If you hadn’t noticed, the title is a little play on words for the old saying ‘The grass is always greener...’ - a cute reference meaning that someone is never satisfied with their own situation and always thinks that everyone has it better, even though that may not be the case.

This seems to be very true when it comes to local weather. No matter where I go, people always think that someone else has it better than they do for weather. I’ve lived in three states in the past 10 years and in every instance, it seems that most people desire what they don’t have.

Case in point – I love to go around and ask everyone, ‘If you had the choice, would you prefer a day that was very hot and muggy (say one with a heat index of 105-110) or one that is very cold (temperature 20, wind chill - 0 degrees).’

Now, we do live in the South where it, on average, is quite warm, especially in the summer months. But amazingly, THREE-FOURTHS of the people I ask here in the midlands said that if they had the choice, they’d rather sit through a bitter cold day than a sweltering hot one.

Strangely enough, when I lived in Iowa, where 4-6 months of every year can be brutally cold, most preferred hot, humid days to the typical chilly ones we experienced.

Me? I’d gladly take a hot, muggy day over a bone-chilling cold one any day. Why? I’d like to define it mathematically:

The average person’s comfort zone is around 65-75 degrees. This is the temperature range in which you really don’t notice the conditions outside because your body doesn’t need to accommodate by shivering or sweating. Granted, everyone is different, so maybe your comfort zone is a little higher or a little lower.

Now, if the heat index was 110 degrees, your body is about 40 degrees outside of your comfort zone. Whereas, if the wind chill was 0 degrees, your body is some 70 degrees outside your comfort zone.

Maybe it’s because I’ve weathered sub-zero temperatures in the Northern Plains and can say from experience, but it just seems easier to cope with heat than it does with frigid weather.

The wife disagrees and states ‘I can always ADD layers when it’s cold, but when it gets to hot, you can only subtract so many.’ However, she does agree that South Carolina’s weather beats Iowa’s typical year hands down!

So, for those who are sick and tired of the heat and humidity that the state offers, I encourage you to take a trip north in about 6 months. When you realize how a –20 wind chill hits you so hard that you can barely move your fingers, you’ll find that 105 for a few days a year isn’t all that bad...

How about you? I’m interested to know if HOT or COLD is your preference?