See Me Squeegee

It’s late January in Detroit.  And Chicago, and Minneapolis, and, well everywhere, but throughout the Midwest and Northeast.  And there many are wishing they lived somewhere warmer – down South or in the Southwest.  And in those places, they can’t imagine living north.

Demographic trends show this.  Southern and southwestern states are gaining population while those in the “Rust Belt” are losing it, and while some of this is due to immigration patterns and jobs, there’s still that stigma that “who would want to live where it’s cold when you could instead live where it’s warm?”.

So as I sit here in Southern California, having closed a window on January 27th because the ocean wind is picking up tonight, I have this to say:

There’s a case to be made for Midwestern weather, namely:

1) The “unbearable” days in the Midwest are the shortest; in the south and desert southwest, they’re the longest.

Yeah, in the Midwest there are some awful days. Heavy snow making commutes horrible; temperatures below zero; a lack of sun for more than a week at a time.  But think about when those days come – December, January, and February.  Those are the shortest days of the year.  I live in Los Angeles. It was 70 degrees at the  beach today…but it was dark by 6:30.  And in Phoenix or Orlando or Houston, those warm-weather hotbeds, it was probably a gorgeous day, too.  But it was dark long before 7pm, as it was in Detroit and Chicago.

The difference – in those eternally warm places,these are among the best days of the year.  By May it will be over 100 degrees much of the time, and you can certainly argue that those days are every bit as unbearable as the below-zero days in the Midwest (more on this in a second).  But these are the *best* days in the South; the best days in the north are in the summer, when it’s light out until 9 or later.  In the Midwest, the best days for being outside are the longest days of the year.

So if you accept that in most places – and I’ll fully admit that here in Santa Monica we really don’t have to choose, but then again a small fraction of the world has this coastal Mediterranean climate – have at least a couple months of lousy weather, the Midwest  makes out really well on the deal.  The best days are the longest and the worst are the shortest.  And…

2) It’s easier to warm up outside than it is to cool off

I’m a distance runner.  I grew up in Detroit.  And there weren’t more than 2-3 days in any given year that I couldn’t run outside.  If you dress for it, winter weather is pretty manageable, especially nowadays with lightweight, insulated clothing for active sports.  With a thermal layer, you can ski or run or walk in pretty much any weather.  And even without – as kids we had a habit of playing basketball on New Year’s Eve every year, since our parents would typically all gather at one family’s house and leave the kids playing in the basement or outside.  And the only thing that truly hurt was your hands once you ran them under water after coming inside (it’s awful…worst pain I’ve experienced but it lasts maybe twenty seconds) to get the feeling back.

The point?  Cold weather doesn’t prohibit you from outdoor activities.  And some are actually fantastic – skiing, sledding, snowball-fighting, pond hockey.  You just have to dress for it.  But in the heat of summer in Phoenix or New Orleans?  Forget about it – you can’t work out outdoors past mid-morning for fear of heat stroke; you sweat through your clothes within minutes of walking outdoors.  When it comes to extremes, warm weather is more of a deterrent than cold-weather when it comes to most recreational activities.

So is scraping windshields and shoveling driveways a bummer? Sure.  But as much of a nuisance as cold weather can be, I’d argue it beats the alternative when it comes to livability.

3) A common opponent

It’s easy to scoff at those who say they “love the seasons” or that “cold weather builds character”, but I truly believe this to be true: a winter’s worth of snow, ice, and cold benefits the community all year round, and it’s because winter weather provides everyone in the community with a common opponent.

Think about it – as a society we don’t have all that much in common.  It used to be that there were three channels on TV and a community gathering place in the center of town and people had things in common because there just weren’t many things overall.  But now – there are hundreds of channels on cable, plus people watch a lot of TV on their own schedule with DVR or Hulu or entire TV series on Netflix.  We don’t listen to communal radio, as everyone has an iPod or a 12-disc changer in their (old) car.  Newspapers are nearly dead – most news nowadays is national and partisan.  There’s not much you have to talk or care about with someone who just happens to live nearby.  Except the weather.

And the common opponent of cold weather is a great one for bringing people together.  When it snows heavily, you drive more carefully and let people go in front of you.  You see neighbors shoveling driveways or digging their car out from a drift, and you help them because they’d do the same for you.  You mention the weather to the people in line at Starbucks, you tell people to “stay warm out there” as you hold the door for them.  You’re all in it together.

And then spring comes, and you rejoice together because you suffered together.  On the first really nice day of spring, you can’t help but say “great day, huh?” as you pass someone on the street.  You wave to people on bikes or out jogging because you know how much the great weather means to them.  There’s something about suffering and achieving together – that’s what made the Greatest Generation so great, through the Depression and WWII.  And with winter weather, communities have that.

Here in Los Angeles, our common opponent is traffic, which is a terrible common opponent to have in that its very nature is “too many people”.  So it’s not really a common opponent – because you’re one of those people to me, I’m against you, and vice versa.  Your very presence on the road exacerbates my greatest daily challenge.  And we don’t have that same kind of community.

Now, certainly I’m romanticizing the common-opponent function of weather.  Not every day in Buffalo or Minneapolis is “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street”.  But I have noticed it time and again, and the every-few-years’ storm here in California where it pours rain for days a time is actually one of my favorite LA traditions. People are just nicer to each other, friendlier to each other, because for that stretch we’re all in it together.  We should all have a common opponent, and winter weather is a great one.

So what’s my point?  This time of year, many in the Midwest see the grass as greener down south or out in the desert.  Some take a trip to Florida or the Caribbean; others think about moving to Phoenix or Vegas.  My point – don’t move to Phoenix or Vegas.  Or inland SoCal, for that matter.  It’s a bad trade, giving up the great days / long days combination, the common opponent, and the ability to acclimate yourself to lousy weather with nothing more than $50 and an REI membership.  There’s something to be said for Midwestern weather, even if you’re only looking at the warm/cold “when can I go outside” factor and even if you’re not taking into account green grass, fall leaves, snow days and that first day in spring where girls bare their shoulders again and teachers hold classes outside and everyone acts like a lottery winner because there’s something about that freshness of spring.  Midwestern weather – winter weather – is its own reward in many ways, and I’d argue that it beats nearly every other climate out there when it comes to livability.

So enjoy it, Midwesterners, for you’re the lucky ones.  And if you need me, I’ll be at the beach.  Nobody has anything on coastal southern California.