How damp is it?
About a month ago the puffy coats started making an appearance. The temps were in the 60s and it was often raining. BAM! Puffy coats were everywhere! Puffy coat season is a little strange to me, especially when I’m wearing a t-shirt and everyone else is wearing winter coats. My hunch is that it’s how Lisbonetas cope with the damp1.
I distinctly remember a camping trip we took to the Pacific Northwest back in 2007. It was a wonderful trip exploring much of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington2. The first night, though…. we camped at Tillamook State Forest. It was not raining, but I have never felt as slimy as I did for that eternity of a night. The humidity was easily at 150%. Scott, naturally, was fine.
My reaction to a damp environment was definitely on my mind when getting ready to move to Portugal. I wanted to balance not living with mold growing on me - being comfortable - and also having some security about water availability in coming years.3
Some thoughts about that. Everything I studied prior to moving indicated that Portugal’s droughts will just get worse. Indeed, our first summer, in 2022, saw horrific droughts across much of Europe. Most scientific reports are projecting water deficits in the Algarve. The area of the country that will be least affected will be the north. Thus, when we were looking where to buy in Portugal, I was aware that it would be wonderful - ideal - if we could settle in a place with as much water security as we could get. On a scouting trip, we fell in love with Braga, some 34 miles / 55 km north-northeast from Porto. That would put us in the wetter areas of Portugal. So we decided to visit each season. Our winter visit was eye opening. Stores and restaurants all had their doors open. Y’all, I was wearing a winter coat and still cold. And I’m supposed to sit down to a meal or go try on a sweater when the temperature is 54 during the day and 34 at night. When we found ourselves debating whether the food at the mall was good enough to for our restaurant meal out for the fall and winter, we came to our senses. Lisbon it was.
Our first fall/rainy season was a tremendous shock to me. I knew Portugal has a rainy season. But I didn’t realize it starts in mid October! My crisp fall weather with changing leaves and beautiful blue skies? How about weeks of torrential downpour instead?4 We like to keep the windows open whenever possible. Yeah, not happening. You ever pick up a piece of paper and have it bend because it is so damp? Or get into bed and the sheets are slimy? Or your towel is never ever dry? I thought I had prepared myself: When figuring out what to pack in our 6 duffels we allotted one entire bag to our cuddliest blankets, and much of the clothes I chose to bring were my warmest. Great planning. But boots on the ground: When the sweatpants are damp, you’re just not going to be comfy.
We made some pretty big changes. First up was the dehumidifier. Phew, my towel was dry in the mornings. Second, an under the sheet heating pad. Pop that on right before you go to bed and you are warm and toasty - and dry. I also picked up a snoodie at Primark, a fast fashion retailer here.
All that is helpful - but the single most important piece of managing the damp is picking a home with a great energy efficiency. Portugal has this awesome program in which every home that is being sold or rented has to come with an energy efficiency rating. For real. Just like the rating on any appliance you buy in the US. Except this one says if you are going to be comfortable or not! The ratings span from an A+ to an F. We lived in an A, and now we live in a B. The criteria has shifted, and the fact that our building doesn’t have solar (and possibly the fact that one room in each unit has a slightly higher ceiling) kept us from the coveted A rating. The way to get a higher rated home is to look for a building that is either new or has been newly renovated. This building is an old building that has been completely gutted. This allows them to put in all the stuff you need - like insulation - and be comfortable, all while keeping the beautiful exterior. It’s a fabulous compromise.
Naturally, I write this while it is gorgeous and sunny and the windows are open! Granted, it is a bit humid, but this is not even close to what last year' was like. I am not uncrossing my fingers yet as we are early in the rainy season, but so far, I’m a happy camper!
That’s all for now.
Love from Lisbon,
Amy
I hope you haven’t seen the picture of mushrooms growing inside closets that immigrants from the US post on facebook groups. *shudder*
During cherry season, too! We would toodle along, spot one of the many roadside cherry stands, and have at it. We ate cherries for days. I was worried my tongue was permanently purple!
I’m very aware that we’re looking at theoretically models, and the effects of climate change could be somewhat different than what is projected. However, it feels like the vast majority of new reports and models show that the changes are happening sooner and on a larger scale than expected.
That said, climate change as it affects comfort, is temperatures, humidity, size of storms, and water scarcity. Looking at what’s coming down the pike for the American Southwest, you realize large scale human migrations will be happening at some point. My goal was to find a place where the effects were tolerable and we wouldn’t have to move in order to have access to water.
World Resource Institute interactive model allows you to see likely aqueduct stress locations across the globe. It’s been recently updated. For another view, with potentially less scientific rigor, is this site from Nest Pick which will also do water shortages. Additionally, it gives many fewer locations. Still, interesting.
We were reassured that it was an unusually wet rainy season. Hmph.
It's strange to think that the norm of having clean, dry skin and dry clothing against it must be pretty recent. Before the age of near-universal air conditioning... even as recently as the 1950s... middle-class men, at least, wore suits in summer and sweated into them. A daily change of all the clothing touching the skin wouldn't have been common until the era of electricity, piped water, and washing machines. And daily bathing didn't become a cultural norm until the mid-1800s. George Orwell writes about there being opposition to providing bathtubs in lower-class housing because it was commonly believed that if you gave the lower classes bathtubs, they would just store coal in them. I am not entirely sure of the balance of health benefits to allowing a thin coating of natural grubbiness on the skin versus washing it off. Anyway, for most of human history and much of the world, grubby skin and seasonally-damp clothing and bedding must have been the norm. It occurs to me that this must have been true for soldiers and sailors, too.
That snoodie makes a distinctive fashion statement! It sure looks warm!
I'm ready for cherry season!
Love you!