New member Introduction [old]

[angel222]

welcome new members.

[HalloweenMelanie]

Hi! My name is Melanie. I've always loved Halloween and even have a myspace page specifically for it. I am a mom of three boys and I love being able to keep the holiday going with them. I have lived in Southern California for the past three years and miss seasons terribly--I grew up in the northeast, where falls are spectacular.

Just wanted to give a shout out and introduce myself. I'm looking forward to reading here and looking at everyone's displays!

[Haunt Master]

Welcome to Halloween.com Forums, Melaine!

Keep browsing and you will find some fun around here!!

[ghostess]

Welcome Melanie.

Seasons? What are those? LOL I am in Northeast Florida. We have hot, hotter, hot and rainy, and not quite as hot for our seasons.

[HalloweenMelanie]

Thanks for the welcomes.

Ghostess (great username, BTW), I have to look very hard for the very subtle changes around here that I myself see as seasons. Most people around here don't seem to notice very much. But there is a change, which I lean on very heavily so that I can get my seasons "fix".

We have about 5 months of very hot (over 90 and often over 100) degree weather starting in May. It's still very warm by Halloween but where I live, a lot of deciduous trees have been planted so some are changing color a bit by Halloween. I seek those out, go for drives and take pictures of any trees I can find. I change the look of my house to reflect the seasons. I put on my dark maroon (instead of light-colored) tablecloth and I start decorating with "natural" stuff, like gourds, small bits of hay with candles in the center, etc., in September. I start baking things like spicy breads (pumpkin, zucchini) for the seasonal smell, and I make apple pies and apple crisp. I burn a lot of candles for the warm smell of a candle burning. When we go up to the mountains, I gather acorns and I decorate with those too. This is how I manage to still get a little bit of a seasonal feel.

[ghostess]

We have pine trees and oak trees. Not much color changing going on with those. We do actually have a lot of maples, but they don't change until December, and it's not very dramatic. They have MORE color in the early spring when they are putting out those little pink seeds. Mostly everything is green or brown, depending on the rainy/drought seasons.

I kind of do what you do with the change of color in the house (mine's just a bit more extreme..lol) and I tend to keep pumpkin or apple pie candles burning and the fall baking starts.

Anyway, welcome again! Hope you like it here.

[Haunt Master]

Melaine, I will not live in the southern CA! I heard it was too humid there, is that true?

And also, for you Ghostess, say if I go live in Miami Beach... is it a nice place for me to live there? Is it humid or not? I love to go there one day! And also, I heard that Miami is the highest crime for many years, right? I find it hardly to believe.

So anyways, I am looking for the place to live where there is always warm weather all year round, you know? I really HATE some cold seasons!

[HalloweenMelanie]

Grim, it's actually really dry here, humidity-level-wise and rain-wise. I too always said I'd never live in a place without seasons but responsibilities and extended family brought me here. I envy you your seasons! Whereabouts do you live?

[Haunt Master]

Mel,

I have 2 homes.... one in Norfolk, VA for only Spring/Summer and also, two home in Myrtle, SC for Fall/Winter. I also have a family there in Aiken, SC. I love MB!!!

[ghostess]

Miami is hot and very humid. I used to ride down there with my dad in the summers and on weekends in the semi, and I never liked it. West Palm beach was nicer (but still hot and very humid).

[HalloweenDot]

Ghostess,
I know we live reasonably close to each other, and the maples out here have been changing Oct/Nov if my memory is correct. I am not sure if it is the salt or just the variety or something else. I will try to remember to take some pictures out here this fall as they change. Everything is quite green now, that is for sure.

I lived in San Diego (really La Jolla at UCSD) when I was in grad school and it was very lovely weather out there. Warm during the day, low humidity, and cool at night. (June was the only month to break that pattern). Miami is much more humid.

[ghostess]

Yeah, you're just a tad south east of me. I can't remember if you guys are warmer in the cooler season (by cooler I mean not so dang hot) than we are inland because of the sea breeze bringing in warmer air from the warm water because the air temps haven't been cool enough and the days are still long enough for the water to still be 70° +. (At least, that's how I think it works, it's been a while since I took Earth Science..lol)

The trees out here changed in early December this past year. Half of them went straight to brown almost. The next thing I know, it's late January and they're releasing pollen. I remember a few years back when some of them changed in early November because we had some early cool snaps.

[HalloweenMelanie]

Mel,

I have 2 homes.... one in Norfolk, VA for only Spring/Summer and also, two home in Myrtle, SC for Fall/Winter. I also have a family there in Aiken, SC. I love MB!!!

Huh...what was that you said...? Sorry, I was wiping my chin from having drooled with envy over that description.

[HalloweenMelanie]

The trees out here changed in early December this past year. Half of them went straight to brown almost. The next thing I know, it's late January and they're releasing pollen. I remember a few years back when some of them changed in early November because we had some early cool snaps.

You know, our trees don't change completely until December either. But they start to change in October. It's really weird...the leaves just hang on for a long time.

But then they don't "re-leaf" until May-ish, since they change so late in the fall.

From what I heard of my folks, though, the northeast didn't change colors until later than usual, either. (Sorry...the grammar...ouch...I don't know how to fix that so I'll just leave it for now.) In fact, I snuck back east for a visit the third week of October, typically peak leaf color season for that area, and nothing had changed yet!

[HalloweenDot]

I'm out by PV.

The pollen certainly was bad this year and it seemed early. I have oleander, hibiscus, roses, blueberries, blackberries, lantana, impatiens, lilies etc in my yard and they add quite a bit of color.

Yeah, you're just a tad south east of me. I can't remember if you guys are warmer in the cooler season (by cooler I mean not so dang hot) than we are inland because of the sea breeze bringing in warmer air from the warm water because the air temps haven't been cool enough and the days are still long enough for the water to still be 70° +. (At least, that's how I think it works, it's been a while since I took Earth Science..lol)

The trees out here changed in early December this past year. Half of them went straight to brown almost. The next thing I know, it's late January and they're releasing pollen. I remember a few years back when some of them changed in early November because we had some early cool snaps.