Freezing Fall

Pretty Fall Leaves in Front of a School

In Australia, it is autumn.  Actually, we're heading into winter very soon.  And I'm not going to lie-it's cold here!  Yesterday, the high was only 8 degrees Celsius, which is 47 degrees Fahrenheit.  It also rained on and off throughout the day, and the wind never stopped blowing.  Today's not supposed to be much better...about 52 degrees.  I'm not complaining, because I know people will be thinking, "You're in Australia-poor baby-just be quiet."  But I'm just reporting the facts.  I know people will also be thinking, "52 degrees is not that bad.  You lived in Denver for Pete's sake."  However, it's different for a few reasons:

1.  Denver has sun.  300 days of it every year.  Sun helps it feel warm even when the temperature is cold.  It's pretty darn cloudy here every other day or so.
2.  Rain makes it feel colder.  There's a wet, damp coldness to the air that you just can't shake.  In fact, our bath towels never get completely dry from day to day-only when I do laundry and they come out of the dryer.  My umbrella has seen more use in the few weeks I've been here than in my entire seven years in Denver.  Seriously!
3.  My body is craving summer.  I like all four seasons, but in order.  Coming from winter in Denver back into fall/winter here is a bit brutal.  We're hoping to start traveling around Australia soon.  Maybe we'll get to somewhere warm for our anniversary in July?
4.  It is really windy.  Maybe it's because we live right on the bay, but there are some serious wind gusts going on these past few days.  That makes it feel colder too!
5.  I didn't pack all of my cold-weather gear.  Sure, I've got my sweaters and sweatshirts (or jumpers as they would call them here).  And I have my North Face fleece jacket, which is pretty warm.  But I only have one light set of a dressy hat/scarf/mittens.  Maybe I should have brought my snowboarding get-up!

You can all remind me of this post when I'm writing about how hot it is in the summer, but for now, I'm curled up in bed, and I don't want to move from this nice warm spot.  However, there are some killer mid-year sales going on right now, so maybe I'll do some shopping today.  The stores should be warm, right?

Brighton Beach Houses

Yesterday afternoon we Rollerbladed/biked down to Brighton Beach.  It's famous for the Beach Houses.  Apparently these things cost around $250,000, and you don't even officially own them (the city does).  I guess it's a status symbol.  As you can see, they are painted in lots of fun colors.  I didn't realize there were so many of them...about 75.  I guess people use them for changing clothes and such during the summer.  Last night, a few groups were having picnics or getting photographs taken in front of them.  They are pretty!

It's getting rather chilly around here-only up near 60 degrees (I haven't learned Celsius yet!) during the day.  It's very strange seeing palm trees combined with cold weather and Autumn leaves on the ground.  We even had to turn on the heat in our apartment because the nights were getting too cold.  I hear Denver is in the 80s-I'm kind of jealous!