I live in the South where cold, unrelenting temperatures are very rare and when it lasts over two weeks, it is almost unheard of. There are still patches of snow and ice around my yard from the storm before Christmas! The sun is shining today so there is that.I hate the cold, I really do. I don't bundle up and go out in it or even stick one hand out the door. Mostly, I sit near the woodstove that my husband so considerately keeps stoked because he knows how much I hate being cold and I try to stay busy doing indoor things.
While perusing the various news feeds, it occurred to me that much of the world is seeing record breaking temperatures, snow, ice and wind. Here are just a few examples:
“Irish province Munster's Celtic League match against Welsh region the Scarlets was called off on Saturday, a day before Sunday's kick-off, due to the freezing weather sweeping Britain and Ireland.” The heartiness of these Celtic people is legendary but this weather has even defeated them!
“Irish province Munster's Celtic League match against Welsh region the Scarlets was called off on Saturday, a day before Sunday's kick-off, due to the freezing weather sweeping Britain and Ireland.” The heartiness of these Celtic people is legendary but this weather has even defeated them!
“Frozen Europe: 100s of flights canceled in Germany.” Planes are skidding off runways and numerous car accidents have caused cancellations and long delays.
And from the upper tier states to the Florida orange groves, there is cold, ice and accidents. It would seem that the only places in the US where you might be able escape the cold is Southern California or Hawaii.
Until the temperatures rise, I'll be holed up in my warm, little burrow, dreaming of sunny skies and warm breezes. Stay warm and stay safe!
rockync,
ReplyDeleteTake heart. I just returned from an hour's walk in 19 degree temperatures here in Boston. Admittedly, I did duck into stores to warm up along the way, but when I was back on the street, I walked at a very brisk pace and was happy to return to the warmth of my apartment.
These definitely are indoor days and a chance to do more reading and listening to Mozart.
Take heart, spring arrives in only 71 days!
It snowed today ... in Florida ... can you believe! My tentacles are too numb to write anything else. Bye!
ReplyDeleteRocky: Wow! Icicles on oranges! I think I'll take the LAST photo, if you please.
ReplyDeleteShaw: You are one BRAVE woman, as we're aware, but to walk an HOUR in freezing temps! You GO girl! That actually sounds kind of nice, truth be told, walking through a cozy city, ducking into cafes for a latte to get warm...oh and Mozart! I think I'm going to turn on my CD, although I have Beethoven.
Octo: If I could knit, I'd knit you Tentacle Warmers! Poor thing. But at least you and Rocky get sunshine...here in Pa the weather is GRAY!
Oh, gosh. Those frozen oranges look ready for a smoothie...
ReplyDeleteWe went for a brief walk today (our dog requested it, the reckless thing). I'm still trying to thaw out, while he sleeps happily under my desk, apparently satisfied with the romp in the 16inches of snow. Dogs.
But that's Northern Illinois, so whadya expect?
I hear that iguanas are freezing on trees down South and zoo animals are in danger. That can't be fun. (OTOH, Capt. Fogg will get to experience the "white stuff" first hand now... :)
Only 71 days you say, eh?
Come on folks, toughen up. At 4am this morning my thermometer read -27F.
ReplyDeleteThe Sun is shining today, and we are going to build an ICE slide. It's fun!
The weatherman says we are do for a heat wave. Should be 25F by Tuesday.
I can't toughen up, Tom. I'm a cold weather wimp. I can't cope like Shaw and Pam. I just stay inside feeling like a prisoner.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I have Renaud's Syndrome...
Sorry, the cold brings out the hypochondriac in me! :)
rockync,
ReplyDeleteRenaud's Syndrome? I called it the dead finger disease. I used to get it once in a while, even when I lived in Florida--when I shopped in those ice-cold a/c supermarkets, my fingers would turn purple and yellow and white.
I think my Renaud's was aggravated by the years I spent sculpting in stone--banging a chisel with a metal hammer into alabaster and other stones apparently didn't help.
It's strange but since I've moved back to the northeast, I haven't had a problem with dead fingers.
Another mystery as we advance in age.
OCTO, Elizabeth, Tom, and Pam. Keep warm. And as my dear mother used to say, "Cover your head, and don't take chances."
I spent 50 winters in Chicago and i pent 4 of them in upstate New York -- I know about 20 foot snow drifts and 25 below and not seeing the grass from November till late april.
ReplyDeleteIt did hit 31 a few hours ago, which happens maybe once or twice in a century. I'm only 100 yards or so from the water but inland, it may have dropped below the 28 degrees at which it starts to damage the citrus crop -- not that there's as much as there used to be before NAFTA sucked the blood out of agriculture here.
No ice on the pool, but I could hear a crunch when walking on the astroturf on one of the balconies.
OK so you'll laugh about 32 being so cold if you're a Northerner, but with high ceilings and a heat pump system set up for AC rather than heat it's expensive to heat a house here and many people don't own coats or sweaters - honestly!
Anyway, it'sll be in the 60's by Tuesday and mid 70's in a week. We'll live.
I should point out that although it seems to be fashionable to trash the Red Cross, they seem to be the only ones around here providing overnight shelter from the cold for the many, many homeless people here, who without shoes or socks or anything but shorts and T shirts wouldn't make it through the night. Elderly people are freezing in unheated trailers or burning themselves to death trying to heat them with the kitchen stove.
ReplyDeleteA donation of a few bucks or a few hours goes a long way.