Andrew's Wandering Mind
Frozen fog on trees is pretty. We don't see that very much in Florida, or really in western South Dakota. Where the humidity is, the cold isn't, and vice versa. This morning however, in Wall (SD) Rapid City and nearby points, we had thick frost decorating trees, fences, signs.. pretty much everything that wasn't heated. Not enough to call it ice by any stretch, but definitely beautiful frost spikelets on the east side of most inanimate objects for miles around. When the pics are developed (I know.. a film camera) they'll be linkable from here.
I've been in Wall visiting my family for the Christmas weekend. We'd spent part of Christmas eve day in the Badlands nearby, and we took today to spend some time in Rapid City and Deadwood. I came out $17 ahead on the nickel video slots today.. woohoo. We'd originally considered going out to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, but when the weather was colder and the visibility lower and less predictable than originally forecast, we decided not to go quite so far afield. Good times were had.
Happy Christmas to all. :)
Just over a day until the winter solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere at 7:42 am EST on Tuesday. And just in time for my flight home, it's getting chilly up north.
The Riverside/Avondale neighboorhood here in Jacksonville lit up the night with thousands of luminarias tonight. There were horse-drawn carriages, Bed & Breakfast tours, all sorts of festive things.
Amongst other more pressing things today, I updated about six pictures on page. There's some new people to ooo and ahh at.
That's all. Bedtime for moi.
Ah, so it does get chilly here in North Florida sometimes, and not just in North Florida. All but 12 of Georgia's 159 counties have a "Hard Freeze Warning," (temps in the mid-20s for 2+ hours) as do parts of South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisana and Texas. For tonight, there is a "Hard Freeze Warning" for 45 Florida counties and a *cough* "Winter Weather Advisory" for 20 others leaving only Miami-Dade county and Monroe county (the Keys and extreme SW Florida) warning-free.
I just have to quote this explanation of when a winter weather advisory (in this case, for wind chill) is issued... because it's kinda funny:
..Issued When A Strong Wind Will Combine With Cold Temperatures To Create Very Cold Conditions For Exposed Skin. The Wind Will Make It Feel Like It Is 35 Degrees For A Period Of Several Hours. Those Planning To Venture Outdoors Should Use Common Sense And Dress Warmly, Making Sure That All Exposed Skin Is Covered.
But for Heaven's sake, since it's going to be almost freezing outside, please spend most of the day fretting over whether going outside at all is worth the risk.
Keep Pets Indoors As Much As Possible. If This Is Not Possible... Make Sure Outdoor Pets Have Warm Dry Shelter... And Provide Sufficient Food And Fresh Unfrozen Water.
Unfrozen water. Right, there's such a shortage of that in Florida, y'know.
Fortunately, there is also this point. Yay for spelling out common sense:
And The Homeless Are Especially Vulnerable To The Cold. Take Measures To Protect Them
And then there's this dire warning:
If You Must Go Outside... Remember That Several Layers Of Clothes Willkeep You Warmer Than A Single Heavy Coat. A Hat Is Also Important As 20 Percent Of Body Heat Loss Is Through The Head.
The Wind Chill advisory for Duval county (Jacksonville), where the wind chills are to be 25°F or lower for several hours contains this additional bit of motherly advice:
Be Sure To Wear Mittens To Protect Yourself From The Dangers Of Frostbite.
Mittens? Who in Florida even owns mittens? What adult in most of the southern half of the US, for that matter?
Now, to be fair, in some of the central Florida counties closer to the "Hard Freeze" area, the wind chills will get down into the teens, which is cold, and when you're not used to it, that's really cold. Yet, under these terms, South Dakota and most neighboring states would be under a continuous, months-long "Winter Weather Advisory" every year. Guess there's a reason much of that area is made of large states with one area code each and three or four electoral votes.
Cheers,
Andrew
As I crawled back into bed this morning and laid there, listening to the lawn boys mowing the grass outside, I had to giggle at the thought that I've had my bedroom window open for the last couple of nights. Of course, the fresh air is nice, but it is December after all. It's not just that I'm still adjusting to Florida after almost a year, and technically my third December (1997, 2003 and 2004) here, but also that the weather has been unseasonably warm recently. That, and we're finding out that the down-filled duvet from South Dakota retains Florida heat very well.
Good news from Canada's Supreme Court today regarding same-sex marriages. Most jurisdictions (ON, BC, QC, YT, MB, SK & NS) already had legal approval of marriage, but today's ruling allows the Federal Government to procede with acknowledging marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples from sea to shining sea, and north to the Pole. Sometimes it's good for leaders to step aside after setting a good example, but this time, I'm very disappointed that the United States (and many of the several individual states) have not only dropped the ball on the advancement of civil rights in allowing other nations such as Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands to leapfrog ahead of us on the gay marriage issue, but have also actively worked against the recognition of such rights by introducing the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act", the defeated Federal Marriage Amendment and several similar pieces of restrictive legislation in many other states around the country. Some of these pieces of legislation even prohibit civil unions, domestic partnerships, and other legally-recognized forms of same-sex relationships, such as are legal in Vermont, parts of Australia, most of Western Europe, New Zealand (as of this week) and several US cities and other small jurisdictions.
This Wednesday marked the first full day of Hanukkah, and it also marked the day that Israel announced that it will grant certain rights to same-sex couples. A festival of light, indeed.
