[nightski]

That sounds depressing! But it's not my experience at all in the Midwest. I love the seasons. Summer can get a little hot, but there is still a lot to do around here. Winter is very fun to from cross country skiing, to fat tire biking, bonfires, and snowmobiling. I go out regularly in anything as low as -30F to -40F as long as I am dressed properly. Then we get Fall/Spring which are very special.

Honestly I've been to SF a lot and I find California down right dreary and boring!

Many in our area are farmers and they are a lot tougher than your post suggests.

The truth is healthy food is insanely expensive. We spend over $1000+/mo for two people. I know families with kids that eat on less than half that by eating less healthy.

[corrral]

> Many in our area are farmers and they are a lot tougher than your post suggests.

Heh, I come very directly from extremely country stock, so I'd never disparage their hardiness.

... However, even the farmers are rocking fancy trucks and climate-controlled combines & tractors with GPS guidance, these days :-)

AFAIK you still have to step out of your air conditioning to shoo loose cattle back in their pens, or mend a fence, though.

[otter-rock]

Not every agricultural operation is diversified like that. I don't have a great source, but this one is kind of ok if you flip back and forth between the maps. They have a better map that only works on desktop, and they have the raw data too.

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Online_...