If Not Here, Where??

Every year when the temperature soars into the triple digits, Mark and I rethink where we have chosen to live. Last year we had three consecutive months of triple-digit temperatures. Thankfully, this year it was only three weeks. But still, we discussed moving. He'd like to be near the ocean. Well, who wouldn't? But oceanfront property is typically very expensive. And besides, 80 degrees with 98 percent humidity doesn't feel much better than 105 degrees with 40 percent humidity. It's all hot. This eliminates Florida and much of the east coast. Northern California comes up. Again, the housing is far too expensive, and the weather can be a bit chilly. What about the mountains? Colorado, New Mexico, Utah or maybe the hills of Arkansas, Tennessee or Kentucky? Too much winter. England even came up this year. Are you kidding me? The housing is even more expensive than California AND it rains every Tuesday. Not to mention, we were just there in June and people were wearing coats. Not lightweight jackets -- coats. (We can visit more often, but let's not move.) Perhaps we should consider someplace we've never been before. Maybe Costa Rica, Belize, or Thailand? That would require more research and probably a field trip. But before a decision is made it cools down, like it did this weekend.

It was so pleasant that we went to the Dallas Arboretum to see the Chihuly exhibit. We enjoy going to the Arboretum just to see the plants and they threw in an art exhibit at no extra charge! They even accepted our expired Groupon. We had lunch at the DeGolyer Restaurant, which is a full service restaurant and has much nicer food than the snack bars. A couple of the exhibits had sustained some minor hail damage from the last big thunderstorm, but remarkably it was minimal, almost unnoticeable. All in all, it was fantastic! Here are a few more pictures.

It struck me as we were driving home -- where could we live where we could have easy access to exhibits of this caliber? Easy access to museums, performing arts, professional sports, recreation facilities, major department stores, outlet shops, and any kind of restaurant you can think of. Of course New York, San Francisco and a number of places come to mind. But we also want reasonably priced housing and a sensible cost of living. We want to have easy access to an international airport with direct flights to Europe. We want a large garden. We want the weather to be "mostly pleasant". The possibilities narrow. I'm not sure a move would result in an improvement.

Of course, if any one has any suggestions, do let me know. I'm sure we'll be having the "where should we move to" conversation again and it will be good to have some new ideas. (You do realize you could end up with us as neighbors.)