Winter Sucks!

I am a very practical person and for me fireplaces are NOT charming. They are utilitarian and sooty. When the electricity goes out and there is no heat in the house a fireplace will help keep me warm. But if this winter (2010-2011) had been a normal winter it would have ended already and I wouldn’t even be contemplating having to use a fireplace to heat my house in case we lose power. I moved back to the southeast United States in 2006 to avoid extremes in weather. I lived in the Antelope Valley (Lancaster, CA) and in the summer temperatures could soar to 119 degrees. By contrast, the winters there could be a brutal 19 degrees with snow and ice. I lived in the high desert for three years and experienced both extremes. In Los Angeles where I lived for three years and which has almost perfect weather there were periods when the Santa Ana winds blew in and the temperature would climb to over 100 degrees for a few days. I had one room that had an air conditioner and we would sleep on the floor in that room until the Santa Ana winds left. Not an unreasonable trade off for almost perfect weather. The rest of the year temperatures in LA were between 50 and 90 and dry. “Seems it never rains in southern California…” some cryptic lyrics to a song by the Mamas and the Papas. However it does snow…a little bit…in southern California. I can also tolerate that once every 6-10 years. The one big downside to living in southern CA (or anywhere in CA) is earthquakes. They strike without warning, last a few seconds, kill people, and do millions of dollars in damage. When a tornado or hurricane is predicted in the south, we have time to take shelter before the winds and storm surges do millions of dollars in damage. But I digress. I moved back to the eastern side of the US because I am an east coast type of person and I expected the weather to be as it was in my childhood…warm and humid but not roasting hot in the summer, cool but not bone chilling cold with snow and ice in the winter. Something changed “big time” weather-wise between the 1960s and now. I don’t know if I will live long enough to see milder summers and winters return or if I’m just one of those old people remembering “kinder, gentler” weather patterns from my youth. Here in Mississippi we haven’t even gotten a tenth of what the majority of the country has endured this winter. But I don’t feel bad about complaining. This has been one hell-of-a winter and I’m ready for it to end!