On 2006-05-10, Jay Honeck wrote:
When I was a small child of around 6 years old, I used to look through
the atlas. I used to look in wonder at the United States, and try to
figure out how people living in places like Iowa could bear living so
many miles from the sea.

Interesting.
snip
Yet, after 9 years in Iowa, I can honestly say that life AWAY from the
water is better. No more damp weather. No more "lake-effect"
snowstorms that buried us under several feet of snow. No more "cooler
near the lake" forecasts, which could suddenly turn pool parties and
cookouts into frigid affairs -- even in July.

The Great Lakes are a bit different though: thanks to the relatively
warm (especially for our latitude) waters, despite being further north
than the entire lower 48 states, we can grow many species of palm here
- I just planted some Washingtonia filifera (i.e. California fan palm)
in my back garden (it won't grow as tall as it does in California
though). It seldom freezes here, and if it snows, it melts within about 2
hours. The summers are mild - rarely getting higher than the mid 70s
which is an extremely pleasant temperature, I think.

Being in the north Atlantic (in particular, the Gulf Stream) is not the
same as living near the Great Lakes. Personally, I also need humidity -
my lips dry out horribly if I spend more than 4 or 5 days in the dryer
parts of the US - I *vastly* prefer the humid heat that feels like a wet
towel that you find in Houston (where I spent 6 years) to the 'but it's
a dry heat!' you get out west.

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