Seattle

[Tivia]

Hmm I deal with spiders now, brown recluses and the occasional black widow. No biggie just rem to shake out shoes before putting them on, and shake out the bedclothes before jumping into bed lol

I cant take heat at all anymore, which is surprising because I was one of those lay out in the sun for hours types. Some people say humidity makes their sjogrens worse, I dont know yet its all new to me. But on really hot dry days I feel im a piece of parchment being smothered in a wool blanket. So maybe cool and damp is what I need.

[sugarbugar]

Oh my! Brown Recluse's!  We have black widow's here too, they freak me out! I don't do well in hear either. I'm anxious to get up there for a couple of weeks and see how I do.

[Tivia]

My first year here I was so freaked out I didnt dare walk barefoot in my own house those recluses were everywhere. After having pest control over they got rid of them but every now and then I find one hiding in a corner or in the closet. Yay for country life I miss the city. Country is great to visit but I dont want to live all alone here anymore.

[sugarbugar]

Country life would be hard on me too! I walk around in slippers now afraid of spiders. 
My husband wants to live in the country but I like being near amenities, especially with this disease.  Let me know how well you do when winter comes along

[wendyoh]

thats odd, I never noticed the spiders when I visit Seattle. I had been going there once or twice a year the last 15 years, staying mostly in Fremont.  Glad I didnt know about it....but I never saw any at the place I usually stay.

[Sleepy In Seattle]

Spiders don't scare me. Autoimmune diseases scare me! 

[JaFish]

Seattle is a great place to live. I'm fifth generation Puget Sounder, myself. Winter days are short and summer days are long. If you have sensitivity to the sun, you'll probably be in long sleeves for most of the summer, like me. Fortunately, it's rarely so beastly hot that long sleeves are an issue.

Depending on where you are on the Sound, it can really snow, though, in winter. Out here 1 inch of snow can stop traffic because of all the hills and because of all the people who really don't know how to drive in it! If you're coming from Denver, you probably are okay with that.

There are other places in the country where it rains more than in Seattle, but up here, there are a lot of gray, overcast days with no rain. It's maritime climate. Those gray days can bother some.

January and Feb are often clear and cold here. November, December can be cold and rainy.

[sugarbugar]

Hi JaFish!  So you live near Puget Sound?  I have been told there are rainier places. I don't think the gray skies will get to me just because I do so much in overcast weather!  It's my kids I worry about though.  So, is it sunny in January and February? Or is it just overcast and cold, where as November and December is a lot of rain as well?
Yeah, we're very used to snow..I think it's funny 1 inch can cause so many problems.   But I wouldn't doubt it if you don't know how to drive in it or aren't used to it.

[Sleepy In Seattle]

I'll put it this way - a few years ago, we had 56 straight days of rain (well, drizzle). We get a FEW sunny days in Jan/Feb, but mostly it's overcast. Once in a while we'll have a really nice few days/week in February where it's around 60 - then it goes back to drizzle again for a couple more months - but slowly the sun defeats the clouds and it becomes gorgeous again!

That's in Seattle, anyway...there are parts of Puget Sound that are much less rainy. The mountains and water really affect the weather patterns around here, so it varies quite a bit according to where you live in the area.

And yeah - if we get an inch of snow, the whole city shuts down. It's hysterical to us - we're originally from New York State and Minnesota! But people around here REEEEEEALLY don't know how to drive in those conditions - and the city only owns something like 3 snowplows, so nothing gets cleaned up - the roads really are pretty bad, even with just an inch, because of the hills. A few years ago right around Christmas we got just under a foot of snow - it set records - and the entire place shut down for about a week. People were out sledding and skiing down the middle of the streets - it was really fun and festive - we had a blast!!!! (Not if you had an emergency, of course...I felt bad for folks who really suffered because of it...). In general, though, snow days are FUN around here, mostly because they happen so seldom!

[Sooki]

There's a locally famous YouTube vid of Sliding Cars in Seattle Snow complete with a city bus sliding sideways down a hill.  I think it's all the hills that make driving so treacherous in the snow.  That, and the deep ditches on the sides of all rural roads for drainage.   

I was on a city bus in the snow and at one point, we all had to move to the back of the bus to put weight over the back wheels.  Most of us on the bus were returning from a production of Midsummer's Night Dream in the city and were enjoying the daringness of the trip home.  The bus driver was heroic. So, bad weather among friends - not so bad.