I read thru a political forum from time to time. I find it interesting for a number of reasons and it gives me an opportunity and a reason to try and educate myself on a number of things. Just recently someone posted an article about prosperty and global temperatures. The premise is pretty basic. When it is warm out life grows more readily there is more food and more wine consumed! When it is cold food is scarce, wars break out and societies collapse.
The article doesn’t attempt to explain the reasons for the warming and cooling and it really isn’t the point.
I thought it was relevant because we are trying to move from a climate that has extreme swings in temperature thru the seasons to one that is much more steady. In the summer in Colorado it can get up to 110F degrees and in the winter it can get to -20F. I’ve started to notice that with those swings I also experience a change. In the summer things are growing, I have more energy and am generally way more productive. In the winter things die, I have less energy and it’s more difficult to try and be productive.
I would think that not experiencing the extreme changes in seasons and temp would keep humans (and all life for that matter) just a bit more on the productive and energetic side. It will be interesting to see what my own experience is like living closer to the equator.
For me it is a HUGE difference! So huge that when we move from PR we will have limited choices about where to go – probably Florida…
Actually Colorado has hit a high of 118 and a low of -61. So yeah that’s pretty extreme.
But as far as being more productive in nice weather just look how lazy people get when they move to Hawaii. All they do is surf.
Just tried surfing – always wondered why the lazy people were just floating around in the water doing nothing…figured it out REALLY fast…it is more tiring than any sport we have done (caving, diving, biking, hiking, kayaking) because you have to paddle with human power through the white crashing wave areas repeatedly to get a 2 – 20 second ride! Hard hard work!
Damon,
I agree. I’ve seen “island time” in action (inaction -lol)
I think maybe the productivity is spread out so it seems like a slower pace. There is no need to rush and hurry and plant, harvest, preserve food for example. You can lazily do it all year long! If you know every day will be a day that COULD be productive, it puts some of the pressure off of actually BEING too productive, but more still gets done overall…maybe?! who knows.
Surfing seems like it would require quite a bit of energy? I think that may be why people talk about it more than they actually do it.
Yeah, the lazy surfers. That’s what we thought until we tried it. We thought all they did was float around. Turns out you have to rest after fighting your way through the white water. Then you get a 2-20 second ride and fight against the water some more. Of all the sports we do this one will kill us.
Oh, maybe the goal of life isn’t productivity…just a thought.
Hmm…. interesting theory. So it’s just a perception that islanders are inactive and unproductive? There are so many holidays, vacations, sick days, weekends, and breaks when work grinds to a total halt, and then they can still make up for it during non-holidays (without rushing) so it all evens out? Wait, it’s going to take a minute to wrap my head around that….. No, it’s not ludicrous. I am surprised that some quality things actually do happen more quickly there. It’s just that when it takes so much longer for other things, those leave a greater impression. Like our going-on-4-month-escrow (for the only reason that the sellers are using a US-based relocation company, which is apparently akin to dealing with the devil himself).–Fran
In Hawaii maybe. Here it is laziness. Jeff is more productive than anyone at work and he surfs the web for hours. He says it is singing and stuffed squeeky toys and other elementary school crap (he’s just about had it). People can’t seem to make it with a bag of garbage to the can. Surfers are all from somewhere else! Rush rush rush is overrated but waiting forever in a line is really bad. They just can’t seem to get people through the register! 4 months? Ours took about that long too. Wonder how long it will be to sell and process out of that?
@ Katrina– Haha, you think we might want to sell soon after moving there when we get fed up with all the “paradise taxes”? We better not, it’s costing us too much to move (we are moving our household goods)! But we are kind of set in our ways and are used to everything working, so who knows….
This escrow should have been a 30 day one; the only problem has been the sellers’ relocation company, Cedan Mobility, DBA Cartus, contracted by Tierra Del Sol Realty. WARNING to others: Do not buy property in PR if this or any relocation company is involved, unless you are willing to wait a very long time to close escrow. The best way to buy there if you don’t have PR income is all cash or if the seller carries paper. Otherwise (if you are getting a mortgage), it will close quickly if you have good credit scores, steady income in PR, and good “reservas” (money in the bank). And no relocation company. Ask for Depto. de Vivienda’s up to $10k credit toward closing costs, or if you don’t qualify for that, you can at least get their 50-100% credit toward sellos y comprobantes (recording fees and stamps). — Fran still in CA
One definition of work is the amount of energy expended to move a mass.
I defiantly do LESS work in a warmer climate.
In Seattle I would climb 5 miles up mountain in a couple of hours, here it would take me all day.
I cant even walk up to the top of my yard here without getting exhausted.
The body has to work so hard to just to do minimal work in this heat and humidity.
“When” I work I like to go all out but you just can’t do that here.
And only 1 in 4 people here file income tax returns – or can I say, works legally.
It’s the yin and yang of life. Balance is the key. Cold/winter is yang – it’s the time to rest & restore.
Haven’t lived in a tropical heat climate, but the California coast of Santa Barbara is mediterranean and fairly warm and stable. We both had a lot of energy there and observed that the people living there were more happy and productive than the folks living here in the mountains. There seems to be more substance abuse of all kinds here, whereas in the more tolerant left coast it is doesn’t seem to be such a problem.
Living in different climates is a good experience. You will enjoy the change. A LOT.
Thanks Annie…I do think it will be very interesting to pay attention to how we feel energetically depending on the climate. I do know as far as weather goes that in the summer we do WAY more activities and spend a lot of time outside which we love. In the winter we do tend to rest and restore as you said, Pat, but also feel some cabin fever to get out and move.