YIN VS. YANG

Ever since I moved here, I've always addressed my questions regarding the weather to Barbara. And, for the first year or so, she'd give me pretty good answers. There came a point, however, when I guess either her meteorological skills became weakened OR she merely got fed up with my zillions of questions; thus she finally laid down the law: UH.. GUESS WHAT... I'M NOT A REAL WEATHERMAN. Oops. Really?? She isn't?? Who knew?

Boom. In a flash, my go-to person regarding what the weather will be or why the temps were what they were, or for that matter, how the weather would affect my choice of clothing, etc. etc. was gone. I was on my own. EEKS.

Now that I look back on it all, it sort of makes perfect sense. First of all, just because I consider Barbara the SOURCE OF ALL INFO, doesn't mean she REALLY knows everything. I sort of always thought she did, but in reality, I guess there's just so many post graduate degrees any one person can hold. Secondly, although Barbara and I live in the same city, she lives WAY high up on the mountain, hence, I always tell her SHE'S in Canada, thereby rending HER weather reports far more colder/different than where I live. Lastly... and basically, this is the true yin yang of it all... Barbara sleeps, during the hard winter, with her bedroom door slightly ajar, wearing no bedtime socks AT ALL. That alone should have plainly told me we're on two different playing fields. I need a warm 76 degrees to sleep comfortably. Barbara needs a much colder 62 degrees.

Regardless... sleeping withOUT socks?? Whoa. That's almost unheard of! For me, my feet and/or socks are practically all I ever NEED, to determine the comings and goings of seasons. Case in point: During the summer, I never need to hit the hay wearing night time socks. Nor do I ever need to wear slippers. Particularly after I step out of the shower. But... autumn?? Winter?? I'd NEVER consider going to sleep without my crappy looking socks! Nor would I ever consider taking a shower without putting my slippers RIGHT SMACK NEXT TO THE SHOWER DOOR, waiting for me to step into them immediately after I finish. Why, my poor little tootsies would FREEZE if I didn't. Not only that, I know INSTINCTIVELY that the cooler weather has arrived when, without even thinking, I need to turn on the bathroom's little ceiling heating system just as I'm turning on the shower spigot.

I think about all this now, because the other day Barbara asked me a very interesting question. Based on the fact that I was bitching how all of August was way too hot, the other day I was bitching because I was now way too chilly. At which point, Barbara wanted to know exactly what IS my temperature of choice? If I'm not complaining about one temp, I'm apparently complaining about another. So... as I drove home, I gave concentrated thought to her question and tonight, I do believe, after all this time, I have finally determined my real, live, actual desired temperature. NEWS ALERT: To keep me absolutely comfortable, able to wear all my favorite clothing, while keeping a wide smile on my face... the daytime temperature needs to be... tada... on or about: 74.5 degrees! The evening temp, on the other hand, is allowed to drop to... on or about: 68.5. So THERE. Thanks to Barbara, I now have the answer to her burning question. Which is: approximately a cool 70ish. Whew. Now I have yet ANOTHER solution to what makes me tick. Man, I love it, when all my personal mysteries are solved.