Winter or Summer?

[Delta40]

I'm a winter person even though I live in Australia. I like winter because it's easier to keep warm than it is cool. It's also a great time to make stews, casseroles and pots of yummy soup. I love curling up in the warmth while the rain beats down on the tin roof and watch an old movie.

What is your preference and what would you say are the advantages of the season?

[Charles Darnay]

Summer. I'm from Canada so winters a bit different. While aesthetically pleasing and full of good foods, summer is the time of outdoor reading and walking around in order to shake off writer's block. And outdoor patios are the best

[Helga]

Delta I agree with you completely! I am always saying that it's easier to keep warm! I love the winter but being on the ice doesn't mean you get a good winter, it is mainly rain and not enough snow. but I love the winter and I love the rain and snow and the wind and the frost and everything else about this part of the year. I don't like how hot it gets in the summer here and I am always very annoyed when I am hot so it's no fun for the people around me either.

[Lokasenna]

Absolutely a winter person - I'm right at home in sub-zero conditions, but really start to wilt when the temperature goes over 25. I love snow, iron clouds, frost, icicles, hot drinks, bonfires, and so on... good stuff!

[Ecurb]

"Now is the winter of my discontent turned glorious summer by this sun at York>' -- Richard III chimes in.

[stlukesguild]

Considering I have the summers off from work and can spend the time painting in my studio or doing whatever I so desire this isn't much of a choice, is it?

[MystyrMystyry]

All the seasons have their qualities, just like every single hour of the day, and days themselves.

In Summer you can be incredibly lazy and not feel guilty, because everyone else is too - but if you have to work, then things get crazy quickly. In Winter likewise, but damn those bitter overcast mornings!

Give me the two lesser extremes overall. I'm at an age where I want comfort everywhere I am, not just in some places during some activities.

[Vonny]

I enjoy the four seasons, and have different activities accordingly. I need some sunny days or I get depressed, but I'd be happy if it never got over 70F. A few miserable hot days are fine because they make me enjoy the cooler ones more.

I always find that as the seasons turn, I'm looking forward to the next one. It's funny how the earth seems designed to give me what I need, generally. Each season is just the right length, so I enjoy it and am then eager for the next one.

In fall, the turning of the leaves, all the red leaves and different shades of leaves, is awesome.

When people speak of climate change or global warming I just hope it's not true. Our earth is so perfect, don't change it!

[Helga]

this morning walking to school it was windy and a little frost, I love it, the cold air and crunchy grass and leaves, the girls in my class hated it and cursed it, I just don't get it.

but I do agree in part that all four seasons have their qualities but I just feel bad when it is hot.

[qimissung]

I prefer summer, but this last one really put me off. The temps averaged between 104 and 110 degrees for most of July and August. My air conditioner was not up to the task, that's for sure!

[Emil Miller]

Humans often try to make the best of a bad situation and I think that's part of the reason why winter is sometimes looked on as something enjoyable.
For my part, I would gladly live in perpetual sunshine rather than put up with the cold and wet weather that characterises Winter. It's not for nothing that people who are wealthy enough choose to live in a warm climate. When it comes to getting sentimental about winter, it's difficult to think of anything more fanciful than this.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimoes

Everybody knows
A turkey and some misteltoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santas on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies
In his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
I know it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas to you!

Get those crazy lyrics, at the second verse: 'Everybody knows a turkey...' it should have stopped right there. Whoever's responsible should be roasted on an open fire.

[Abookinthebath]

I'm a winter person even though I live in Australia. I like winter because it's easier to keep warm than it is cool. It's also a great time to make stews, casseroles and pots of yummy soup. I love curling up in the warmth while the rain beats down on the tin roof and watch an old movie.

What is your preference and what would you say are the advantages of the season?

I'd be quite keen on winter if it was 20 degrees in the middle of winter as well! When we were down under, the kids were wearing bikinis in August....

I just like proper weather. If its sunny, make it nice and hot. If its cold, give me plenty of snow. However, living where we do, we tend to have one permanent season of grey and drizzle!

[Delta40]

Since Australia is 31.5 times bigger than the UK, the weather here varies quite dramatically. We have more snowfall per year than sweden! 1st of September is spring so wherever you were, it may not be surprising that the weather was clement in August, especially in NT and Qld.
It's very cold in the south of WA which is where I live although being from England I acknowledge not quite as cold but to be honest, the propoganda that everyone is still going to the beach in winter is a crock and that's why I have a gas heater.

[cafolini]

I'm a winter person even though I live in Australia. I like winter because it's easier to keep warm than it is cool. It's also a great time to make stews, casseroles and pots of yummy soup. I love curling up in the warmth while the rain beats down on the tin roof and watch an old movie.

What is your preference and what would you say are the advantages of the season?

I live in a climate where the temperature seldom goes above 80 F in summer or below 60 F in winter. But I do enjoy the winter for the same motives you do.

[JuniperWoolf]

Northern Alberta gets among the most extreme winter conditions on earth, and I really quite like that fact. It's the thrill of "surviving." In my town, two hours by car away from any other civilization, when the power goes out we often have to keep ourselves warm in -45 degree celsius conditions. Everyone huddles in the dark near the fire and we brainstorm ways to keep ourselves from freezing ("we can use the copper kettle on the fire to fill hot water bottles and make tea." "get all of the dogs in here under the blankets with us." "orgy, anyone?").

It's also an adventure to go anywhere. Nights last eighteen hours, so at five pm you're walking in the dark through snow up to your thighs, your entire face is covered because naked skin will hurt after ten secons and get severe frost bite within four minutes, and besides the temperature if your skin were exposed it would get sliced up from the ice crystals in the horrid wind. You're wearing three pairs of gloves and four pairs of socks, longjohns, winter boots, a toque and a dog-ear cap, two scarves, and you have two sweaters on under your winter parka. The drifts are just out of your field of vision (you can only look up for a second or two anyway), about one and a half feet tall, and they're sharp and covered in ice from the wind. You can't see them to avoid tripping over them. And then finally, triumphantly, after an hour of tripping and freezing and struggling to breathe and walk, you return home with the milk.

Don't even THINK about driving. Even if you plugged your car in to go grocery shopping, you'll never be able to start it after a half hour at the supermarket parking lot (let alone if it were sitting in your school or work parking lot for eight hours).

It's easy to miss the summer when you're enduring a few bad weeks of winter (if only just to sleep in for an extra hour instead of using that time to bundle up and staggar over the white wasteland), but the fact that we do endure it pretty intense.

[Helga]

I have to say Juniper, I love the winter you describe! maybe I wouldn't after a few of them but right now I'd like it!

[Annamariah]

Delta I agree with you completely! I am always saying that it's easier to keep warm! I love the winter but being on the ice doesn't mean you get a good winter, it is mainly rain and not enough snow. but I love the winter and I love the rain and snow and the wind and the frost and everything else about this part of the year. I don't like how hot it gets in the summer here and I am always very annoyed when I am hot so it's no fun for the people around me either.

Umm, how hot does it get in Iceland? I like summers more than winters, and in Finland it's almost never too hot to my taste. Well, last two summers were record-breaking warm (the heat record is now 37.2 Celsius degrees, when it used to be 35.9), but normally temperatures hardly ever go over 30 degrees. Four years ago it rained for most of the summer and the temperature was around 15-20 degrees for most of the time.

I like winters when there's snow but it's not too cold. The ideal winter would be one with pretty much snow (but not as much as last winter) and the temperature around -5 degrees. -20 degrees and wind combined is pure torture.

[osho]

I love summer the reason is the part I live in is cold and we have snow and when sun rays fall on them they melt and I like the beauty of the snow that melts and becomes streams.

If you are from a tropical place you may have a different feeling. sun rays caress my body and soul

[Helga]

Umm, how hot does it get in Iceland? I like summers more than winters, and in Finland it's almost never too hot to my taste. Well, last two summers were record-breaking warm (the heat record is now 37.2 Celsius degrees, when it used to be 35.9), but normally temperatures hardly ever go over 30 degrees. Four years ago it rained for most of the summer and the temperature was around 15-20 degrees for most of the time.

I like winters when there's snow but it's not too cold. The ideal winter would be one with pretty much snow (but not as much as last winter) and the temperature around -5 degrees. -20 degrees and wind combined is pure torture.

ok it might not get very hot here according to most people but it's to hot for me, in the summer it can get around 25°C, no wind and above 15°C is way to hot for me.

[Annamariah]

Okay, if above 15 is hot for you, it's probably good you live in Iceland and not in a warmer climate :D To me plus 15 is nice and warm (no need for a jacket or even a long-sleeved shirt if there's no wind), but in no way hot. Outside, that is. Indoors plus 15 is pretty damn cold :p

[Helga]

Okay, if above 15 is hot for you, it's probably good you live in Iceland and not in a warmer climate :D To me plus 15 is nice and warm (no need for a jacket or even a long-sleeved shirt if there's no wind), but in no way hot. Outside, that is. Indoors plus 15 is pretty damn cold :p

I think I am a 'cold blooded' person, I never get a fever I always get colder when I am sick. for some reason I just feel so bad when I am warm but good when I am colder. Winter is my time definitely.

[MarkBastable]

By the end of summer, I'm sick of it. I start looking forward to dark evenings and drizzle and log fires.

By the end of winter, I'm sick of it. I start looking forward to light evenings and thunderstorms and open windows.

I like both of them. I also love spring and I really enjoy autumn.

I could never live anywhere that didn't have seasons. Perpetual sunshine would bore me to tears, as would perpetual snow.

The seasons remind you that your life is passing. It's my entirely unsupportable notion that people who don't have proper seasons never achieve anything. I mean, come on - Steve Jobs. California. Loser.

[billl]

By the end of summer, I'm sick of it. I start looking forward to dark evenings and drizzle and log fires.

By the end of winter, I'm sick of it. I start looking forward to light evenings and thunderstorms and open windows.

I like both of them. I also love spring and I really enjoy autumn.



I agree with this. Unfortuantely, I now live in a place (South Texas) where the summer is maybe 4 or 5 months long, and the extra month or two is removed from the other seasons with a focus on shortening winter. Snow happens about two or three times a decade, but with visible roadway accumulation of more than 5 mm maybe happening only once in a decade.

This summer was particularly hot, with almost no rain at all. Average high temperature in August was 101 degrees F (38 Celsius). The highest temp was 109 (42). The situation might be biasing me against the summer a little more than it deserves, but really I've always liked winter better.

Here's why winter is better than summer. Work outside, or go for a hike, for example in the summer. Well, when you get tired and hot, what can you do? Nothing, except stop. In the winter, however, physical activity actually helps--you can fight against the cold.



The seasons remind you that your life is passing. It's my entirely unsupportable notion that people who don't have proper seasons never achieve anything. I mean, come on - Steve Jobs. California. Loser.

Ha, I thought this was a quote from Steve Jobs initially.

[Delta40]

It's 7.30am and 23c but the maximum is 25c with thunderstorms. Ugh! The humidity is going to kill me. Isn't the weather fascinating? Not a blade of grass is moving, the cicadas are singing and we're going to get drenched!

[cafolini]

Northern Alberta gets among the most extreme winter conditions on earth, and I really quite like that fact. It's the thrill of "surviving." In my town, two hours by car away from any other civilization, when the power goes out we often have to keep ourselves warm in -45 degree celsius conditions. Everyone huddles in the dark near the fire and we brainstorm ways to keep ourselves from freezing ("we can use the copper kettle on the fire to fill hot water bottles and make tea." "get all of the dogs in here under the blankets with us." "orgy, anyone?").

It's also an adventure to go anywhere. Nights last eighteen hours, so at five pm you're walking in the dark through snow up to your thighs, your entire face is covered because naked skin will hurt after ten secons and get severe frost bite within four minutes, and besides the temperature if your skin were exposed it would get sliced up from the ice crystals in the horrid wind. You're wearing three pairs of gloves and four pairs of socks, longjohns, winter boots, a toque and a dog-ear cap, two scarves, and you have two sweaters on under your winter parka. The drifts are just out of your field of vision (you can only look up for a second or two anyway), about one and a half feet tall, and they're sharp and covered in ice from the wind. You can't see them to avoid tripping over them. And then finally, triumphantly, after an hour of tripping and freezing and struggling to breathe and walk, you return home with the milk.

Don't even THINK about driving. Even if you plugged your car in to go grocery shopping, you'll never be able to start it after a half hour at the supermarket parking lot (let alone if it were sitting in your school or work parking lot for eight hours).

It's easy to miss the summer when you're enduring a few bad weeks of winter (if only just to sleep in for an extra hour instead of using that time to bundle up and staggar over the white wasteland), but the fact that we do endure it pretty intense.

Ha! I know that place. I used to have a small ranch in Montana. Who said hell is hot?

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I agree with this. Unfortuantely, I now live in a place (South Texas) where the summer is maybe 4 or 5 months long, and the extra month or two is removed from the other seasons with a focus on shortening winter...

C'mon Texas isn't all that bad.
Definately winter for me given similar reasons that billl mentioned, especially after the summer we had this year. In fact a cold front is passing through tonight. The wind out of the north is exhilarating.

.

[papayahed]

C'mon Texas isn't all that bad.
Definately winter for me given similar reasons that billl mentioned, especially after the summer we had this year. In fact a cold front is passing through tonight. The wind out of the north is exhilarating.

.

While I don't live in Texas, I am close enough to say... yes it is. Sorry Gurples (:smilielol5:).

But I do agree with you guys that winter is a welcome relief give the summer we just went through..

[qimissung]

C'mon Texas isn't all that bad.
Definately winter for me given similar reasons that billl mentioned, especially after the summer we had this year. In fact a cold front is passing through tonight. The wind out of the north is exhilarating.

.

Uh, yes it is, and the leaves don't change color in the fall either.

[skib]

Depends on which part of the Midwest US I'm in- winters in Northern CO aren't too bad. Actually they're quite tolerable. South central Wyoming are more like what Juniper described- anywhere from -25 to -50 F with 40 to 50 mph winds and drifts that cover houses, I'll tolerate them but don't expect me to like it. I've never seen fall nor spring in this country- It snows till June first and then the warm weather comes, and on October first the temperatures go from the fifties to zero. I'll take winter just because of the lack of bugs.

[MarkBastable]

This is why I like to live in a place that has seasons....

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02043/a19_2043726i.jpg
Wisley Gardens - a half-hour drive from my house - photo taken last week. (Not by me.)

[Annamariah]

I could never live anywhere that didn't have seasons. Perpetual sunshine would bore me to tears, as would perpetual snow.

I agree with you about that. I need all four seasons! It's so pretty in the autumn when all the leaves are turning to yellow, orange, brown and red and the mornings get chilly but not yet cold. I love having snow in winters (and snow also makes it so much easier to bear all the darkness - it's only the beginning of November, but it's pitch-black outside soon after 5 pm). The best part of spring is when you can leave your winter coat home and enjoy the first decent sunshine. Summers are great because they are warm and the sun only sets for an hour or two each night.

[Abookinthebath]

Since Australia is 31.5 times bigger than the UK, the weather here varies quite dramatically. We have more snowfall per year than sweden! 1st of September is spring so wherever you were, it may not be surprising that the weather was clement in August, especially in NT and Qld.
It's very cold in the south of WA which is where I live although being from England I acknowledge not quite as cold but to be honest, the propoganda that everyone is still going to the beach in winter is a crock and that's why I have a gas heater.

No, I was in Sydney and a fantastic place it was as well!

But I see where you are coming from, the evenings were really cold! And Soooo dark! 5pm and BAM! Darkness....

And I spoke to people who had been snowboarding in the mountains as well!

But that's an amazing statistic about snowfall!

[TheChilly]

Used to love Summer when I was little...

Now that the times hath changed and college is growing more intense every year... Winter is now my new favorite time of the year.

[Helga]

I am happy to see so many wintery people here, here on the ice people always talk about the summer and how they hate winter I have even been told that I am not being truthful when I say I prefer winter because nobody loves winter.

[Vonny]

It is first snowfall at my house - a blanket of white outside.

I guess winter is here, no wonder I've been cold.

How did this happen? What happened to fall? It lasted one day, or I missed it somehow.

I know - this has to be my mother's fault!