I am still getting used to the weather here. The weather in the Bay Area wasn’t exactly boring, but it wasn’t quite as dramatic as it is here. The summer highs are higher, the winter lows are lower, and when it rains her it rains. The average rainfall for my town in the Bay Area was 13.3 inches per year. Here, the average is 33.5 inches. That’s a pretty significant difference. But what I’m noticing most is that the frequency and duration of rain isn’t much different, just the quantity that falls from the sky. Since I don’t have to go out much, I’m finding that I really like it. I just love looking out the window and watching it pour. I’m sure my feelings on this will change significantly when I am forced to drive on these rainsoaked roads.
We knew when we moved here that the summers would be much hotter than we had in the bay. When I told people where I was moving, nearly every one said “It’s so hot there!” True, the average temperature in July is 98 here (only 91 in our previous area), but we have an efficient air conditioning unit, a small house, and electricity from the local municipality is hydrogenerated and cheap. We are also contemplating a pool, to make those summer months more bearable.
The winter has been colder than we were used to, and we even had a light dusting of snow a few weeks ago. It’s the best kind of snow too – just a few inches to cover everything and look really pretty, then it’s gone by the next day. All the fun and none of the shovelling.
Our heater is natural gas. We keep hearing about how gas prices are going to go sky high, so we are trying to be wise with our heating. During the day we are setting the temp between 65 and 67, and during the night we set it at 62. That may seem a bit cold, but we wear sweatshirts during the day, and have a nice quilt and comforter to curl under at night.
I also have a secret weapon: a little five-pound “hot rock” in the form of a cat named Bill. I sleep on my side, and rarely am I in bed more than a few minutes before Bill walks up my legs and curls up on top of my ribs. Even as I flop around during the night, he repositions to take his rightful place in the world: on top of me. I told Beau Hunk I was saving on the heating bill by using The Heating Bill. Now when I see him curled up on the floor in a puddle of sunshine, I smile, knowing that he’s recharging his little heating cells so he can keep me warm at night. It’s the ultimate in eco-friendly heat sources.