The End of Junuary

Weekends, I huddle in front of our gas fireplace in our home here in Seattle. I nestle up in a wool blanket and wear my wool socks so that I don't get too cold while we I talk with my parents in North Carolina.

Mom always asks, "What's the weather out there?" This month, I respond, "Like usual. Rainy, cloudy and cool. Highs in the 60s and lows in the 50s. What's it like there?" Something like, "Ninety-seven degrees with 100 percent humidity. My hair is frizzing everywhere."

The weather here in Seattle is one of the many markers of differences between the land of my childhood and the land of my adulthood.

I could ask, "How many SUVs did you pass on the road today?" The number would be high in North Carolina and low in Seattle proper, even though those of us in Seattle have more hills and snow and bumpy roads in the mountains to manage than North Carolinians living in the Piedmont have. "How many hybrids did you pass?" Here is Seattle, the question is more like which hybrids did you see the most, but in Raleigh, the answer might be, "How can you tell a hybrid from an SUV?" (I know that there are hybrid SUVs, but it seems to me that Hybrid SUVs are a paradox.)

In Seattle, we have a preponderance of Starbucks, Tully's, Seattle's Best Coffee, and other coffee shops. In Raleigh, on most corners you'll find a church instead of a coffee shop, and there are as many varieities of churches in Raleigh as there are coffee shops in Seattle: Methodist, Baptist, Presbytherian and so forth.

Dressing up in Seattle is significantly different than dressing up in Raleigh. Last week, my partner Ann went to a "semi-formal" event: in this context, "semi-formal" meant no blue jeans. In Raleigh, for sure you'd need to wear hosiery and pearls (and somethinkg fancy to cover all you parts.)

In Raleigh, complexions tend towards tan, and hair gets blonder in June if you're white. In Seattle, we're mostly pasty with dark hair unless we go get some highlinghts at the beauty parlour (that's Southern for Supercuts).

Seattle's the city for me, but I wouldn't mind a little more sun by June. I wonder if this year we'll have Julyuary, too. It's looking like it.