January – the first month of the New Year! I spent my first 30 odd years of life in the cold and unpredictable winters of Ohio, and the next 30 plus years in the mild winters of Southern California. There is a huge contrast between the two areas.
My memories of Ohio in winter: cold, snow, freezing temps, iced-over car windows, car won’t start, won’t even turn over, need a second car in the garage to start the first car, jumper cables, treacherous roads, black ice, bridges freeze first, snow tires, chains, salt, salt trucks on the roads and highways, stopped at a red light on an icy hill and my car starts sliding – panic over no control whatsoever, scrapers for icy windshield; icy steps, layers of clothing, a topcoat, gloves, hat, scarf and rubber boots; snowballs, ice balls, icicles – dripping, melting, falling, melting snow and ice, slush, icy tree branches in the wind – crackling, breaking from the excess weight and falling heavily and breaking power lines also frozen and iced, sleet, ice storms and blizzards, driving sideways on a highway, doing a 360 on an icy road; car door frozen shut – hoping my hot breath will thaw it enough for the key to enter and open the door – then hoping that the car will start. Brrrrrr…
Thinking of these things during a particularly harsh winter in Ohio in January, then moving to L.A. in June:
Fog at the beach, and sometimes rumors of earthquakes (it took me ten years to have the actual experience), rain and mudslides – occasionally – mostly drought conditions (it’s a desert), water shortages (we live beside an ocean – why do we have water shortages?) and no one in this area has figured out how to desalinate the plentiful ocean water; desert winds that blow in from the hot, dry inland areas, humidity down to 10% or less making the air quality bad and hot and dry with static electricity; but during the winter holidays we can have 70 to 80 degree temps while watching weather reports from the East with conditions already described. I left all of that aforementioned weather behind in Ohio for the mild conditions in Southern California – especially at the beaches, where: you wonder if you’ll get to wear that new sweater or jacket this year, you are bored with the same T-shirt-jean combination you wear every day in 70 degree weather, you ask yourself if you should get a car wash or is it going to sprinkle for 3 minutes and mess it up, roads collect dust and oil so that when they do get sprinkled on they can get very slippery (but your car door will still open).
Conclusion: January in Southern California is just about the best place in the country to be at anytime, and, the second day of January is the celebration of our wedding anniversary – another best. And, the best song of all for the best twenty-one years of my life is: …(Ta Daaaaa)… “Our Love is Here to Stay!”