The coldest winter I ever spent was the summer in San Francisco- Mark Twain (but apparently not Twain?)
You here this quote a lot around here.
I didn’t get it. Nearly every single day since my arrival on September 10 was amazing. Sunny, mild days. I had lucked out as for some reason I believed the weather would be comparable to Seattle.
A native Californian clued me in and said “that is because you have heard the complaints of natives. They have it so good here that they just don’t even know what a bad, rainy winter is all about.”
If you have lived on the West coast of the Pacific Northwest and Chicago like I have, winters elsewhere can hardly get worse. Maybe Alaska, but I have lived there too. And let’s not forget all that time in 500-700 year old houses in France with only wood fire.
...Commence the fog.
They weren’t kidding. I live 2 miles from the ocean. For the last few weeks, it is just white, everywhere. I sleep later, as if it is winter due to the dark gloominess. I find myself wanting to stay inside and drink tea and read books. But the trippy thing is, just drive up the hill a few minutes and blue skies, warm weather.
I lived in a teeny mountain village in Galicia once where the fog was so mood altering, I had my bouts with cabin fever, claustrophobia. I find myself walking along here and having memories of that Spanish fog.
In Alaska, I welcomed the fog. We were so busy at our fancy, remote lodge that the blanket of fog, brought us into the yin energy–calm and thoughtful.
These days, I find myself driving a lot to find the sun. It’s hard to stay put in the dark and cold when you know just over the hill the sun shines bright. I plan on escaping to Napa often this summer where it gets too hot. 106 degrees. My Mediterranean blood craves the heat.
I keep on instagramming the fog as I am just so enamored by it. Coming in from town, all is clear and then you creep up the hill and it’s starts swirling about, all mystical like. And then...white out. You can’t see a thing.
It's fun. It will push my moods for sure, but I like the calm, I like the photographs. I look forward to seeing what this winter-summer brings!