Fresh Air

I think one of the best things about living in San Diego is the weather. I’ve heard people say San Diego has the world’s most perfect weather, and believe me, the weather is mostly perfect. What you learn fairly quickly when you live hear is that there are different weather zones, or microclimates. The weather varies in these zones, depending on your proximity to the coast. The city of San Diego, along the coast, generally has cool evenings and nights and warm days year round. We live about twenty miles inland, in the Cajon valley, where we experience a wider range of temperatures. Winter nights can be chilly, dipping into the low 40’s while the summer days can be quite hot. Even so, the days are generally pleasant year round.

Having such weather allows for spending plenty of time outside. The malls are open, where you walk outside from store to store. In the schools, the lockers are outside and kids eat lunch in a open courtyard. Most restaurants have outdoor seating, even fast food chains. Taco shops with walk up windows are fairly common. It’s not unusual at all to order your fish tacos and sit at the outdoor tables to enjoy. And if a restaurant doesn’t have outdoor seating, they most likely have a giant door that opens to allow diners to eat while enjoying the fresh air.

During my first summer in San Diego, I met someone who told me I’d never need a coat and could easily get away with wearing a hoodie or jacket year round. I admit, this has been true. My heavy coats I brought from Kansas haven’t seen the light of day here. I do wear my Ugg boots occasionally because I work at home and the house is cold in winter, but that’s a story for another time.

Also during that first summer, I was told there are four seasons in San Diego. There’s summer, hot summer, rainy summer, and fire summer. Everyone at the table laughed at but this has also been true. When I lived in Seattle, I missed having the change in seasons. Then, I returned to Kansas where in eight years I experienced all the seasonal changes I needed to last a lifetime. I developed a strong dislike of cold weather, especially when combined with snow or ice. Now, I’m ok with four summers.

Having lived in these other places allows me to appreciate even more the days of perfect weather here. Today will be a beautiful day in southern California. Temperatures will be in the 80’s under sunny skies, with a slight breeze picking up in the afternoon. If I wrap up work early today, I may go to the beach. I’ve come to enjoy lying on the beach, soaking up the sun, breathing the fresh air.