Things I have learnt since moving to Santa Barbara...

Michael is on the East Coast this week and it is snowing there and I think he is shock. We have acclimatized so quickly to the nice weather anything below 50 degrees now scares me a bit. Skiing at Christmas should be fun.

The children are missing him badly. He is much nicer to them in the mornings. Or rather nicer to Will - Morgan is more like me and shouldn't be spoken to before 10am and after multiple cups of tea. Will likes to get up early and likes company - I however do not. Between the hours of 5 and 7 am I can happily ignore all attempts to be a good mother. Will is counting the hours down until the return of the early morning soft touch.

Anyway, with Michael being away, it made me think about what still bemuses me about life here on the west coast.

• Don't carve pumpkins 3 weeks before Halloween and leave them on the front steps as seasonal decoration - the fruit flies and the smell of rotting food in warm temperatures doesn't endear you to the neighbours. 
• Don't email anyone - you will not get a response this week - maybe next but unlikely. You have to go old school and actually pick up the phone and speak to someone (this still makes us nervous - not sure texting is going to catch on either).
• Be prepared to talk about the weather - even if it is 70 degrees today, was 70 degrees yesterday and likely to be 70 degrees tomorrow - there is always something to say. 
• Local news on the TV isn't in HD and it is scary.
• Local news on the radio is very, very specific - especially traffic reports. You know who (names if they have), you know where (problem streets are cited - not talking the freeway here), you know injuries (fatal, walking or none) and you know what (calf getting through the fence on the road - the traffic issue being caused by the fence bits all over the road after the calf was pushed back through the fence)!
• You can get sunburnt in November.
• You can not, however, buy a swimsuit - wrong season apparently.

I am missing the colors and smells of an east coast fall; but soon get over it as I get in the car, turn on the local radio news and listen to the latest traffic report!