…the contrast was obvious. We were so uncomfortable. But, with moisture comes the color green…and that was so welcome. ☺ Thanks, AGMA. We have friends in GA. who love it.
I hate the cold. Where’s summer!!!!!!
Right here, on the east coast. Come and get it !!! ☺
Arizona we summer indoors too. But I can drive a few hours and have any season I want. LOL.
I’ve seen some of those mountains, always surprising in a desert state. So nice to drive to a new season. Thank you, Pamela. 💛 💙 💜
I relate completely. I cannot abide heat.
Those Georgia ‘winters’ had me trimming the tree in shorts and all kinds of other madness. Easter? Freakin hot. Halloween? Freakin hot. I not only summered indoors, until the pool after dinner, but I summered indoors about 10 months a year.
I think the best of both worlds lies in wait for us. I think later in life we’ll summer up the coast, and I mean, really, really up the coast — Maine, Nova Scotia — those were lovely places to be in Augusts past.
Yep. I’m surprised that I keep looking to the north for relief. This has been a really hot year for the mid-Atlantic. Or maybe, it’s just me. ?? nah…☺