This is so silly. It gets so hot during the summer where we currently live in north Texas, that I find myself scanning Twitter for winter images. I love looking at snow. It cools me off.
This is weird. Many people call me a weird person, so I’m in character. Still, there is something to be said for looking at things that calm you down, soothe you, make you feel better, put you in a better mental space. Don’t you think?
If more people would take a little time out to find pictures that lift you away from something that is bothering or angering you, the world would probably be a better place. So, here’s to snow images.
It’s logical that winter images help during the summer. We dream of cooler environs. Conversely, if you live in Marquette, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula (UP), as does a good buddy of mine, the yearning is for sun and warmer environs as February rolls around and over four feet of snow has fallen for the season, with more predicted. Find the sunshine and roll in it.
In the next few weeks, I will be moving back to the Milwaukee metro area. Having lived there for four years in the early 1980s, I know what I’m getting into when it comes to the winter. Batten down the hatches. Shovel the driveway multiple times. Warm up that car before you leave the house. No outdoor jogging for several months. Cabin fever. I’m looking forward to it all.
We’ve lived in Grapevine, Texas for 12 years, and it’s been an awesome community to call home. While we’ve been here, there’s an interesting quiz I often give people about where else in the country they might want to live. Most stick with Texas. But occasionally you get someone who can’t stand the heat and wants to head north. It’s fascinating to have that conversation because it seldom happens.
Recently I bumped into someone here in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area who had been transferred to Buffalo, NY. I asked him how he liked it (expecting the usual “We hated it” reply), and he said he and his wife “would move back in a heartbeat.” He loved the snow, the smaller city, the ease of getting around, lower cost of living, the winter and summer outdoor activities, the change of seasons, the ability to ski.
Similarly, I recently interviewed for a position in Milwaukee and one of the people interviewing me had moved there from Austin, TX, another hot spot (literally and figuratively) location to live in the U.S. today. I asked him why he’d left Texas, and he responded, “The heat.”
He had two kids and they had a pool in Austin, but he mentioned how after 10 a.m. it was too hot to allow the kids to stay out and play during the summer. He wanted a cooler climate.
Given the choice, different factors motivate us to live where we do. Primarily, jobs drive where we locate. If we are gainfully employed, enjoy what we do and make decent money, most of us will stay where we are. We know the landscape, have established friendships and networks. That’s a powerful pull.
Still, sometimes the snow calls. You dream of going outside in September and not busting into sweat taking the garbage down to the curb. On sweltering days, you find yourself retweeting images on Twitter of snow-capped mountains, icebergs and isolated frozen lakes. You dream of being there.
Sometimes you take that dreaming and follow through. We’ll see where it heads.
This is weird. Many people call me a weird person, so I’m in character. Still, there is something to be said for looking at things that calm you down, soothe you, make you feel better, put you in a better mental space. Don’t you think?
If more people would take a little time out to find pictures that lift you away from something that is bothering or angering you, the world would probably be a better place. So, here’s to snow images.
It’s logical that winter images help during the summer. We dream of cooler environs. Conversely, if you live in Marquette, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula (UP), as does a good buddy of mine, the yearning is for sun and warmer environs as February rolls around and over four feet of snow has fallen for the season, with more predicted. Find the sunshine and roll in it.
In the next few weeks, I will be moving back to the Milwaukee metro area. Having lived there for four years in the early 1980s, I know what I’m getting into when it comes to the winter. Batten down the hatches. Shovel the driveway multiple times. Warm up that car before you leave the house. No outdoor jogging for several months. Cabin fever. I’m looking forward to it all.
We’ve lived in Grapevine, Texas for 12 years, and it’s been an awesome community to call home. While we’ve been here, there’s an interesting quiz I often give people about where else in the country they might want to live. Most stick with Texas. But occasionally you get someone who can’t stand the heat and wants to head north. It’s fascinating to have that conversation because it seldom happens.
Recently I bumped into someone here in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area who had been transferred to Buffalo, NY. I asked him how he liked it (expecting the usual “We hated it” reply), and he said he and his wife “would move back in a heartbeat.” He loved the snow, the smaller city, the ease of getting around, lower cost of living, the winter and summer outdoor activities, the change of seasons, the ability to ski.
Similarly, I recently interviewed for a position in Milwaukee and one of the people interviewing me had moved there from Austin, TX, another hot spot (literally and figuratively) location to live in the U.S. today. I asked him why he’d left Texas, and he responded, “The heat.”
He had two kids and they had a pool in Austin, but he mentioned how after 10 a.m. it was too hot to allow the kids to stay out and play during the summer. He wanted a cooler climate.
Given the choice, different factors motivate us to live where we do. Primarily, jobs drive where we locate. If we are gainfully employed, enjoy what we do and make decent money, most of us will stay where we are. We know the landscape, have established friendships and networks. That’s a powerful pull.
Still, sometimes the snow calls. You dream of going outside in September and not busting into sweat taking the garbage down to the curb. On sweltering days, you find yourself retweeting images on Twitter of snow-capped mountains, icebergs and isolated frozen lakes. You dream of being there.
Sometimes you take that dreaming and follow through. We’ll see where it heads.
