Humboldt County Weather

It's wet and cold outside. You know that constant drizzle that doesn't seem so bad until you walk from your car to the grocery store entrance and realize that you're soaking wet?

It's so dark outside that I got mad at my son for talking too loudly on the phone this morning. I rolled over, grunted and figured that -- given how dark it was in my room -- it must've been 8 a.m. It was 11:20 a.m. and I'd gotten 8 hours sleep after banging around the house wide awake until after 3 a.m.

I hate this weather. So, how did I survive and look past it for most of my adult life living in Humboldt County?

The weather I'm suffering today is, actually, not a great deal different than any day in the spring in Humboldt County. I had to go to Target a few minutes ago and realized I was silently bitching about a drizzle that probably wouldn't have gotten a baseball game postponed in Eureka.

It's unlikely that I'll ever adjust to real, summer heat. When the temperature in Solano County and surrounding environs gets up past the mid-80s...I'll be way too hot to do anybody much good. I have, however, adjusted to the fact that I no longer live in an area that will be fogged in day after day after day -- in the summer. I can accept that I'll almost always enjoy baseball games outdoors in actual baseball weather. The sun won't stay hidden behind rain clouds for days and days on end. Well, at least, not very often.

I used to think the weather in Humboldt County accounted for what has been my depressed nature. Now, I'm sure the fog and cold wind ... the lack of any true seasonal changes in weather ... accounts for my extreme moodiness. I've learned in the last eight years that you can wake up in a bad mood, then have that mood altered some by the weather outside. Sunshine is a good thing, especially if you don't have to drive to Willow Creek or Benbow to enjoy it.

I don't walk around whistling, "Walkin' On Sunshine," or anything, but I appreciate the knowledge that it's not going to be damp, cold and rainy all winter ... and then damp, cold and foggy all summer. If the season changes, then anything can change. I wonder if I didn't learn to expect the worst and focus on the negative because ... the weather in Humboldt County does sort of reward the pessimist in all of us. Folks expect the worst and almost always get it.

The upside of being accustomed to Humboldt County weather is my ability to keep the thermostat around 65 degrees all winter. It's nearly impossible for me to be too cold indoors. Sadly, I can't sleep in the summer unless it's 68 degrees (or, ideally, cooler) in the house. So, whatever money I save on the PG&E in the winter winds up being paid back, with interest, because ... I have this machine called an air conditioner that pumps really cold air into the house when it's really hot outside...

Humboldt County weather ... at Christmastime ... I'm not sure there's a bigger test for my psyche.