Hot Florida Cooler Than Up North

I was running late this morning around my neighborhood in the summer heat and humidity, intending to complete my "standard" 7.18 mile course. I had to cut it short at 5.69 miles because, although the TV local weather channel had the temperature and humidity at manageable 87-degree, 67% levels, it seemed much, much more humid, closer to 80%. Well, I thought, that's Florida in the summer: I guess I got what I deserved deciding to continue living here. And then I turned on the news.

The reigning news story at the moment is the extreme heat wave crisis affecting much of the country NORTH of me. It is hitting the New York City area especially hard, with their power grid being taxed to the breaking point due to the high demand for air conditioning. And for those who decide to go to the beach and get in the water to cool off? Forget it: warnings are out there now about the presence of waste in the offshore water.

No, knowing how bad it is elsewhere still doesn't make it pleasant here. But I've seen this sort of phenomenon before, when excruciating conditions would affect places known more for their cooler conditions. What makes Florida an attractive place over others, though, is its wintertime weather conditions.

During the winter, it can get pretty cold here at times. But it is almost always a DRY cold, without the annoying and dangerous sleet and snowstorms that my friends living further up north (and hopefully not baking in the current heat) have to contend with. Still, there is that other place...

I have checked out the Pacific coastal northwest and have concluded that this is the ideal weather place to live. Never too hot, never too cold. Yes, Coos Bay in southwestern coastal Oregon, where track legend Steve Prefontaine grew up and went to school, sounds like the perfect spot. Well, maybe until that future offshore earthquake sends a tsunami ashore and wipes the town off the map!

...Maybe I should instead just "count my blessings" and appreciate the good things about northern Florida while realizing that every place has its down-side.