In 2014 Michael retired from teaching. We have since then become world travelers and have been to over 20 countries on six continents. But that first winter in 2015, we went to Mexico for a week in January to beat the winter. This was a treat because for the 35 previous winters we could only get away during February break when the airlines and hotels jacked up all their prices. Any deals for winter getaways couldn't be used. In any case we went to Playa del Carmen for a week. The day before we returned Boston got a blizzard of two feet of snow. There was literally a 24 hour period where I was body surfing in the Caribbean and then shoveling snow. Then every week and sometimes twice a week for the next month it snowed 12-24 inches of snow. It became the record for a winter in Boston some 110 inches of snow. And we were there for every inch.
I should say that we lived in San Francisco from 1999-2005 and had no winters. In San Francisco, the temperature drops to 50 or so in January and it rains. That's it. So when we returned to Boston in 2005, Michael said his dealbreaker was a snow blower and a garage so he wouldn't have to scrape the car in the morning. And so, it happened. One garage and one snow blower. Little did I know how much Michael hated the winter. He never complained during all those years of snow and ice until he retired.
On the heels of 2015, he announced he would never experience winter again. And so we haven't. In 2016 we took a Caribbean cruise in February, went to southern California in March and Morocco in April. In 2017 we spent February in Egypt and Jordan (which had a cold snap at Petra). January 2018 found us at Key West and February was spent in New Zealand and Australia, their summer. And in 2019, we returned to Key West in January and spent February in Thailand and Cambodia. This year we are spending two months in Austin, Texas where the current temperature in 75.
I'm sure my ancestors would be amazed that I can change climates so easily. A mere 20 hours in the air from Boston to Auckland and it's summer again. The same for taking the car from Boston to Key West or Austin. A few days of driving and voila, summer. All my poor New England ancestors in Maine, Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, etc. freezing from October to April. Think about 1815, the year with no summer.
Anyway, I'm glad that I am more mobile than my ancestors.
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