UNDERSTANDING REGIONAL EMOTIONS BY WEATHER

My California girl wife discovered regional emotions in her business.

With empathy and experience she learned more about people by where they we’re from than where they are.

I helped out with my research, and The Beach Boys.

She grew up in the next town over from them.

Me: Not everyone grew up with seventy degrees on Christmas Day. You people didn’t have the snow, the bitter cold, and wind that makes a place special for the holidays.

Wife: Funny how we never thought much about weather.

Me: That’s why Southern California is so fruity, literally. And why the people who live there come up with such groundbreaking ideas.

Wife: Now we know. It’s the weather.

Me: When you can’t complain about the weather, talk about the weather, and worry what tomorrow may bring, people still need to talk. So they find other things.

Wife: Interesting. And your point?

Me: California people don’t have to dig out of their driveway, or hide in a hurricane cellar on tornado alley, so they dig into people who do.

Wife: I don’t.

Me: How many times have we talked about connections, about connecting with people and places? Some places aren’t very welcoming, some are. Same with people.

Wife: So you figured it all out on the Weather Channel. I’m intrigued.

Me: Start with the midwest. I lived in a house with guys from Indiana. They played loud guitars, sang loud songs, but were quiet the rest of the time.

Wife: Yes?

Me: They were the opposite of California with the endless one-sided conversations about the sunset, the sunrise, feelings about the sunrise, feelings about the sunset, feelings about . . .

Wife: So too many feelings? Is that it?

 

Emotional Weather = Turbulence 

I’ve run this idea past a few people besides my wife, that weather develops character.

Harsh weather for stoic people, good weather for outgoing people.

In one case you bundle up, making sure everything is tucked in to prevent frostbite, before opening the door to face the day.

The other case is seventy degrees on Christmas with the doors and windows open to a warm breeze and a pool to dip a toe in.

 

Well, East Coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I’m down there
The Midwest farmer’s daughters
Really make you feel alright
And the Northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night

 

What about the best girls in the world?

 

The West Coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a French bikini on Hawaii island Dolls
By a palm tree in the sand
I’ve been all around this great big world
And I seen all kind of girls
Yeah, but I couldn’t wait to get back in the states
Back to the cutest girls in the world

I wish they all could be California girls
(I wish they all could be California)
I wish they all could be California girls

 

Oregon Weather Checks In

Wife: I’ve lived in Oregon longer than anywhere else. I’m an Oregonian.

Me: Yes, you are. For the most part.

Wife: The part that matters. I’ve been to so many of your class reunions I deserve a Bulldog letterman’s jacket. Didn’t you letter in high school?

Me: College too. That’s the jacket for you.

 

We have enough unusual weather here to create new shades of multiple personalities.

From Google AI:

Unusual Pacific Northwest (PNW) weather includes record-shattering, 1,000-year heatwaves (e.g., June 2021) and massive atmospheric river events dumping trillions of gallons of rain.

Recent trends show a shift toward more extreme, intense weather, including summer “heat domes,” winter flooding, rare severe thunderstorm risks, and unusual long dry spells. 

 

The Oregon Trail led midwestern pioneers here in the mid-1800s.

I-5 led many California people here in the 70’s to even things out, or at least expose the locals to new blood.

NW Portland’s Lovejoy street brought it all together.

I’d been out and around and came back to start a real life.

My girl, the one I met on the sidewalk outside of 2051 NW Lovejoy, the Burgess, knew her direction.

Turns out she knew mine too. Forty years later we’re still learning new things together.

Me: You can identify problem people by where they grew up.

Wife: It’s the growing up part that’s hard to measure.

 

PS:

When people tell you who they are by what they do, believe them.

PSS:

When you show who you are, be sure to include where you come from to avoid any misunderstandings.