Yeah, exactly. Winters in LA or LA might be different. But, winters in places with months and months of snow are awful. You can’t do much outside because it’s too cold. You can’t have your windows open to get some fresh air because it’s too cold. You can dress properly to do outdoor activities, but it often requires so many layers that it’s really uncomfortable. Plus, you can’t have any gaps. Your neck, wrists, ankles are often places where the cold can get in, or worse they can get wet and being cold and wet is awful.
In addition, the world is just miserable in winter. There’s almost nothing alive outside other than other humans. No grass, many trees lose all their leaves, birds migrate away, everything is shades of grey or brown. Christmas can be fun, and it’s no coincidence that it’s celebrated almost exactly on the darkest day of the year. That’s when we need a lot of pretty lights and cheer. But, Christmas is just the beginning of winter. What follows is months of gloomy grey cold.
And, while there are outdoor winter sports, you need special footwear for all of them because of the snow and ice. You can’t even walk across a field or a park without extra effort because of all the snow. Even key winter sports like skating or hockey, if played outside, require that you at a minimum spend a lot of time shovelling all the snow off the ice surface. For a good experience you also have to flood and smooth the ice periodically. So, it’s a lot of work.
Having said all that, if I had to choose between -30 and +40, I’d probably choose -30, because at least you can put on appropriate gear for that and spend some time outside doing something fun. It may be dark and it may be grey, but it’s possible to dress for the weather. When it’s too hot, you really can’t spend any time outside, without risking your life, and it certainly isn’t possible to do anything active. But if the choice is between -30 and +30, give me the +30 any day.
Also, you’re sliiiightly overstating how little you can do in the summer hot times. It’s not a “risking your life” scenario every time… Recreation just switches to an early morning or post-sundown schedule. I usually still get 3-4 hours of sports activities on a saturday or sunday. Plus you get fun things like all the animals that are crepuscular being out and about, so you’ll have ospreys flying over your heads with a fish, or squirrels doing races around the fencetops.
You’d really have liked it if I started talking about how the winters in Ontario, CA are much more pleasant than the ones in Ontario, CA.
Recreation just switches to an early morning or post-sundown schedule.
Ah, right. I hadn’t considered that. It’s interesting that the places with the most brutal heat are the ones with a relatively early sunset. In 2023 Oslo hit 32 degrees, not that hot by international standards, but combine that with the fact it happened on June 15th and the sun never fully sets at that time of year, and it’s hard to find relief.
I usually still get 3-4 hours of sports activities on a saturday or sunday.
Do you live somewhere where the mid-day heat is 35+C? 40+C? To me, those are the only ones where it’s truly brutal and I might prefer long, harsh winters. OTOH, human culture hasn’t really found a great way to deal with brutally cold winters. There are winter solstice celebrations, but no adjustment of the schedule of life to avoid the worst of the cold. But, in places with really hot summers there’s often a tradition of mid-day naps, and I could really get on board with that lifestyle.
Uh… off the top of my head calculations, 40C is equivalent to 104F? I think my summer days get to just below that, on average. Hottest recorded ever was 109F, but that was at an airport, so lots of concrete and very high amounts of heat producing engines may have ticked that up a degree or two.
I think my rowing activities average about 30C when we start, and the courtside fun a hair or two higher. We try to stop by the time it gets close to 39C. Even with a breeze you can’t really sustain activity by then. That’s when we go to get lunch and then, yep, sleep.
Anyone saying summer ‘only has good pr’ doesn’t have winters like that.
I see summer as a nice relief from the depressing winter
Yeah, exactly. Winters in LA or LA might be different. But, winters in places with months and months of snow are awful. You can’t do much outside because it’s too cold. You can’t have your windows open to get some fresh air because it’s too cold. You can dress properly to do outdoor activities, but it often requires so many layers that it’s really uncomfortable. Plus, you can’t have any gaps. Your neck, wrists, ankles are often places where the cold can get in, or worse they can get wet and being cold and wet is awful.
In addition, the world is just miserable in winter. There’s almost nothing alive outside other than other humans. No grass, many trees lose all their leaves, birds migrate away, everything is shades of grey or brown. Christmas can be fun, and it’s no coincidence that it’s celebrated almost exactly on the darkest day of the year. That’s when we need a lot of pretty lights and cheer. But, Christmas is just the beginning of winter. What follows is months of gloomy grey cold.
And, while there are outdoor winter sports, you need special footwear for all of them because of the snow and ice. You can’t even walk across a field or a park without extra effort because of all the snow. Even key winter sports like skating or hockey, if played outside, require that you at a minimum spend a lot of time shovelling all the snow off the ice surface. For a good experience you also have to flood and smooth the ice periodically. So, it’s a lot of work.
Having said all that, if I had to choose between -30 and +40, I’d probably choose -30, because at least you can put on appropriate gear for that and spend some time outside doing something fun. It may be dark and it may be grey, but it’s possible to dress for the weather. When it’s too hot, you really can’t spend any time outside, without risking your life, and it certainly isn’t possible to do anything active. But if the choice is between -30 and +30, give me the +30 any day.
You… I like you.
Also, you’re sliiiightly overstating how little you can do in the summer hot times. It’s not a “risking your life” scenario every time… Recreation just switches to an early morning or post-sundown schedule. I usually still get 3-4 hours of sports activities on a saturday or sunday. Plus you get fun things like all the animals that are crepuscular being out and about, so you’ll have ospreys flying over your heads with a fish, or squirrels doing races around the fencetops.
You’d really have liked it if I started talking about how the winters in Ontario, CA are much more pleasant than the ones in Ontario, CA.
Ah, right. I hadn’t considered that. It’s interesting that the places with the most brutal heat are the ones with a relatively early sunset. In 2023 Oslo hit 32 degrees, not that hot by international standards, but combine that with the fact it happened on June 15th and the sun never fully sets at that time of year, and it’s hard to find relief.
Do you live somewhere where the mid-day heat is 35+C? 40+C? To me, those are the only ones where it’s truly brutal and I might prefer long, harsh winters. OTOH, human culture hasn’t really found a great way to deal with brutally cold winters. There are winter solstice celebrations, but no adjustment of the schedule of life to avoid the worst of the cold. But, in places with really hot summers there’s often a tradition of mid-day naps, and I could really get on board with that lifestyle.
Uh… off the top of my head calculations, 40C is equivalent to 104F? I think my summer days get to just below that, on average. Hottest recorded ever was 109F, but that was at an airport, so lots of concrete and very high amounts of heat producing engines may have ticked that up a degree or two.
I think my rowing activities average about 30C when we start, and the courtside fun a hair or two higher. We try to stop by the time it gets close to 39C. Even with a breeze you can’t really sustain activity by then. That’s when we go to get lunch and then, yep, sleep.
Ouch. Good to know it’s possible though.
We’re winters do suck. Snowy winters are my jam though, even with the lack of day light, the snow and quiet make up for it.
Hot humid summers, and especially mosquitoes, can fuck right off. The extra daylight is nice though