Orlando Winters

I lived the first 33 years of my life in the Midwest. Changing seasons were a given, some better than others. Starting in mid-November and lasting until early April, I was relegated to the cold. There might be weeks where car washes wouldn’t open. I might see the sun one day a week. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? That’s Chicago. In all fairness, December wasn’t too bad. It’s a great place to be for Christmas and the deep freeze hasn’t yet set. January and February are miserable. Anyone that tells you different is either a masochist or in real estate.

Seasons still change in Florida; it’s varying degrees of hot and humid, it rains more in the summer, and every winter day feels like the best of fall days in Chicago, except in Orlando those days last for three months. Everyone said the summers would be brutal. Those people have never lived in Delhi, which hot season ranges from 50 degree heat (that Celsius, folks) to humidity that makes Orlando feel like a desert. In Orlando this summer, there was a heat advisory when it topped 90. In India, I wore a sport coat to work to stay warm when the temperature hovered around that same mark. But this is a post about winter.

Here are the bad parts of living in Orlando in the winter:

¨       It’s too cold to use the pool; that is, unless you’re willing to pay to keep it warm (note, this does not apply to the hot tub)

¨       Some days get too cold to wear flip flops (not that it keeps me from wearing them; I’m a little like the annoying kid at school that wore shorts the first day it broke 50 except I’m wearing flip flops so what do I care)

¨       Having been conditioned with a life of Illinois winters, it gets dark earlier than you would expect given the temperature (in fact, the length of the day is the only thing that winter in Florida has in common with winter in Illinois).

¨       It’s annoying to fly to colder climates because you get hot in the airport when dressed for your destination

¨       It doesn’t snow on Christmas

That’s it. Those are the only bad parts. And since you typically experience a white Christmas about as often as you elect a Senator, the “no snow” thing is quickly negated by the fact I can eat breakfast outside next to the pool I’m too cheap to heat.

You might ask yourself, “but John, you’re an awesome skier, don’t you miss the snow?” Just because one lives in a climate where snow routinely appears in winter (and quickly transforms into some sort of gray, frozen sludge) without a mountain in sight doesn’t mean you’re close to a location with decent skiing. I’m a 90 minute further flight to Denver from Orlando than I was from Chicago. When you take into account total travel time, I could probably argue that my house in Orlando is closer to the slopes than my house was in Chicago (but don’t get be started on O’Hare and traffic). If I want to see snow, I know where to go and how to get there.

As you can tell, I don’t miss the weather in Chicago. I’ve become one of those annoying warm weather people. And I’m OK with that.