Four Seasons

I enjoy having a full four, distinct seasons in regards to weather. Over the years I have lived in the Mid-West, the Pacific Northwest, the South, and now New England (obviously we're too good to put a direction in our descriptor). I can say with fairly strong certainty that New England has everywhere else beat - Massachusetts in particular - and here is a season-by-season breakdown of why that is true.

Autumn: There is nothing like autumn in New England. Ten years after moving here I still have my breath taken away every October. It is so unbelievable gorgeous. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. I still find it hard to believe that this is a yearly occurrence and not just a fluke of nature that happens every few decades.

Winter: Winter in Massachusetts is just about perfect. There is a good amount of snow and you're guaranteed to get some every winter so you've got sledding and skiing every year. There aren't so many snow storms that you never get out of the house but enough that you get a few snow days off from work and school every now and then and a day or two that you get to curl up in your house and watch the fluffy stuff come down and turn everything into a winter wonderland. Yes we get the occasional blizzard and a strong Nor'easter is nothing to joke about but they're not terrible. To get snow you have to have a few snowstorms. That's a given. Unlike living in the Mid-West though, you don't really have the icy cold winds blowing across the plains and weather reports that start in the negative numbers before wind chill is factored into the equation. Celebrating that it is finally warm enough to start snowing again signifies a general winter weather pattern that I can live without and Minnesota and the Dakotas are welcome to it.

Spring: I would happily take Spring off the table no matter where I live. I hate Spring. It's rainy, it's muddy, and it's miserable. If you go out in the morning without a jacket it is guaranteed to be freezing. If you wear a sweater you can bet on the fact that the thermometer will hit 70 degrees that day. It's also the time of year that we start sleeping with our windows open again and the birds come out and NEVER SHUT UP and wake us up at 4:30 a.m. I hate Spring.

Summer: It's hot. It's humid. It's perfect. With the exception of this year when it rained almost every day in June, summer here is pretty awesome. It's hot enough to get into the 90's which I like, and just humid enough to feel summery, without the oppressive humidity of the South. I don't want it to be 95 degrees at two o'clock in the morning but I love it to be 95 degrees at two o'clock in the afternoon. I would be willing to trade the humidity and 95 degree weather for the dry heat and 110 degree weather of the Southwest but then I'd have to give up the other seasons so hot and humid (but not too hot or too humid) is just about perfect for me.