Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

I lived in southern California most of my life.  For the last 18 years, I’ve lived in southeast Arizona.  Both areas have mild weather, with few extremes.  Neither State has high humidity and little to no snow (except in the mountains).  Where I am in Arizona, it is nothing like Phoenix where summers are 100 to 120 degrees for weeks on end.

As my husband and I left home today for our daily walk at our local mall, and the cold air struck me.  It was the first time since February that I felt a real chill.  My car thermometer said it was 34 degrees, near freezing.  Because we seldom have extreme cold, I don’t have cold-weather attire.  This morning I was wearing jeans, a short sleeve blouse, a denim jacket and tennis shoes. I was shivering.  Tomorrow, I’ll wear my leather jacket, which is a little warmer than denim.

I have never understood how people tolerate living in extreme hot or extreme cold.  Although I would never choose to live anywhere that has snow storms and below zero temperatures, I can understand how wearing proper winter attire could make it tolerable.

On the other hand, I don’t see how people can endure living in punishing heat.  You can only remove so many clothes without being totally immodest.  In the Middle East, people wear thawbs and other “robe-like” garments to protect them from the sun and provide ventilation.  When it is 120 degrees, it seems to me that their thawbs cannot possibly keep them any cooler.  But then, I’ve never worn one.

Last year a record was broken in my city with the coldest day in the history of the area.  I had an appointment that day, so I had to go outside.  It was 8 degrees and windy.  My face hurt from the cold.  Remember, I do not own winter clothing.

The hottest temperature I was ever in was 117 degrees.  Before I went outside, knowing it was horribly hot I had to prepare my mind for the blast of hot air.

I was in Mississippi during the summer one year.  I walked out of my hotel room, and my glasses steamed up!  It was so humid; I could almost grab a handful of the air.

I’ve heard people say that they “get used to it,” both hot and cold.  If you live in extreme heat, I guess you learn to do your chores very early in the morning or late at night.  OK, so you can adjust your lifestyle, but your body cannot adjust to temperature, can it?

In the United States, there are few areas that do not experience very high temperatures, high humidity and/or freezing winters.  Since millions of people live in those areas, I imagine that for most, they’ve never experienced mild weather year round.  If that is all they ever know, are they simply mentally “used to it?”

I would be interested in feedback from those of you who live in areas with very hot summers, humidity and freezing winters.  How do you deal with it?

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