Sunday, February 15, 2015

Where In The World?

Another snowy weekend. In a few hours, while leaing on the shovel, I'll be dreaming of a place with perfect weather (i.e. no snow). Andy over on Fishwrap made a list of perfect places the other day. I thought I'd steal  borrow his list, make comments, and add a few of my own places.

1. Arizona - Desert southwest. Sounds warm in the Winter. Is it brutally hot in the Summer? That wouldn't bother me, I like hot and humid, but that kind of weather makes Himself whine. And what about haboobs? Those sand/dust storms? Sounds like shoveling sand might be involved. I don't want to shovel anything.

2. Portland, Oregon. The City of Roses (not Pasadena like you might think) Last week,  "Cousin" Alesia posted a picture of a beautiful, white rose, in full bloom! from her garden. Imagine it warm enough for roses to bloom in February? I hear a lot about the grey, rainy weather. Rain doesn't have to be shoveled, but I wouldn't want to have to pump out a basement. Gloomy weather can cause problems for me, but I have a special lamp for that. Besides, Al has talked about Voodoo Donoughts.  Besides, the Voodoo Doughnut doll on their webpage makes me laugh.

3. Austin, Texas. I've never been to Austin, but I've been to Dallas. Lots of cowboys! No, not the football team. Real cowboys. Chaps in chaps. I was in Dallas in July. The heat made my sandals melt to the pavement. Himself would whine about the heat. I'd get to see my frend, Fraue, more often as her parents are Minnesota snowbirds. But, don't they get snow in Texas? No shoveling is top of my list.

4. Seattle, Washington. With my Bostonian perspective, I'm thinking that's a lot like Portland, Oregon minus the Voodoo Doughnuts.

5. Los Angeles, San Diego, or San Francisco, California. I've been to LA (well, the San Fernando Valley). Liked it though traffic can be a drag along with earthquakes (didn't have one the three times I visited) and wild fires. Earthquakes might involve rubble, and that would need to be shoveled.

8. Tokyo, Japan. Andy's been there a lot. It's his favorite city, and he has family there.. He said it can get really cold. Cold wouldn't bother me. I'd have to learn a new language. Andy probably knows enough Japanese to get by and his wife is fluent in the language. The language barrier is putting this city in my no list.

9. New Mexico. I have friends who live in Eastern New Mexico. In the high desert. It gets cold there. Red posted a pic of her phone with the weather app. The temp was in the teens and colder than it was here. It snows, too. No shoveling.

10. Bermuda. I liked it when I visited there a life-time ago. Wouldn't need to learn another language. Not too hot. Not too cold. Beautiful beaches. Golf. Himself would like that. Just the worry about being in the middle of the Hurricane Highway. Ditto islands in the Carribbean.

11. Florida. No snow though it's gotten cold enough to freeze the citrus crops. Robin, do you worry about the hurricanes?

12. Australia. I have friends there. I know it can get really hot, but that would only bother Himself, not me. Wouldn't need to learn a foreign language per se, and I already know some of the slang. Possibilities here as long as I wouldn't have to eat the Vegemite.

13. Tasmania (still Australia). Friends have retired there. Haven't heard about snow or hurricanes

14. New Zealand. Scenery from the Lord of the Rings movies was gorgeous, and I am on the tall side as far as Hobbits go. Didn't Christchurch have a really bad earthquake a few years back?

If money was no object and you could pick up and move on a whim, where in the world would you live?

4 comments:

  1. My top four cities are probably Barcelona, Amsterdam, Cape Town, San Diego. I'd give New York a shot if I had money.

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  2. Hey CJ
    Portland wakes up almost every morning to rain-- but it's a fine kind of misty rain. Spent seven years there, never saw any downpour equivalent to what we get here. Seattle is a different story.

    No cowboys in Austin-- no snow either. It's an artsy town with just a SLIGHTLY less hipster style than Portland.

    I have no family in Tokyo-- my brother is about 200 miles away in Nagoya. In Tokyo there is enough English there that anybody can get by. It may not be good english, but then again neither is a lot of the english around here. Hands down my favorite city. Friendly, sprawling, an excellent transit system, vitality, it's like New York without the filth (lived there too).

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  3. Re: Florida. No, I don't worry about the hurricanes. Lived through Gloria in NY and the first year we were here lived through 4 major ones, including Charley. Did major damage but we survived. I would prefer weathering a hurricane. You have enough notice to prepare (or evacuate) the earth stays put under your feet and I don't have to worry about mud slides burying me or tornadoes whisking me off to Oz!

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  4. I would live on the coast, but I would like to visit Hawaii, Seattle, England, Ireland, Scotland and Costa Rica.

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