new thread
Since I'm a little late at replying to Michael's thread, "How do you deal with the heat?", I thought it a good idea to create a new thread about living in San Francisco, "Mother Nature's air-conditioned city!"...
This pic of the back of my head with the famous Golden Gate bridge in the background was taken by Mark ("Hairball") last year, during one of our few "heat waves" -- which usually happens in September, coastal California's "Indian Summer" weather. Mark just happened to be visiting out here in late Sept. of 2011, and yes, it got "hot" here (didn't it reach above 90 degrees that day? Mark, or Bill, or Scott, maybe you might remember -- it was at least in the 80s, I think!)...
Mark drove us that day in his rental car out to a place called Baker's Beach, where we took hair pics of ourselves. Mark even bravely took his shirt off; but as myself, feeling a bit of cool coastal fog coming soon (especially since it was close to sunset time), I kept on not only my T-shirt, but also this rust-colored long-sleeved shirt.
Having a cold ocean current coming down North America's West Coast, which originates Alaska, if you ever decide to visit our fair city in July or August, make sure to bring a warm coat. Seriously! Those of us that live here laugh at all the ill-prepared tourists, shivering in the icy-cold fog while waiting for the cable cars, dressed only in their Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts -- assuming that just because it's "summer" in the majority of the Northern Hemisphere, that San Francisco should of course be experiencing the same...
Hahahahaha, nothing could be farther from the truth!
Writer Mark Twain said it best: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco!"
Today the sun actually came out -- at least here where I live in the inland side of this city, which is the sunny, "warmer" side of SF. But I still had to put on a jacket when I stepped outdoors just to mail a letter... and today is only July 2nd! OMG, I'm not looking forward to the next 2 months of this, I'm so SOOOO jealous of all you folks who get to sweat whenever you go outdoors during the summer months, it's just not fair I'm so deprived of hot weather because of living here (LOL)....
- Ken
Best photo I’ve seen of your hair Ken. Beautiful waves and flowing pattern. And with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Very nice picture.
The ultimate air conditioner is the very north coast of California in the redwoods. It’s been in the mid 60s most of the time, with a few days in the 70s in the afternoon this past week. Had some rain last week.
Don
Hi Don,
I've been in love with the North Coast and redwood country of Northern Calif. ever since I first moved out here in '77. The Mendocino - Ft, Bragg area, Eureka - Arcata and also Crecent City, as well as just driving through the Avenue of the Giants around Garberville, I've spent more vacation time in Northern Calif. and Southern Oregon than in any other place on the planet -- and still feel I'll never get bored if i continue to do so! I also have a lot of fond memories of hanging out with friends in the Russian River area, as well as have spent many a long weekend in Ukiah.
The best weather and the best scenery in the world, in my opinion! Well, maybe also include with that statement the Big Sur coast as well...
Ahhhh, Northern California, the perfect climate (both mental AND physical) for longhairs to grow & thrive!
- Ken
What, Ken, do you think the reason is that San Francisco is crawling with tourists? Could it be that most days are like today, where it got up to 62, and I went out for a six mile walk while very comfortable in a T-shirt and a long sleeve shirt?
Victor, our founder, was out here one August, visiting our city. He lives in Austin, Texas. At the end of a day which we had spent roaming around the city for several hours while taking pictures, he said, "You know what is amazing about this place? We spent all day outside, and we actually enjoyed it!"
Bill
LOL, that's a very memorable quote that Victor made, Bill -- and also very insightful!
I just HATE to brag about living here, but....
Brag brag brag brag!!! (LOL)
Here's the forecast for our area, courtesy of the NWS...
What's there not to love (especially the temperature at 1am :p )???
Eric
Hi Eric,
What does "NWS" stand for? I also looked closely at your local weather forecast, but couldn't find where it said what area of the country / world you live in...
Curious minds want to know (BUT, don't want to move there - LOL)!!
- Ken
Hi Ken, me again!LOL.Let me help you as I would guess NWS is The National Weather Service?Just a hunch that's all and anyone can correct me if I'm wrong;)Cheers
Mârk
Hi Ken,
Mârk Hit it right on the nose - National Weather Service :p . Live in Nebraska... right now under pretty much under the "fire of fire" (under the fire, not the ring that is ~_~ ). Last year was such a wet year, but this year is so dry that drought is taking hold :( (still say it's global warming ^_~ ). Also, just the other day, our state's largest utility (we're a public power state) set a record on peak electricity load used, 2,687 megawatts... and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't do it again soon :/ .....
Ah well, us Nebraskans are as tough as the weather ;) . As the old saying goes around here: "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes." :p ~
Enjoy SF, you lucky dogs you ^_~ ! heh~
Sincerely,
Eric
National Weather Service.
CDT, Central Daylight Time
Probably Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, or another state in the central time zone.
------------------------------
I would die from conditions like that. I am super sensitive to heat. Heat gives me racing pulse, fever, and high blood pressure. And no, I didn't get used to it. Born and raised in Los Angeles, I reached a crossroads in my life back in 1978 at age 25, move away or likely die.
I made the move to the SF Bay Area back in 1978 to save my life. I am glad I made that move. I likely would have died if I had stayed in LA.
Scott
Hi Ken,
Wow, does that photo bring back memories!LOL.I vividly remember that day as before we headed to the beach we were inland shopping the Castro.It must have been 90 degrees F and we were walking the streets and I even got bold enough to try on jeans that were difficult to mount and dismount in that heat!LOL.Thankfully it wasn't humid as I can deal with dry heat even if extreme.By the time we made the beach, that afternoon, the coolness was so lovely that I had to rip my shirt off!He he.Guess I caught one of the rare hot SF days.If all goes well I intend top try that again this September so be forewarned my friend;)Thanks for posting you very cool pic as that was such a glorious day:)Cheers
Mârk
Hey Mark,
As usual, I'm very much looking forward to your upcoming visit out here this Sept. again -- in fact, I was thinking...
Just for fun: we should go back to Baker Beach again to take annual hair photos. What do ya think about that idea? We should call it, "Hair on the Rocks #2" (LOL)!!
Long Lox 4ever,
Ken
Hi Ken,
Hmmm, so you want to start a tradition?Sounds great to me and I love the title of the event too:)I agree it was a great location for a taking pictures and if the weather cooperates even better.Maybe we'll have to try new poses though just to keep it interesting.So you and I have a couple months to think about that.Hope all is well with you on the west side my friend.Cheers
Mârk
Yes, new hair poses definitely sound in order -- and MORE hair poses, too!! I'll have no problem thinking of creative new poses to photograph long hair, no problem, no worries! (LOL)
It won't matter what the day will be like, weather-wise, as Baker Beach is a great destination, even when cloudy & cold (less people on the beach during those kind of days, so less competition for the rocks with the best views of the bridge & surf - LOL)....
We should definitely include Bill & Larry and Scott in on this, as that would only mean MORE HAIR on the rocks!!!
Later, my friend!
- Ken
Right now as I write this it is 64 degrees with a dew point
of 50 in San Francisco.
for me that is perfect weather,
I you won't be jealous of the many who are sweating with no
eleccticity in the wake of storms. Some of them won't get
electricity back until after next weekend.
No, of course I would have to agree with you about that -- those storms sounded terrible, and no electricity afterwards only makes matters worse.
I was being a bit sarcastic /silly, though, in my above reference to feeling "deprived" living in SF without everyone else's hot weather...
Take care -- and hope you are staying cool in Upstate NY!
- Ken
I just heard from a relative who lives in West Virginia, they won't get their electricity back until about Sunday.
And to make matters worse they can't get gas anywhere. (They need elecctricity to run the gas pumps, plus they have no gas
supply.
I could have been one of those ill prepared tourist, because I never knew about the climate in SF. But if I would go there I would do my research because I always go everywhere prepared! I bring the least amount of luggage and I'm the best prepared for every situation. Interesting to learn something about SF, I would love to visit in the future.
Hi Vincent,
The climate of coastal California is probably similar to the coasts of Portugal, maybe Normandy, and/or even the coast of Northern Morocco. Although I have never been to that part of Europe or North Africa, my understanding of the geography there is that the Gulf Stream warms the ocean areas of the British Isles and Scandanavia, but as the ocean currents travel back South again, places like Portugal and Northern Morocco are cooler near their coastlines than is normal for their interior.
Other parts of the world that supposedly have similar climates to CA are Central Chile, the southern portions of South Africa, and also SW Australia (around Perth & southward).
Similarly in California: the interior and Southern portions of our state are horribly hot -- dry desert in Southern Calif. (the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the US being in California's Death Valley); whereas in the great Central Valley (the combination of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento), it is just plain "ordinary-type" HOT....
But, the closer you are towards the Pacific coast, the more Maritime influence there is -- SF being especially foggy & cool in summer, because our city is parked right at the tip of a peninsula that sticks out into the cold ocean, as well as the open water gap that the ships sail into SF Bay, called, "The Golden Gate" (the bridge was actually named after the gap of land allowing entrance into the Bay, not the other way around).
Can you tell I loved geography as a kid? (LOL) Also, being a gardener-type, climate has always been of great interest to me as well.
The only part of Calif. that has even cooler summers than SF is when you go further North up the coast, towards the state of Oregon -- the coastal city of Eureka, for example, often will consistently have the coolest daytime temps. of the nation. They also get over 100 inches of winter & spring rainfall up there in some parts, making it a very lush, green temperate rain forest. This is one of the reasons why so many people love visiting the Calif. redwoods & North Coast!
Death Valley, however, at the exact opposite far Southern corner of the state, in the unbearably hot, dry interior desert... Well, there's a very good reason for its name, "Death Valley!" (LOL)
- Ken
Very interesting to learn about all this. I've been in Melbourne in Australia and on some days there was wind from the arctic and it would be very cold.
I've never been to portugal or Marocco. I've been to France but only to the Mediterranean and inland parts. But there's a good chance it's about the same as SF.
Hi again Vincent,
I was in Melbourne for only a few days in April (of '93, I think it was), and if memory serves me correctly, it was the humidity factor that felt very different from what Calif usually feels like (much drier here, even along our Northern CA coastline).
A lot of folks consider Southern CA (especially LA, San Diego, etc.) to be very similar in climate to the Mediterranean -- although the beaches, even though having considerably warmer waters than ours here in SF, are not nearly as delightfully warm & swim-able as the Mediterranean. The best beaches for summer swimming in North America are in Florida and along the Gulf Coast states, and also along the East Coast as far North as Cape Cod.... Any further North than that, prepare yourself for a lot of teeth-chattering! (LOL)
Haha I'm used to teeth-chattering, in Holland the seawater is always cold. Sometimes in the fall if the summer was very hot it is bearable.
They have a camera on a cliff overlooking Ocean Beach in San Francisco, and it is a very wide, two mile long, beach. The camera's view is shown every afternoon on the early news, and there are almost never more than a few people on the beach. Yesterday I saw no one at all. Contrast this to beaches on the East Coast in the summer, which are packed. The reason, of course, is that the beach here is just too cold.
Bill
Are you sure that the wind came not from the ANTarctic?
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
.
Hi Ken,
First of all, great photo, as always! Yes, I understand all about living by the ocean, since I live on the east coast of Canada, and I feel fortunate to esacpe the searing heat that is present almost everywhere else these days. Interestingly enough, it is normally quite a lot warmer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the summer, than it is in San Francisco, and we are quite a lot father north than you. We did reach the mid 80s this past weekend, although our normal high temps this time of year are in the low to mid 70s. We do get our share of cool foggy days, though, when temps can stay in the low 60s.
Take care,
David
Hi David,
I've always imagined that I would love Nova Scotia, including the fact that I figured that your summers would also probably be comfortably cool, not too unlike SF!
I realize, of course, that your winters are a bit more severe than ours; but when I lived on the East Coast during the mid-80s, I used to take vacation time up on Cape Cod -- including having vacationed there during the winter. My guess would be that your climate is probably not all too different from Cape Cod or the state of Maine along the coast, which would be just fine with me!
In any case...
Thank you so much for your kind comments! And as I said to Vincent in my reply to his reply to this thread, I love talking about geography & other similar topics, like the different climates of the world -- it's one of the reasons that make MLHH such a fun place to hang out, and gives us all another interesting topic to chat about other than our favorite one: hair!!! (LOL)
Long Lox 4ever,
Ken
Meanwhile, over the other side of the pond!
Hi there Ian,
I've only been to your beautiful country one time in my life (so-far), in May of '06; but I loved every bit of what I saw & experienced there... to me, it's one of the most ideal climates of the world, hands-down -- but I probably say that because I love your gardens so much! (Here in San Francisco & Northern coastal Calif., even though our summer temperatures are cool & comfortable, we get basically almost zero rainfall from about late May - early October -- so that means we have to artificially irrigate our gardens in order to have the beautiful, lush green plants that you Brits have no problem growing with Mother Nature's help alone!)
And, speaking of gardens...
Just thought you'd be interested in the fact that I grow a lot of David Austin's gorgeous "English" rose varieties. I planted & maintain a deer fenced garden where I work as a cook at a small nursing home, over in the suburban town of Castro Valley (in what is referred to as "the East Bay" -- meaning, it's across the San Francisco Bay from the city proper, inland, which is East from where I live in SF).
My favorite David Austin English rose varieties are as follows (in no special order):
Tamora, Abraham Darby, Graham Thomas, Golden celebration, Tradescant, William Shakespeare 2000, Sweet Juliet, Tea Clipper, Strawberry Hill, Scepter'd Isle, Teasing Georgia, Charlotte, Lady Emma Hamilton, Pat Austin, Munstead Wood, Grace, The Pilgrim, Molineaux, Charles Darwin, and last but not least, Gertrude Jekyll... When I first grew Gertrude in a big pot on my deck during the late '90s, I had a particularly difficult time getting over her strong "bubble-gum" pink color; but then every time I took in a deep whiff of her flawless fragrance, my heart would soften and I'd forgive her. I even took a particularly powerful-smelling bloom of her to bed with me one time, parking it directly on my nose before falling asleep, resulting in my landscaping boss at the time accusing me of being the following kind of horrible pervert: "OMG, you really are a hortisexual!!!" -- now that's not an accusation you've probably ever heard of before, have you? (LOL)
I blame it on you Brits now, it's all your fault I'm so in love with your damn English roses!!
- Ken
Hi Ken, I suppose on the whole we are lucky to have a fairly temperate climate, this years iffy Summer weather has been blamed on the jet stream dropping to far south!
I'm so pleased you enjoyed your stay in GB and our many gardens and proliferation of roses - that's a great story at the end by they way!
Best regards
Oh yes we love our temperate climate this side the pond. We had a drought until mid May and it's done nothing but rain since April. That wobbly jetstream is lower than it normally is, this time of year.
Cheers,
John.B
Before coming to the US I lived in Denmark for about 15 years. The summers are cool - temperatures above 90F are almost unheard of - and the winters are mild - usually just above freezing. Most of the year is windy and rainy, with the exception of July and August, when the weather is better. I lived a few minutes away from the beach and I used to go for an evening swim after work (the sun sets after 9 pm from late May to late July).
I remember the scene at the Copenhagen Kastrup airport when I arrived there after the New Year in 2001. The area had been hit by one of the worst blizzards in the last 100 years, most roads and rail lines had been closed and many flight were either cancelled or rerouted to other airports. My flight had been diverted to the Malmoe-Sturup airport in Sweden and we were bussed over the Oeresund Bridge to Kastrup. The terminal was full of people stuck there, who had arrived on charter flights back from vacations in places like Tunisia or the Canary Islands and were clad in shorts and t-shirts. Even if there was any transportation available to the city it wasn't the kind of weather to go out dressed like that...
Later that night the DSB (Danish Railway) managed to reopen to rail line to the Copenhagen Main Station, so I was able to get to a hotel in the city.
While I used to go lightly dressed - shorts and sleeveless shirts even when the temperature is in the 30s - that was more than I could withstand; I had to put long pants and a sweater on...
I remember the long looks that I was getting when I arrived from Denmark to NYC on a 10 days vacation in April 2003 - I was feeling perfectly comfortable in shorts and a sleeveless vest, waiting for the subway in 40 degrees, while everybody else was bundled up.
I don't mind the heat as such, it is the humidity that accompanies the heat waves on the East Coast that is unpleasant for me.
--
A Linux Longhair
Yep, I don't like the humidity, either -- dry heat I can deal with better (although I don't like that much, either)...
I grew up in a suburb North of Chicago, Illinois. Lots of humidity with those hot summer days; but having Lake Michigan nearby to jump into and cool off with a swim made it more bearable.
Thanks for the reply, Linux! It was interesting to read about your experience in Denmark, as my step-mom's 3rd husband was Danish. She went to Denmark with him I believe at least 3 different times, and totally fell in love with the country. Although I've never been, we at least keep in touch with his daughter-in-law, even though both my step-mom and Knud are now gone.
Take Care,
Ken
You don't want to be in NJ right now... it's humid at 90+ F... When I have to go out in the backyard I don't wear anything other than a kilt and even so I start sweating right away.
--
A Linux Longhair
Your hair looks great, as well as your beard, I'm sure the heat is hard on lots of people. Hot here in Cincinnati.
Tom
Hi(gh)!
This summer, Cologne, which is pretty much to the west of Germany, probably won't get much heat, weather and temperatures are currently not too different from those of London. But that's not the norm - as Cologne is located several hundreds of kilometres from the closest seashore, summers can be pretty hot here, with highs in the low 100s. However, usually such heatwaves do not last longer than about two weeks, and even then frequently heavy thunderstorms occur. This year, there seems to be a strong western air current which cuts us off from the continental heat.
Most people here do not own any air condition!
On the other hand, there rarely is real winter in Cologne, at least not by US standards... no blizzards, no subzero Fahrenheit temperatures.
See you in Khyberspace!
Yadgar
Good to be back! It was nice up in the Sierras, 61F when I left the trailhead at 1030am...but I could do without the hours of driving through temps in the 80s and 90s due to failed air conditioning...heaven to come over the bridge and watch them temps drop to reasonable levels!