There’s some psychological competition between  Northerners and Southerners  each winter.  If you live in Florida or Arizona, or have spent mega bucks renting a condo, you tend to enjoy hearing about snowstorms up north.  Conversely,  Northerners who  stay at home laugh when their snow bird friends complain about a run of  cold weather Down South.    Right now, winter schadenfreude is at its peak.

While living  in Florida year round, I remember the joy of basking in the sunshine while the media blasted horror stories about ice, snow, and  power outs up north.  That felt good for a few months.   But along came early summer, and when it  got hotter and more humid, and the greenery turned yellow,  I missed cool spring rains, deep green leaves, mysterious gray skies and daffodils in bloom.   I grew tired of the torrential rainfalls, and the searing heat of summer in Florida.

The thing I remember most clearly: you seldom saw children playing outside in residential neighborhoods.  Kids stayed inside in the air conditioning all summer.  Hard to believe, but the sameness of perpetual sunshine gets boring after a while.  Then, i yearned for the crisp cool air and brilliant foliage of an Indiana autumn.

Let’s say you’re spending $3,000 a week for a condo on the beach in January.  Your enjoyment of each expensive day is inversely proportional to how bad the weather is back home.    On the other hand, a week of cloudy, cool, days in your rental seems  like a wasted $3,000.   Added to that regret is the hassle of packing your car for days ahead of time and  staying in motels  along the way, which may have bedbugs and lumpy mattresses.

Of course, some very lucky people own homes or condos in resort areas, and can afford to fly back and forth at will.  I’m not talking about those fortunate folks.  I’m thinking of the millions of people who pack up the car and endure the discomforts of a very long journey for a relatively short winter vacation. Driving hundreds of miles back and forth can be hazardous.   Unexpected misery along the highways may include big city traffic hassles;  blinding rains;  snowstorms in March; Spring  tornadoes, hour long traffic stalls due to deadly accidents; and food poisoning in strange restaurants.

Finally, one day, you decide that after a certain age,  going South for the winter isn’t really worth the effort.  You get in a load of wood or install an electric fireplace.  You invest in warm flannel sheets. And then, one night in  January, you find yourself comparing temperatures between here and there.  When you see a bad weather forecast in  your old resort city, you smile to yourself, thinking of all those folks shivering in cold damp condos and yes, you feel a bit of schadenfreude*.

*schadenfreude:   pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune