Thursday, December 27, 2007

Things I Never Learned as a Child


My husband has always said that I grew up in an ivory tower. He is wrong. I evidently grew up in Camelot.

Let’s put aside the family dynamics (ooh, I'm regressing, that's standard issue Marin County psychobabble right there) - I am speaking here about weather.

I grew up in northern California - not the far northern part, where it snows, but the just over the bridge from San Francisco part.

Don’t get me wrong. We, as kids, whined about the weather then the same way kids do now. My mother used to sign us up for swimming lessons at eight o’clock in the morning every summer of my life. We complained so much about having to go swimming when it was 60 something degrees and that she was trying to kill us.

It did rain where I lived but it JUST rained. There were no torrential downpours. There was no thunder. There was no lightning. There were very few STORMS. It just rained. Rain fell.

There was fog. There was a lot of fog but it was soft and moist and enveloping. It crept in like a pet who has been out and about and is trying to be unnoticed until it is already there. I just reread that sentence and my apologies to Carl Sandberg.

From http://www.usacitiesonline.com/, I copied this:
Climate:
The county generally has a temperate, marine climate during the entire year. The winters are not cold, but with rain falling often. The summers tend to be warm and dry with fog along the coastal areas, particularly near the Golden Gate Bridge area. If traveling to this area, you will probably need a light coat or jacket in the evenings during the entire year.
Average Low: 46.0 (Kentfield)
Average High: 70.9 (Kentfield)
Average Temperature: 58.5 (Kentfield)
Average Rainfall: 48.5 inches (Kentfield)
Here is a
weather page for Marin County

I did not grow up in Kentfield, but I did go to high school there.


So, fast forward a few years. OK, not a few years, just a few husbands. I moved to the Mojave Desert. Married my sweetie and he moved us to Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. Ooh, weather. For the first time in my life, I actually had 4 seasons.


Then he moved us to Texas. Texas - I was thinking dry, hot, warm - you know, like the cowboy movies, right? Sure, baby, whatever you think.


I still have 4 seasons. There is windy with rain showers, there is hot and windy, there is windy and hotter, there is windy with scattered snow and ice and sleet and frozen fog. Frozen fog? Who the heck even knew that fog would freeze? Not me!


I understand that my weather is not nearly as bad as those folks in the actual Midwest or Northeast or Rockies or even Scotland, for pity’s sake. But I am in Texas!


So, add to the things that I have learned since I moved to Texas this:


FOG FREEZES!


And not after it has become condensation on something - it freezes in the air!

10 comments:

Megnificent said...

Hope you're prepared for some snow today! We just got things to make chili, and rented movies...I think we're good to go!

The Park Wife said...

Beautiful picture! You have to love the unpredictability of the South, I love it!

The Park Wife said...

Beautiful picture! You have to love the unpredictability of the South, I love it!

Unknown said...

HA! I did not know that. Your area of TX gets all four. Mine? Gets about 2.5. I'm totally okay with that.

I hope you are feeling all better!!

Shorty said...

in nv. it is called "pogonip" by the WASHOE native americans. the weather folks say it is caused by the trees , fences , etc etal, temp is colder than the air therefor the moisture freezes to all the stuff.

Anonymous said...

That's a shimmery photo and loverly.
Unfortunately, Tulsa had some trees that looked very much like these, and they are now being sawed up and made into sawdust.

Pamela said...

yes. we get the freezing fog here, too. Isn't it lovely?

I wish I was there to eat cheese with you (to go with our whines)

Anonymous said...

We had some doozy ice storms in Ohio growing up. I think that's how nature prunes its trees. One year it looked like someone just took their hand and flat-topped all the trees. it took about 10 years for the woods to look normal again. Nasty stuff!

Emma in Canada said...

It sure is gorgeous though!

bichonpawz said...

Very pretty pic! Never knew that fog freezes!!

 
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