We have been fortunate that each of the homes that we have owned have had comfortable outdoor spaces. In Boise we had a covered patio that functioned as an extra room of our house. We often ate on the patio in the summer. One winter, I covered the open walls with heavy plastic and used the space to build a canoe because there wasn’t room in the garage for me to build. In Rapid City we had a large two-level deck where we ate, lounged, and entertained. Our deck here is a bit smaller, but it provides a very comfortable space for outdoor dining and lounging. This summer we purchased a large umbrella that provides comfortable shade in the late afternoon and evening when the sun shines directly on our picnic table.

Last evening we were eating super on the deck and enjoying the quiet of the space. Our neighborhood is very tight and there are times when our neighbors seem too close for us. We have been used to having more space around our house than is the case here. However, last evening it seemed that all of our neighbors were inside. Even the neighborhood dogs were quiet. It occurred to me, briefly, that perhaps our neighbors didn’t know how truly pleasant it was outdoors. Then I thought that perhaps it was simply the case that they didn’t want to leave their television sets. One thing that is common in our neighborhood is for people to set up living spaces in their garages. They then open the garage door to allow the outdoor air to circulate. We walk by plenty of homes that have living room furniture and large television sets in the place where we park our car. On summer evenings those spaces are filled with people. Since the garages face the street, the back yards tend to be quiet on summer evenings.

For whatever reasons, I have mostly escaped the television bug. We keep talking about getting a television set and we probably will do so one day. In the meantime, we have a large computer monitor on which we can stream media and watch movies, though we don’t tend to watch movies very often. And our computer monitor isn’t large by television standards. The televisions we see displayed in area stores and in the homes of our friends and neighbors are much bigger than anything we would want. I haven’t gone shopping, but I suspect that the challenge of shopping for a television set these days would be finding something that is small enough for our desires. Most televisions are so big that they take up an entire wall. We like having our artwork and family pictures on our walls. And, of course, we have lots of bookshelves.

Reading is what we enjoy doing when we have some free time, and books are very portable, so we don’t have a single place where we sit to read. I like to sit in a recliner in our study, but I also read a fair amount sitting at the dining room table. There is a comfortable chair and a good lamp in our bedroom. And, of course, we have our outdoor space which is a comfortable space to sit and read.

I have been reading on the Internet about all of the places where being outdoors isn’t very comfortable. Record heat is producing dangerous conditions across the South with heat dome events predicted for the mid section of the United States and stretching into New England. Heavy rains have resulted in flooding in many places including recent floods in New York and Oklahoma. One thing I am observing in all of this weather-related news is how our area has been escaping the uncomfortable weather. When it comes to climate, we are living in a pretty desirable location.

That has been true of where we have lived for much of our lives. I can remember when we were living in North Dakota during a particularly hot and dry summer. We came to the Black Hills of South Dakota and stayed at the home of relatives. I stood outside on their deck and marveled at the cool and comfort of the hills and thought to myself, “I could enjoy living in a place like this.” As it turned out we lived in the comfort of the Black Hills for 25 years, enjoying the mild climate. Sure, there were some pretty epic winter storms. We did move our share of snow during those years. And there were a few flash floods, though those didn’t effect our home on the hill. And we worried about fire some summers and watched as wildfire spread quickly through the forest and came uncomfortably close to our area. So I guess that the climate wasn’t perfect in the hills. On the other hand, it was pretty good and we certainly enjoyed living there.

Here in our new home we feel pretty lucky when it comes to the climate. The ocean and typical onshore breezes keep it cool here. This week the daytime highs will be in the 60’s with overnight lows in the high 50’s. We have an air conditioner, but it doesn’t need to run very often. Our winters are mild, compared with other places where we have lived.

Even in this place of mild climate, there has been serious talk of developing climate shelters for extreme weather events. The climate is changing more rapidly than had been predicted. Summers are getting hotter, winter storms are getting more severe, flooding is becoming common in many areas. Communities are developing plans to open shelters to keep people cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

We are feeling pretty lucky. We go for outdoor walks every day and outside of the fact that we had to get some comfortable rain jackets that we hadn’t needed when we lived in South Dakota, we don’t need much severe weather gear. Most days we find ourselves on the beach for at least a few minutes, enjoying the sea breeze and the sense of openness of the ocean. And we have a deck on the north side of our home and a covered porch on the south side that provide us with comfortable places to sit outdoors.

I confess that I don’t understand why our neighbors spend so much time indoors.