Retirement Talk
WHAT to do with the rest of your life? |
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Episode 161
Weather
Be it a funeral or a football game; a party or a class on
cooking; weather is the safe topic to start a conversation. Everyone has an
opinion. And as a matter of fact, one is as good as the other. It is a topic I
try to avoid, but it isn’t easy.
This is Retirement Talk. I’m Del Lowery.
“You never want to let the weather dictate what you do with
your life”. That is a line I use to recite to the kids whenever we wanted to go
hiking or skiing. We were living in
Alaska
and it seemed like weather might matter. But it seemed like the weather would
change so much from one mountain valley or range to another that you could
never tell exactly what the weather might be before you actually got on site.
The kids seemed to always be content to stay in the house and read or play
games and I was always trying to figure out a way to get them out of the house
and into the great outdoors. It wasn’t an easy task.
Listening or watching weather forecasts are not part of our
life habits. I always like to just look out the window or walk outdoors to
check it personally. We grew up in
Iowa
and the weather was, by necessity, most important. Farmers are always concerned
with the chance of rain, wind, snow or tornados. Their days are lived within
the confines of weather daily forecasts, and in many cases, hourly. The
morning, noon and night weather and market reports are required information. I
suppose it is the same for any profession that is outdoor dependent.
Retirement grants us an opportunity to take a close look at
weather and how it might affect our daily lives. Many are the retired people
who move miles from where they have worked to live a more comfortable life in
their later years. They want to live where the sun always shines. They want to
live where they don’t have to shovel snow. They want to live where they can
enjoy outdoor recreational activities year round; thus the flight of snowbirds
to the south.
The southern edge of American from
Florida
to
Southern California
continually blooms as
favorite retirement havens. We drove through the south last year during the
winter and I must admit the weather was nice. Living in the
Pacific
Northwest
the warm sun does good thing for the body and soul. We left in the midst of a snowstorm and within
two days were in our shirtsleeves and riding our bikes. Temperatures were
comfortable. But then there is the
summer. The temperatures sore to over 100 degrees in the summer. I hate hot
weather.
Weather was one of the considerations when we look around
for a possible move during our retirement years. We wanted a place that did not
get too hot – like over 90 degrees, nor too cold – like below freezing. We
wanted the Goldlocks type of thing – something “just right”. Well, I’m not sure
it exists. We settled in a place where it rarely gets to 90 degrees and only
very rarely gets below freezing. It does reach those temperatures but not often;
most of the time it is temperate. The complaint concerning weather in this part
of the country is the rain; that and the cloudy days. We’ve learned to adjust
and for the most part like our weather.
I have a sister that lives in
Phoenix
; the summer temperatures hit 110 plus
in the summer. She likes it. We meet a woman in
Sarasota
on our road trip and she loves
Sarasota
in the summer when the temperature and humidity soar. Does the heat bother
these people? Not in the least. They rise early in the morning to run errands
or work outside and then hold up in air conditioned homes or building the rest
of the day. Not a problem. I probably should try it sometime.
I recall driving down town in
Phoenix
and
Sarasota
and seeing few to any people. I guess they drive downtown in air conditioned
cars and park in underground garages. They step into air conditioned elevators,
offices and stores and are never exposed to the outdoor temperatures.
Our son went to school in
Palo Alto
,
California
.
When asked about the weather he replied, “We don’t have any weather here. It is
always the same – always nice.” He missed the snow and storms in
Alaska
. And when he
settled into a career it was back in
Alaska
.
I think weather had something to do with it.
I still think the idea of not letting the weather dictate
what you do with your life is valid. A person can’t do a lot about it; other
than move. Then you get into many other factors that can influence your life. When
we looked around for our retirement place we considered: size of community,
proximity to large cities, and the presence of salt water and mountains. We
also wanted to live in a University town just for the cultural contribution and
the addition of young people to our town. Weather isn’t everything.
This is Retirement Talk.
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