What Happened to Fall

[mattg]

I was just thinking how this year the fall around the midwest (chicago) was more like an early winter. I am still holding out that there is a little warm weather out there. It seemed like one day it was in the 80's and then straight to the 40's and 50's and even some 30's for highs. I live 60 miles west of the chicago and we have already had low temperatures around 14 and snow showers several weeks ago. I am hoping to still do a few things with my bus before I put the stabil in and park it in the garage for the winter. Hows the weather been in your neck of the woods. Oh yeah it also has been raining alot - no complaints there, and the sun only pops out once in a while.

[hambone]

The human condition, we are so adaptable but have pink skin instead of fur....sometimes I wish I was a Sasquatch. Maybe next time.
Cheer up, only 4 more months of Winter!

[zblair]

Austin, Texas has no real winter and a sort of fall. Fall usually means rain here. And various and sundry cold fronts. I've lived here 23+ years and I have seen it snow (twice for a week and then poof), ice, be in the 40's, be in the 30's and also be in the 70's or higher. You just gotta take it day by day here. If we do get any winter type weather, it is usually in February or March though.

You're more prone to know what season it is here by the allergens in the air. Fall = Ragweed and Dogwood and Winter means Mt. Cedar/Cedar fever.

Funny story: When Jeffrey and I met, he was living in Upstate NY and I was here in Austin. In March of 2000 when he left NY for TX, the temps in NY were double digits below zero in wind chill factor and generally nasty. In TX that year, it was in the mid-70's that first week. Most of my neighbors (at that time) were older retired folks and rather protective of the neighborhood. When they saw a "long haired shirtless hippy looking dude" dancing on my front lawn barefoot, let's just say they were a little alarmed! So I got a few phone calls like:

"Um, Z, do you know the long-haired guy dancing on your front lawn?" and of course I said yes, he was my man. Got quite a few laughs at the neighborhood asso. meeting that first year too! That story still makes Jeffrey blush too.

When we picked up Phred, of course they knew he was OURS

Just never know with Central Texas Weather. Except in the summer it will be hotter than Hell.

[hambone]

Other than Austin, do you find Texas to be a staunchly conservative and hostile state, or are people pretty mellow down there? I've heard conflicting reports.

[zblair]

Other than Austin, do you find Texas to be a staunchly conservative and hostile state, or are people pretty mellow down there? I've heard conflicting reports.

I would say yes to the conservative, particularly in the more rural areas of the state. Hostile? I guess that would depend on the issues in question.
Outside of Austin things can be pretty oppressive. When you have a state with as much square footage and people as this one, along with being 48th in serving the constituency in health and human services, yeah, people get a bit irate. Also, having been a primarily democratic state until a shift in the Lege to Rep in 2003, things changed drastically. The only consistency here was that Bush was a moron when he was the governor here and Perry (the current) is just as moronic. Texas politics is a whole other thread! HA!

I have lived in Dallas and I have also lived outside of Ft. Worth (32 miles can make a HUGE difference of opinion BTW) and they were far more conservative than Austin. Almost backwards in some respects.

I don't know if you'd get the parallel or not Hambone, but Austin now is very much like LA, CA in the 70's down to the fashions here. Must be the music and film stuff taking shape of the consciousness? Not sure.

The people? I have met some genuinely cool and wonderful folks here and many of them I would call mellow, creative, compassionate and cool. It kind of depends upon the circles you run in, kwim?

Lots of air-cooled VW's here

[Ryno]

First post here on the IAC. My name is Ryan and I live on the WI/IL border and have to say this fall has not been much different than any other that I can remember, I just hope it's not raining/snowing this weekend when I drag home a 72 westy parts bus. I do think this will be the last weekend for the bus to be out of the garage though.

BTW, zblair, I will be vacationing in Austin in February for a week. I can't wait.

[hambone]

Where abouts are ya?? Beautiful country up there....

[Ryno]

Where abouts are ya?? Beautiful country up there....

Ever heard of Lake Geneva, WI?...I'm about 3 miles east of there.

[Velokid1]

High desert, AZ. Clear days, highs past few weeks of 60 or so. Lows at night of 35 or so. No precip. Pretty tolerable.

[Amskeptic]

First post here on the IAC. My name is Ryan and I live on the WI/IL border
BTW, zblair, I will be vacationing in Austin in February for a week. I can't wait.

Welcome to the site. Don't mind our wild herd of emoticons

You get any lake effect snow up there?
Colin

[Velokid1]

Welcome to the site. Don't mind our wild herd of emoticons

Colin

LOL!

[spiffy]

VIVA la Willie!!!!!

[hambone]

I temporarily liberated a leaky rowboat one drunken night in Lake Geneva years ago. That town gives me the heebie jeebies but the surrounding countryside is wonderful.

[Ryno]

First post here on the IAC. My name is Ryan and I live on the WI/IL border
BTW, zblair, I will be vacationing in Austin in February for a week. I can't wait.

Welcome to the site. Don't mind our wild herd of emoticons

You get any lake effect snow up there?
Colin

Not too much lake effect snow on this side of the great lakes. We do get some every now and then, but it mostly stays south towards Chicago.

[poptop tom]

You get any lake effect snow up there?

Ya had to bring up lake effect snow, didn't ya Colin!

I'm in a main lake effect snow belt area. A few miles south of the southern most tip of Lake Michigan, and 60 miles east of Chitown.

This summer and fall have been the worst weather-wise in some time. Between July 11 and Oct. 11th we had over 30" of rainfall!

And since then, it's been much cloudier and cooler than normal.

Looking like an El Nino winter!