^

If you love variety and extremes, there is no better place to be.


And to counter my diatribe I wanted to add some perspective on California weather. For 10 months out of the year it doesn't rain. At all. And you'd better hope you get some in those other two months, although sometimes that doesn't happen either. I heard thunder maybe 3-4 times in 25 years.

On planet Earth, water = life. And the lack of it is not just hard on your lawn but also animals and plants and irrigation and everything else. A lack of rainfall is an incredibly depressing thing. Something I took for granted and now that I'm back, I love every single drop that falls.

I remember one particularly bad summer when everything was brown and dead and there were severe restrictions on watering anything. The rabbits would come into my neighborhood looking for anything green to eat. The coyotes soon followed the rabbits, equally hungry. I'd see very skinny coyotes walking through my front yard in broad daylight, just a small indication of how much suffering was happening all around.

Also, believe it or not, nonstop sunshine can be depressing too. I remember going months without even seeing a cloud and the monotony of it all can take its toll. Not nearly as bad as the eternal slate-gray winter skies of the upper Midwest, but it did weigh on me.


I love Oklahoma, no matter the weather.