Winter in Texas = Perpetual Fall Weather in Minnesota

When I first told friends that I was going to be moving to Texas in August this past year, the first thing they exclaimed was, “Texas is HOT!!!”  To which I replied, “Minnesota is COLD!!!”  I was very excited about moving to a region where there would be no snow having lived most of my life in northern states (Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin) and the very northern-est state (Alaska).

I always enjoyed the brisk snowy days with fluffy snow especially around Christmas.  It just makes sense that snow and the winter holidays go together and days gradually became darker and less sun filled.   However, I have also always hated scraping my frosty car, ear infections, shoveling snow, dead car batteries, and icy roads.  So….the bad won out and I gladly moved to Texas looking forward to mild winter temperatures and no snow.  I wasn’t excited about the humid summer that felt like I was walking through soup outside and the drought, but I gladly traded it for the bitter Minnesota winter temperatures that suck the air right out of your lungs.

Of course, moving to Texas in the middle of August was a shock to my system and temperatures were over 100 degrees for nearly a month after I moved.  I swam in the San Marcos River, Barton Springs, and my apartment pool and very much enjoyed central air!  I kept waiting and waiting for the temperatures to settle down and get cooler and they finally did.  I scraped frost off my car windshields only one day so far this year in November and I marveled at my students who were practically crying at how cold it was at around 30 degrees. 

Playing Christmas music felt very strange on days with the sun shining and I was wearing sandals.  It never did seem to be the right time to decorate and bake cookies in the perpetual fall weather here in Texas.  The leaves started turning colors and falling around the middle of December.  To my surprise, temperatures jumped up and down throughout December reaching 75 degrees around Christmas. My mother who was visiting for the holidays deemed this summer weather and swam in the San Marcos River with her dog Cherry – they both enjoyed the wonderful Texas “winter” weather!