Charmed in Cali, Chapter 2
This morning I am again relaxing on a sofa at Cali Charm B&B. The maid is watering the tropical house plants in the interior court yard as Spanish music from next door drifts in the window. Many houses her are built in the Spanish style of having and open interior court yard. There is a humming bird feeder hanging near me and beautiful green humming birds fly in regularly for a drink. Homes here are much more open to nature than in the states. It also allows for good ventilation and keeps the home cooler. I have read many posts on the fact that homes in Cali have bars on the windows and this must relate to danger. In fact it is much more related to the Spanish style of building which opens the home to nature. The bars are needed for basic security for open windows and doors. Most homes in the states are sealed and locked from the outside world and the window locks serve as our bars. I can think of few major US cities where you would leave your windows open with no other security. I asked a 53 year old friend here if there were bars on the windows when he was a child and he said “yesâ€. The weather here is hot but there is no humidity which makes it very bearable. Most days it is 88 to 90 with 35-40% humidity at 2 PM. It the afternoon to cools off very nicely and a good breeze blows down from the surrounding mountains. The mornings are cool around 70 but there is higher humidity so it feels a little sticky. But after living in the South Eastern US with 90 and 90% humidity this feels great. Cali lies in a valley between two mountain ranges but is still 3000 feet above sea level. This makes the climate less tropical even though we are near the equator. To the west Cali is built up to the base of a mountain range which varies in height from 4800 feet to 9000 feet. This range blocks the humid air flow from the Pacific Ocean. In the afternoon you can see cloud caps at the tops of the higher mountains. To the east maybe 75 miles is the second range which is much taller with peaks above 15,000 feet. I am told it is not safe to visit these mountains as there is guerrilla military activity there. Another interesting thing about Cali is as it is near the equator; sunrise 6 AM and sunset 6 PM are almost at the same time year round. Columbia does not switch to day light savings time so now they are the same as US Central Time and in the winter they will be the same as US Eastern Time. I am told there is very little difference between summer and winter except it rains more in the winter.
Tapeguy
