[Aces4]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Why does it have to be either-or? Both realities have their attractions.

I admit to being nervous about moving here because of the "horrible heat" mantra I heard from so many others. But after nearly four years here now, full-time, I've come to the happy realization that I LOVE the heat of a Florida summer. More than a Florida winter, as a matter of fact. Summers are greener and thus far more attractive to the eye than winter here. I walk 5-6 miles a day and that doesn't stop when summer comes: I just walk a bit more slowly and try to remember my water bottle, but even if I forget I can count on people in golf carts stopping to offer me a ride or even (as has happened many times) a bottle of water! Besides the halfway point of my walk happens to be a Publix store: Spend a couple of bucks more or less on an ice-cold 20-ounce bottle of unsweetened iced tea and I'm all primed and ready for the stretch run. And golf--who doesn't like knowing that you can pretty much go to the course of your choice at any time after 12:00 noon and get on? Sure, it's hot--but fewer people and overall prettier courses are big advantages.

My experience with winter happens to be Minnesota where I lived year-round for 70-odd years, many of those years in or north of Duluth, and as Mark Twain once observed, the worst winter he ever spent was a summer in Duluth. Yeah, it's cold--I remember walking for a mile the morning the cold temp. record of -60 (not windchill, but actual temperature) was recorded. And you can count on snow on the ground usually for six months out of the year in the more northern reaches of the North Star State. (Not this year, but they deserved a break from Mama Nature). But Minnesotans have a pretty unique way of dealing with winter. Snowshoe baseball, for example. XC skiing. Ice fishing. Hockey. Water skips...for those unknowing, water skips are organized events held on frozen lakes where a long rectangular hole about 100 yards or so long is cut in the ice, and people try to ride a snowmobile on the open water from one end to the other. It can be done; the key being enough speed when you hit the water so that the machine planes out and doesn't sink. A fun part of such entertainment is usually at the end, when people try to set the record of "most people on a snowmobile driving over open water" (or some such). At one event I saw eleven people, admittedly pretty well oiled up on peppermint schnapps, try it. Unfortunately they sank about 10 yards short of the goal. But after the eleven plus their machine were fished out, festivities continued on as usual.

Overall I'll take summers here over winters there, mainly because my arthritis slackens dramatically in the heat of a Florida summer. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy both.

Duluth… ouch, no wonder you’re happy with your arthritis in The Villages.

[MacScuba]

Don’t focus on two humid months, enjoy the nice ten months. From a Michigander.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by Rzepecki

The summers here are hot and humid, but I prefer that weather to no sun and the endless gray days of Michigan. I was here through Irma and was not trapped in my house. I chose not to go out, but I wasn’t forced to stay in.

Lol.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Aces4

And turn into tropical storms or tornadoes. Stay alert when one is forecast.

Always alert. Just not a Panicky Pete...

[frayedends]

Okay it is pretty up here in spring. But I've been listening to ice crashing down all night. Had to go out and move my car from under a tree. I'm pretty sure I would rather Florida year round.

And to think last week my wife was suggesting I open the pool early.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by frayedends

Okay it is pretty up here in spring. But I've been listening to ice crashing down all night. Had to go out and move my car from under a tree. I'm pretty sure I would rather Florida year round.

And to think last week my wife was suggesting I open the pool early.

If you do, make sure you turn on the circulator!

[rustyp]

How to survive summer in the south

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN0vG9cXDKE&t=7s

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by frayedends

Okay it is pretty up here in spring. But I've been listening to ice crashing down all night. Had to go out and move my car from under a tree. I'm pretty sure I would rather Florida year round.

And to think last week my wife was suggesting I open the pool early.

Nice picture, that’s very similar to what it looks like right now at our home up north. Very glad to NOT be there and instead be swimming, golfing, and bike riding in the Villages : )

[PoolBrews]

Originally Posted by Aces4

But the value is corrupted. We have friends who live full-time in Florida and they all say the summer heat in murder. At least when it is cold, people can go out during the daytime and don't have to stay housebound. I'm only suggesting the OP consider the downside of full-time Florida living when he could alter his schedule to have it all.

We have a lot of friends, and their thoughts don't support your comment that "all say the summer heat is murder". Many of them are snowbirds, but many are also year round here in Florida. Of those that are here in Florida, only a few think it's too hot in the summer. We are part of the group that live here year round. It's a matter of adjusting over time. If you are snowbirds, then you never really adjust. I would bet that the majority of snowbirds thinks it's too hot here in the summer AND too cold up north in the winter. They are no longer adjusted to any extremes.

For us (originally from Michigan), the big difference is that when up north in the coldest part of winter, you were stuck in your home with nothing to do and running the heater. If you went outside, it was uncomfortable - period. There was not much of anywhere to go, and certainly nothing to do outside. Here in Florida, in the hottest parts of summer, you can sit inside with air conditioning (no different than running heat up north), but you can also go out and enjoy a pool. In addition, the temps are much better early in the morning and late in the evening, so you can still get out and do something. Coming from Michigan, the coldest part of winter was far longer than the hottest part of summer in Florida.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by PoolBrews

originally from Michigan

I'm sorry about that....





go buckeyes

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by LuvNH

I know I should not, but I am going to ask .... why are you going out? Can you really not manage for a day to wait for this to melt?, or do you have a death wish

Because if you have live most of your life in the north, going out even In sketchy weather has been a norm your whole life.

When our kids went to college in the south, the first snow (1” using snow term loosely) jumped in their 4x4 to go shopping, cause that’s what you do when school is closed, no ski lodge available.

I still remember their first phone call “Every thing is closed what is wrong with people is just Snow”

Bonus for our son, he would pick up all the employees in his Jeep, drive to their restaurant, only place open. Made a killing because it snowed an inch, making everyone happy there was hot food.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Because if you have live most of your life in the north, going out even In sketchy weather has been a norm your whole life.

When our kids went to college in the south, the first snow (1” using snow term loosely) jumped in their 4x4 to go shopping, cause that’s what you do when school is closed, no ski lodge available.

I still remember their first phone call “Every thing is closed what is wrong with people is just Snow”

Bonus for our son, he would pick up all the employees in his Jeep, drive to their restaurant, only place open. Made a killing because it snowed an inch, making everyone happy there was hot food.

Ye Gods! If England had an inch of snow, the country would grind to a total halt.
Half an inch is enough to close schools, non-essential services and all public transport.
Successive generations have no idea how to live with, or handle the stuff.
Not so bad in Scotland as they still get plenty of the white stuff.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Ye Gods! If England had an inch of snow, the country would grind to a total halt.
Half an inch is enough to close schools, non-essential services and all public transport.
Successive generations have no idea how to live with, or handle the stuff.
Not so bad in Scotland as they still get plenty of the white stuff.

Forget about England...if it snowed an inch in TV, most not all would be in a total panic. Everybody knows how to operate in the heat of summer. Not so much if you encounter snow/ice unless you're from the north

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Forget about England...if it snowed an inch in TV, most not all would be in a total panic. Everybody knows how to operate in the heat of summer. Not so much if you encounter snow/ice unless you're from the north

I was under the impression that TV population were all from the North!
None seem to find anything local as good as it was "up North!"

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

I was under the impression that TV population were all from the North!
None seem to find anything local as good as it was "up North!"

I can't speak to the origins of 150K residents of TV General Lee...Also, I think that there is a lot of good give and take on here regardless of where you came from. Unfortunately you sometimes have to deal with some early settlers to TV that have done so lock stock and barrel, have no other comparisons to draw from anymore....and think we all think the same on a host of issues presented on this forum. Breaking News sir...it doesn't and we dont