Friday, February 27, 2015

Cold In Florida

There are people who say there is no truth to climate change.

Let me take a page from their book and say I'm not a scientist but it sure has been a wild winter. And when my son said, "Is it spring yet?" it reminded me that oh yes, it's still winter.

Writing about this is not new but I'll tell you what is. I live in Orlando. It was 29 degrees the other day. 29. My brother, who lives in Baltimore, says welcome to the rest of the world. But I say, it's not supposed to be like that in Florida. It's why we live here.

It's fun watching winter ON TV.

Snow, ice, slipping sliding cars, crashing cars. Watching the evening news, in shorts and flip flops, in the place that calls itself 'The Sunshine State', is a great way to to sit around the camp fire. I mean the television.

What is also fun is watching what happens here to people when the thermometer dips below 50. Out come the winter coats, the scarves, the gloves. For a guy who moved here from New York, I'm always thinking to myself, "You don't know cold." You know it's winter in Florida when one guy has on a coat and long pants and another guy has on shorts and a tank top.

It's been brutal up north.

I have a dear friend in Boston and it seems like it's been snowing there all the time. And not a dusting but alot of snow. When it's not snowing, here comes an ice storm. My wife went to Columbus, Ohio for a weekend and the temps were in the single digits. Plus the term 'whiteout' was in play. She didn't know if she'd be able to fly home.

It seems like a blizzard across the Plains States or Michigan or Oklahoma is a common occurrence. I'm late with this but be honest had you ever heard the term Polar Vortex before? It's not supposed to be that cold there or up north, but you wouldn't be that surprised if it was. It's the severity of the cold that is surprising.

I grew up with snow, I grew up with mittens, with gloves, with winter clothes. We had sleds and prayed for snow days so they would cancel school. In Maryland, where I went to junior high, they would cancel school because of icy conditions, the sun would come out and melt the ice by nine in the morning. And we kids had a free day off. What could be better?

As an adult I lived in New York during The Blizzard of '96, when it seemed like it snowed a bazillion times. So much snow that they had to push it into the East river. Still the only time I've ever seen people cross country skiing down Fifth Avenue.

So I know winter. I know cold. Still, 29 in Florida. That might mean nothing to you but it means a big something to me. It's not supposed to get that cold here. I'm not saying there is climate change all I'm saying is...

I'm just saying.


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3 comments:

  1. Your admission of the reality of climate change was very subtle and oh so clever. But it was an acknowledgement of this devastating event happening to our earth because of US! If enough people say these things, then hopefully people will understand it is the norm to believe in it. Thanks for getting the word out. All that having been said, tell Denise I empathize with her on her plants. We have to cover young and tender growth all the time, praying the spring frost won't nip or kill the plant. So I understand. We do so love our gardens. 29 degrees in Florida. Wow.

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  2. Yeah, it cooled down here in Phoenix too - below the usual 80 degrees in winter. It's going down to 78 today. Brrrrrr! Freezing! ;^)

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  3. 97% of scientists and I agree about climate change. Tell your son, spring will be here in a month
    Or 3.

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