Yet another reason I love San Francisco: the weather.
I interviewed HGTV's David Bromstad Wednesday evening. (The article about that interview will be on AfterElton.com, and I'll link to it when it's published.) His show, Color Splash, is filmed here in the Bay Area, and he moved from Miami to San Francisco when he started doing the show. He loves San Francisco, but did indicate that he's kind of cold most of the time.
"I hate hot weather," I told him.
He paused. "Really?"
Really. I know most people like hot weather. They dream of vacations in Hawaii and tropical beaches and wearing shorts and sandals all year long. And that is so not me. I like the fog and the wind, and I'm in the mood for sunshine approximately as often as I am for snow, which is to say, about two weeks out of every year. A craving I would much rather fulfill by traveling to the place with snow or sun than living in it. Nothing makes me happier than getting up in the morning and having to put on a hooded sweatshirt and warm jacket to walk the dogs on mornings when, at my old home in Sonoma, my air conditioning would have already kicked on.
The western side of San Francisco, which is where I live and where I grew up, spends most of the summer tucked in a nice dripping fog bank, courtesy of the hot inland air meeting the cold, wet air blowing in off the Pacific Ocean.
When I was looking for a house when I moved back here after 16 years in the country, I restricted my search to the fog belt. Several friends said to me, while I was looking, "Well, just be sure not to get anything out there by the beach." They would shiver. "Too cold."
I'd just smile and think, all the more houses for me to look at. "No," I'd tell them, "I'm only looking in the fog belt. I hate the sun."
"A craving I would much rather fulfill by traveling to the place with snow or sun than living in it."
That's one of the lovely things about San Francisco, if you get tired of the ever-changeable weather, you can just pick up and go to the desert or the mountains or the wine country.
What am I doing stuck in the deep South? I'll never make a Bedouin either. (g)
Sometimes, when there's fog here, though, it's beautiful. You see things with different eyes in the fog. Sound is muffled, it's so quiet you can hear the trees dripping, the sun is huge and hazy and almost powerless against the mist in which things rise up then vanish as you walk in a world where you and your dog might be the only ones left. There's a kind of magic in fog.
Posted by: Gil. | 19 May 2007 at 04:42 PM
I hate hot weather. So, why have I been in Virginia since 1976? Good question.
Posted by: Cate | 19 May 2007 at 05:43 PM
Amen!! I DESPISE hot weather. Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it!!
Where do I live? In north Texas O bitter irony... I just hibernate for 5 or 6 months of the year.
Posted by: Barb Bristol | 19 May 2007 at 10:21 PM
I'm such a sun worshiper and love living in the Eastern part of Washington state. I couldn't imagine living in the rain and fog, I'm sure I'd mildew over :-). I'll take the dry heat and cold that comes with the territory here and I'll love it when it hits 90's. My dogs love the A/C and the shade though :-). I do suffer from the grey winters a bit, I need more sun!
Posted by: Alison Brendel | 20 May 2007 at 01:23 PM
Hear here! I went to college out in arizona...and I HATE heat. Hated it before, hate it after. I spent years hiding in ac'ed rooms. Luckily their winters are very cold and dry which is nice, but I want cold year round. I am moving to SF soon and you just helped me figure out where to look for houses. I actually stumbled on here researching (obsessing over) deerhounds. Seems like you have dug out quite a similar lifestyle to what I imagine for myself. Fog and noble dogs... I'm excited.
Posted by: devin | 30 May 2007 at 01:21 AM
San Francisco is a beautiful city and when people visit they see it in a tourists eyes. I grew up in San Francisco and the memories of North Beach, The Savoy and The Holy Cow. The people are really a certain culture with heart. I moved to Battle ground Washington...Dont ask...and I have really come to understand how luck I was with my upbring. Ways of thing and heart is so different. The smell of an ocean and teh savvy city street can not compare to any otehr city. And lets not forget the history of haight street! Mama and the papas..teh 60's...etc.
Posted by: Holly Wild | 21 June 2007 at 02:02 PM