Let’s get something straight: Lamorinda has objectively excellent weather. It does. We know this. The Mediterranean climate. The warm, dry summers. The mild, green winters. The fog that wisely stays on the other side of the hills.
We are lucky. We are grateful.
We will not stop complaining.
The Summer Grievances
“It’s SO hot.”
(It is 87 degrees. In August. This is what August does.)
“Can you believe this heat wave?”
(It will be 78 again by Thursday. This is not a heat wave.)
“I had to turn on the air conditioning.”
(You have air conditioning. Many San Francisco residents would like a word.)
The Winter Lamentations
“It’s RAINING again.”
(We need the rain. We spent all summer talking about the drought.)
“I’m so over this cold.”
(It is 52 degrees. This is not cold. This is “light jacket weather.”)
“When is spring?”
(It was spring two weeks ago. And it will be spring again next Tuesday. This is how it works here.)
The Microclimate Discourse
The sophisticated Lamorinda weather complaint involves microclimates.
“It’s ten degrees hotter in my backyard than it is at the reservoir.”
“The fog burns off by 10 in Moraga but Orinda stays cloudy until noon.”
“I checked three different weather apps and they all say different things.”
This is valid. Our microclimates are genuinely chaotic. You can live in one neighborhood and experience legitimately different weather than your friend two miles away. This is annoying and we are allowed to be vocal about it.
The Comparison Trap
Here’s where we get in trouble: we forget that other places exist. We forget that “bad weather” in most of America means actual extreme conditions, not “partly cloudy when I wanted sun.”
Then we travel somewhere. We experience humidity. We experience real cold. We experience a summer thunderstorm.
We come home. We kiss the ground. We complain about the weather again by Wednesday.
It’s the Lamorinda way.