People think Southern California
has warm beach weather all year long, but they’re wrong. Not to make Los
Angeles even more annoyingly perfect, but we also have four seasons here; they
are just milder. In other words, you know that beautiful sunny chill you get in
NYC at the end of spring and start of fall? Those few short weeks that somehow justify
your decision to pay $2K a month rent for a five hundred square foot studio? Well,
that’s our version of winter, and it
lasts months at a time. It’s perfect, annoyingly perfect.
What’s most surprising is native Angelenos also seem to think
we have beach weather year round. I came to this realization after noticing I
was one of very few people tapping into their winter attire even when superstar
weatherman Dallas Raines would predict lows of 45 across the county. There I am,
skipping through town in my light down jacket and high boots thanking Mother
Nature for this beautiful day, while most people around me are jogging to their
destination with their arms crossed tightly in front of them to protect
themselves from the “cold.”
I saw this day after day. And it wasn’t one fluke cold day
that surprised us in the middle of summer that no one was prepared for. It was our third month of chilly weather and
I still saw everyone being so… cold. When it wasn’t even cold out! In fact, if dressed
appropriately, it’s a lovely time of year.
It just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m not criticizing; I’m
just trying to understand. When it’s cold out, dress warm. Then you won’t be cold
anymore. It’s that easy.
One rainy day last November, I shamelessly brought up to the
girl in the elevator with me that I don’t get why everyone is in shorts and
open toed shoes today. And she said, “Listen I was born and raised here, and the
problem with all of us is that we do not want to accept that it’s cold outside.
We are simply in denial about it!”
This Los Angeles phenomenon hits close to home for me. After 35 years and some convincing, I bought my native Angeleno husband his first winter coat this year. I've converted my first non-winterer into a believer. Who's next?
Sincerely,
Sahra
Sincerely,
Sahra
Ha! I love it. On a different note, I try and explain to people we do have seasons when they make fun of us for wearing hats and scarves when it's in the high 50s/low 60s. Our seasons may not look like other places, no doubt, but the trees on Elevado change colors in the Fall...and so on. We have amazing weather an amazing amount of time, compared to my philly where it sometimes rains for days in a row in a given season.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, as you're pointing out, LA varies it up but sometimes you wouldn't know it by the way a lot of us dress. To many Angelenos, it is "LA", rain or shine.