Where are you from?

[LilyJo]

Having spent a great deal of time lately following American politics (dont worry I know better than to start something so divisive!) it occured to me that SMF has lots of people from all over the world but a great many from the States.

Like many people I have a cursory working knowledge of US geography - I kind of know which States are East and West coast but not a whole lot in between nor an insight into how different the weather can be across the US other than sweeping generalisations West coast is hot and sunny East is more unpredictable, like the UK but more extreme.....I think!

I know some of us/you have a little info on your profiles but lots of people dont - I wonder if any of you would care to share a bit just so I can get a handle on where you are and what life is like there.

Dont mind starting - I'm based in Hampshire which is in the South of the UK. The weather here is pretty mild most of the year (although its really cold by our standards at the moment!) compared to other areas, its a relatively wealthy area although like most places it has pockets of deprivation but in general I would say its better off than many areas in the Midlands or the North. London is about an hour from me by train and the sea is about the same.

I guess Im Just curious as I hear some of you talk about the humidity or taking long drives and its hard to picture or put a pin in a virtual map to understand the differences.

 

[Susie]

I am from Louisiana in the states, which is the state that, unfortunately, houses New Orleans. It is hot, humid, and is prone to occasional hurricanes. However, the Cajun people (my people) are warm, friendly, never met a stranger, invite you to their house for supper on first meeting sorts of folks. So they more than make up for the weather.

I now live next door in Texas. It is also hot and humid, as I live in the eastern portion, close to Louisiana.

 

[toxikon]

Hi! I live in a little Northern Ontario city smackdab in the middle of the Great Lakes. I'm Canadian, but right now at work, I am literally 5 minutes from the American border (where our sister city is). So I do plenty of border crossing for shopping. Some groceries are much cheaper bought in the States!

Our winters are cold and long. Snow starts around Halloween and isn't completely gone until late April usually. Our winter temperatures vary anywhere from 0C (like right now) to -25C. Summers are nice with temperatures up to 25C. Surrounded by beautiful wildlife and the Lake Superior coast is beautiful for camping and swimming in the summer.

Love living here! The closest Canadian city to us is a 3 hour drive!

 

[dixiedragon]

I'm in Alabama, which is in the Southeastern US. I tell non-US folk I am 10 hrs drive west of Disney World and 3 days drive south of New York, just to give them some points of reference.

Weather wise - right now we're having a very warm winter, it's in the 60s (15C) today. We've had a few days in the 80s (27C) which is unusual for us. Christmas Day was also in the 80s. We very rarely get snow - an average of 1 inch a year, which usually means no snow 2 years of 3 and then a "big" snow in one year - aka 3 inches. The states along the Gulf Coast - Texas, Louisiana, Missippi, Georgia, Florida - become paralyzed by snow and ice. We laugh at ourselves about it, but we don't have snow equipment b/c we rarely need it.

In 2014 we had what we still call Snowmageddon:
http://yellowhammernews.com/faithandculture/alabamas-snowmageddon-2014-eyes-living/

This was probably an average winter day in a lot of places, but lots of us got stuck. I myself had to hike to a hotel where my company had managed to book two rooms. A lot of people spent the night at where I work - both employees and people who were stuck near by. My office is in an area with a lot of business and we work right beside an intersection in that office park where a lot of cars were stuck. Even if you had snow chains you couldn't get through because so many cars had been abandoned there. So we kept walking down the hill to invite stuck people to our office for some hot coffee so they didn't have to sit in their frozen cars.

My parents have a lake house and we have swimming weather from about April until October. The water is still pretty chilly in April but it's warm enough that we still swim.

 

[nutterly_uts]

I live in Jersey.
Not New Jersey but the tiny little island the huge state is named after.
I am in the Channel Islands (again, the original ones off France, not the islands off the US), famous for Jersey Royal potatoes and the gorgeous Jersey cows
It is 35 square miles and in the middle of the sea. Weather is usually sunny and a bit warmer than both France and England. We don't really ever get snow (bit like the Alabama posted above!) although at the moment it is getting to 0c/-3c at night which is COOOOOLD!! Almost everything is bought in and can be expensive - we even pay more locally for our potatoes and milk than people on the mainland!!

If I can get good at this soaping lark, I would like to use the creamy milk in my soaps

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Interesting thread, it will be nice to know a bit more about everyone.

'm from Melbourne Australia.
Originally from Croatia, lived in Sydney for a few years and moved to Melbourne in 2003. Capital of tennis ATM. I don't like tennis so I don't watch it that much haha.
I'm in Eastern suburbs, just under Mount Dandenog.

Weather is very dry and hot during summer, sometimes humid is added to the mix making everything more yuk.
Winters are cool and vet, with occasional frost, but that's rare. No snow. Apparently this side of Melbourne gets more rain than west. My friends in west called this side: the cloudy and rainy side of the Melb.
We had occasional super storms where tonnes of rain falls within minutes, hail of a size of a tennis ball but that's rare and happens duribg spring mostly.

 

[Viore]

I live on the West coast in Southern California, in the desert region. We just had a series of winter storms that dropped about 2.5 inches of rain in three days. It probably doesn't seem like much to most of you, but it caused major flooding in my neighboring cities. I live about 2 hours drive from Disneyland, if that helps as a reference.

 

[Luviesmom]

I live near Pinehurst, NC
The golf capital of the USA. Also near one the largest Army bases, Fort Bragg. Very mild climate but can be brutally hot and humid in the summer. We have had a very mild winter. Which isn't helping freeze 'skeeter's.

 

[mommycarlson]

Such exotic places! I live in Iowa, on the Mississippi River, east Central right on the hump. We have crazy weather here, usually heaps of snow in the winter and lots of cold, then hot and stifling humidity in the summer. Iowa is home of tall corn, and RAGBRAI, the worlds oldest and largest touring bike ride.

 

[earlene]

I am a native Californian (USA), where I lived the first 55 years of my life. From Southern California where I was born & lived on my grandfather's cactus nursery, to northern California where we lived in the Redwood Forests while my dad began his career as a journalist, to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I lived into my 30's, to the Santa Cruz coastal towns where I again lived in the Redwood Forests as well as in a small coastal town near the ocean, I experienced all varieties of weather that California has to offer. I swam in the Pacific Ocean as well as lakes around the state, skiied the Sierra Nevadas in the winter, hiked the Kings Canyon area with my second husband, and various and sundry outdoorsy activities throughout my childhood. We were a mobile type of family, what with all the road trips we took and we camped a lot because it was the only really affordable vacation method in a family with so many kids and so little money when we were all small. Later as we grew up and my parents income increased, they began to travel in earnest and so did I. I went to nursing school in California and raised my sons there. The weather in California can vary from north to south and east to west, from coast to mountains and from summer to winter. But even in the fairly mild areas where one would never expect it, we had snow twice in my lifetime while living at sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area. Summer in the central valley could get excruciatingly hot, but in my youth there was no air conditioning available in most people's homes, unless they were rich, which most of my family was not. Now I have AC in the summer, and boy does it make all the difference! And you don't have to be rich to have AC anymore. At least not in this part of the world. :think:

After my mother died and my husband and I visited his parents in the small farming town where he grew up, I told him I'd like to move here. He didn't think I'd last and thought within a year we'd be back in California, but we've been here for about 12 years now and the only reason we don't plan to stay here after his mother passes, is because he doesn't want to shovel snow when he's 80.

Our town has no public transportation, although we are supposed to get a train station sometime soon. There apparently once was one, and the plans are in the works to build one again. Then we won't have to drive 35 miles to park our car and take a train to Chicago; that'll be nice. We are only 19 miles from the Iowa border and the Mississippi River, which freezes up along the edges when the winters are colder. But this winter's been pretty mild this year. In 2009, though we drove to the Moline airport and my husband keeps reminding me that it was -29F the day we flew out to Obama's Inauguration. That was a cold winter here and the Mississippi had plenty of ice in it then.

I travel the US by car quite often because I really enjoy roadtrips and want to see as much of my country as possible. I've been to all 50 states and many many national parks, national monuments, wildlife preserves as well as museums and as many other sites of interest as I can manage. Since my youngest granddaughter was 9 months old and came to live with us for a short time (with her parents), we have included her in our roadtrips whenever possible. She has always been a marvelous traveler and has traveled with me to and from the east coast, the west coast, the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes, once all in one road trip. Sometimes my husband is along for the ride and sometimes it's just the two of us. Then of course sometimes it's just me alone because I enjoy it so much and no one else is able to get away.

Illinois is hot and humid in the summer and it tends to rain more in the summer than in the winter, but not this year. This year has seen more rain than snow, and no ice storms at all, which were much more common the first few years I lived here. But IMO the summers have also been milder lately, too. I assume the changes are related to climate change, but what do I know?

I visited England and France in the mid 1990's with a friend and we drove a rental car across England from London to Scotland so we could visit Edinburgh. We made some stops along the way to see a dew sights including some parts of Hadrian's Wall. That was so much fun and I want to go back so very much because there is so much to see and I barely scratched a corner of the surface. My husband & I also drove through many (half?) of the states in Mexico when my son & DIL lived in Chiapas. We flew into Mexico City, rented a car and drove through as many states as we could in a round about sort of route so we could see some pyramids and various other things before getting to Chiapas where they were living, then drove back. I know there don't seem to be any members here who live in Mexico, but if there are, I'd love to know if I've visited your town or at least your state.

There are many other parts of the world I would love to visit, and anything any of you has to say about your country, I'd love to read about because it just feeds into my desire to travel and gives me more ideas of what to include in my plans for the future.

 

[Steve85569]

I live at the foot of the Rocky Mountains right on the Washington / Oregon border.
My great- great grandfather homesteaded here. Right here. I have lived within 10 miles of the house I am in since I was 1. It's been a long and wonderful journey.
The Walla Walla River is in my back yard ( literally) and we maintain a 10 acre riparian zone for wildlife and our enjoyment.
Form Strawberries through to apples we have fresh fruit from the yard all during the warm months.
We are having quite a bit of winter this year for us though. I will be glad when "the thaw" comes this spring.

 

[BubblyPanda]

It's amazing to read all of these!

I'm from and (for now) live in Argentina. In the most known province: Buenos Aires. It's located in the middle-west part of the country.

The wheather here is as humid as it gets hahaha. Here it's super hot and humid during summer (nothing compared to the north of the country, but hey! we hit 40°C usually); spring is much more nice here: it's always nice and warm and very very flowery. Linden trees are common here and when we get closer to summer the flowers bloom and fill the air with their perfume. It's awesome!

But, as much as I like having fun under the sun I have to tell you: I love winter! The cold wheather is my passion! Autumn here is the best too: it's the right amount of cold and the scenery gets all colourful with the different shades of orange, red and yellow. Sadly, it rarely (almost never) snows here. If I recall correctly, last time was on 2009. And that phenomenon only happens every 70 years! Lucky me! haha :mrgreen: But usually it doesn't get cold enough for it to snow. I'd love to move somewhere where the snow gets to cover me whole! (Although it might be weird to not have winter during July, that I tell you!)
Right now we're getting closer to fall, so it starts to rain more. The summer gets much more stormy, with thunderstorms and all that I also love!

Even though I want to move, it really is a nice place to live. Even more if you like gardening! No matter what kind of seed you throw to the ground, it will always grow haha

 

[snappyllama]

I recently moved just north of Charlotte, North Carolina in the states. It's considered "The South" but has weather that's thankfully not nearly as sultry as a Tennessee Williams play. We are a few hours away from the Atlantic on one side and the Smokey Mountains on the other. I live in a smallish college town near a big lake - really a lovely place with big trees and safe enough that teenagers walk to the main street soda shop.

I've most recently moved from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado where it snowed from October to May so I miss how gorgeous 4ft of fresh powder looks, but I'm overjoyed at not having to shovel four feet of fresh anything this winter. We lived on a couple of acres and the only neighbors I saw were deer, elk, bear and the thankfully occasional mountain lion.

I've also lived in Portland Oregon and loved the artistic vibe (the 90s never died there!) but the cost of living was very high.... plus the rain really got depressing after a while.

 

[BattleGnome]

I grew up outside of Chicago, went to school in lower Michigan (Holland, MI, home of the Tulip Festival which is apparently a bigger deal there than in the Netherlands). I chased my husband to Michigan's Upper Penninsula (we went to high school together) and forced him to pick a place to put down roots. He chose to stay in the UP.

We are 20 miles (give or take) from Lake Superior and I bitterly regret saying yes to these winters. I've been up here for nearly 6 years and this is the warmest one. Usually by now we're at 0F-25F but this week has been in the upper 30's with 3" of snow expected tomorrow and into Thursday.

As a map reference to where I am, we're a 3ish hour drive from Canada but I can't seem to persuade my husband to get his passport for a weekend out of the country.

 

[dibbles]

I live in Minnesota, which from east to west in the US is more or less in the middle. But the state sits at the north of the country - it borders Canada. I live in what is considered the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, but am about 30 miles north of Minneapolis. Our house is on 10 acres of woods and marsh land. We are fortunate to see a great variety of wildlife and birds, and it is quiet and peaceful here. The winters can be bitterly cold with a lot of snow, and quite honestly also last too long. I do love the changing seasons though, and when spring does overtake the last of winter it is truly glorious!

 

[LilyJo]

Wow, this is amazing and thank you all for sharing so much fabulous info.

Get a great sense of where people live as well as where you are from and what life is really like, for us in the UK those distances just seem incredble - if I have to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow I would think twice about driving as it takes about 8 hours but it seems as though thats nothing compared to the distances some of you have!

Love hearing so much about you all, think I am going to start a map with a pin in for each of you so I can see where everyone is. BTW you are all amazing at giving a sense of geography and weather, its defineietly making me want to visit some of the less tourist intenseive areas.

 

[Scooter]

I live in a smallish college town near a big lake - really a lovely place with big trees and safe enough that teenagers walk to the main street soda shop."

I'm pretty sure I know where you're talking about--I will not say since you chose not to. That is beautiful country. I grew up north of Charlotte in a county where my family has been since at least 1754 but have lived in Durham now for several decades and really love it here.

 

[ibct1969]

I think your thread is really fun. I'm enjoying reading through everyone's posts.

I'm in a suburban town located about 20 miles south of Denver in Colorado. My husband and I moved here from Southern California, where we grew up, in 1991. Our area is part of what is referred to as the Front Range- its east of the Rockies, almost in the center of the state. Mountains to the west, and VERY flat land to the east. It's hot and dry here in the summer- we have many days with temperatures of 90+ degrees F. We have pretty intense thunder and lightening storms here during that time of the year- it's actually pretty awesome to watch- from INDOORS! Winters are cold but we generally don't get too much snow, compared to our mountain towns, where the elevations are much higher. There's a bit of snow on the ground in my backyard where the sun doesn't shine much, but my front yard has none... Today is 30 degrees F and the sun is shining... Spring is beautiful but snow can fall up until May; just ask the tree in our front yard that lost all of its leaves during a blizzard that happened on Mother's Day recently. Fall is also gorgeous but doesn't really start down here in the Front Range until October. We have amazing Aspen trees throughout the state and they turn amazing shades of yellow, red and orange. I'm attaching a lovely photo of those (not mine).

Also attached is a photo of Mount Elbert (not mine), which is the highest peak here in Colorado. She's a 'biggun' at 14,439 feet.

Thanks again for starting such a fun thread.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I grew up in far northwest Pennsylvania, moved south (probably fairly close to where Susie is) for many years, then moved back to my hometown almost 10 years ago. Pennsylvania is in the northeast, it borders Canada via Lake Erie. The winters are cold and snowy (I am really missing Texas right now!) Our summers average 70-80F and are either beautiful or rainy. We average more rainfall than Portland, but get it in big spurts rather than a lighter rain every day.

I am in the Allegheny foothills, the Allegheny River and Allegheny National Forest are almost in my backyard. The area is beautiful. If you like hiking, there are hundreds of trails. National canoeing and kayaking events are held here every year.

I've traveled in most of the continental 48 states and would like to see many again as well as visit all those I haven't. Hubby wants to move to Alaska someday, I'm thinking more like Arizona!

 

[mx5inpenn]

The first pic is my town, the river cuts right thru and there are only 2 bridges, one at each end of town, to cross.

The second pic is the best way to see the river.

The last 2 are popular hiking areas in the forest.

The pictures aren't mine, but I'm on my phone so don't have access to the ones I've taken right now.