You can sail year round in Alabama. I sure did in Texas. We just moved to New Jersey. My sailing season definitely shortened a bit with the move.

@ScottAHurst True, I can and have, but inland winds here are more reliable in Spring and Fall. August is bob&bake, and January is float&freeze.

Soon, I'll be searching for a race boat to crew on in or around Long Island. I hope to find a ~50 ft sloop with a buoy and offshore program. I've been racing on a J/105 (mostly) the last 5 years.

I'll be rejoining my Texas boat on Lake Michigan this year. We'll do the Chicago-Mac a second time together and then race J/105 North American Championships there the following week.

@twshield No, but less willing to come out of their warm homes lol

@silvereyes I do, it's called snuggling up in a corner with a warm computer!

@JackPedigo I thought that was a year-round practice.

@JosephHarrison It hasn't been but is turning out that way. Don't worry, I still find time to do projects. You won't have to listen to my rantings as much come Spring.

@silvereyes ?? Your hibernating corner must be really warm or you have no AC (not in Okie land).

So, to those north of us... spring IS on it's way. We are seeing it.

@silvereyes Your powers of deduction are impressive. Yeah, I do. The lack of insects, the cool temperatures, all that stuff. Also, the food is so much better than it is in summer.

@silvereyes What are insects? Besides from an occasional mosquito we don't have a lot of bugs.

@JackPedigo Plant mints . The mosquitos don't like being around the mint .

Forgot about flies. Not normal a lot here but across the street is a pony farm. The ponies are gone but there a 3 donkeys. I do a few big horse flies. Spiders are small and the main problem comes in the fall. You have to walk with your arm raised to get through the webs. All in all the NW is pretty tame as far as bugs go. @silvereyes

@Cast1es Unfortunately, that creates a bigger problem than the bugs. Mint can be an invasive and it is hard to control. Our area is naturally low on pesky bugs.

@silvereyes Mine is a one-speed — and that speed is "slow." But I like it for leisurely rides. Hills are still a pain in the derrière, though. (I never had a multi-speed bicycle that didn't have gear problems. The simple gearing on my bike never lets me down.)

Look for an allergist who does "mast" (vast?) testing. It's a blood test, and they custom mix a serum based on your specific combination of allergies. I had this done some years ago, it was the best thing I ever did for my allergies. Almost no reaction s for years after.

@silvereyes One of my Thai Morehead State University students showed me photos of birds he'd taken in Sataburi, Thailand, and I vowed to go there. So, in 2010, after a divorce, and after my parents had just passed away, and both kids were grown and gone, I found a teaching job in Saraburi, Thailand, and moved here in 2010. Since, I've lived in several places, but Songkhla is the best place so far. I have to leave now, though, since they changed the Thai law, so that I've aged out of the allowed age for foreign teachers.

@silvereyes There has always been a 60 yr old cap for regular teachers but foreign ESL teachers were given a pass. But recently, they changed the law to include all teachers.