Baby, it’s cold outside!
Move to Florida, they said. The sun always shines and it’s always warm and comfortable, they said. Throw away those long-sleeved shirts and sweaters, you’ll never need them, they said. They lied!
The cold snap that is raging through the country is even affecting us here on the Central Florida coast. The weatherman says it will get down to 31o degrees Friday night, with a high of 43o on Saturday, and then down to 33o Saturday night. The weatherman also says this will be the coldest Christmas Day in Florida on record.
Our citrus trees are not going to like that one bit! Even though we covered them during a cold snap last winter, we still almost lost them, and I’m hopeful that they will get through this one.
Yes, I know you are all shaking your heads and telling me to stop sniveling. We have no excuse to complain compared to much of the rest of the country. A blog reader who lives in Spokane, Washington, will see 3o tonight, 8o degrees tomorrow, and -3o tomorrow night. My friend Jill in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, will be dealing with 5o today and -5o tonight. Even our son Travis in Gordo, Alabama, will be keeping the water in his faucets running at a trickle the next few nights and worrying about his chickens when it will be 13o Thursday night and 15o Friday night. At least we won’t be dealing with that kind of nonsense or seeing highway signs like this.
But then again, none of those people will be dealing with falling iguanas. Yesterday one of the local TV stations told people to watch for falling iguanas. Yes, that’s really a thing here in Florida. Check out this link. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/29/us/falling-iguana-warning-south-florida/index.html Which is worse, frostbite or being bonked by a falling iguana? I’m not sure I want to deal with either!
Most of yesterday was spent working on corrections and other pre-launch chores for my new book, Big Lake Drunk. Meanwhile, in addition to everything else she handles, Miss Terry is dealing with all of our end-of-year paperwork. She takes on so many duties like that to allow me the time I need to research, write, and promote the books. It truly is a team effort, and I couldn’t do it without her.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
in the early 80’s (pensacola) Christmas eve. was 70
within 24 hrs on Christmas day – it was a minus 30 windchill!
– talk about killing some tropical trees and plants; let alone frozen pipes were off the chart -(I LOST $THOUSANDS$ IN MY GREENHOUSE)
Using a clip on lamp and 100 watt REGULAR/OLD FASHION light bulbs will save your citrus trees OR larger Tropicals – crotons – bird of paradise – Catus
– keep at the bottom and loose wrap a tarp or blanket the main trunk!
– pack leaves or home depot attic cellulous insulation in the ‘crown’
of queen, wasingtonia, chinese fan palms
TRICKLE YOUR WATER PIPES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE-
Nick,
For your orange tree, besides covering it, make sure you cover the bottom of your tree also. I know, sounds crazy, but trust me. Get a few layers of newspaper, them place a few towels or a blanket around the base. I used to have several tangerine trees in our sticks-N-bricks before we went Full-time. Once it got taller than my husband, the blanket at the base worked Great.
Good Luck!!!
Come on up to South Dakota, we are going to see lows in the -20’s and windchills in the -40’s. Good times!
Bonita Springs, FL, has a forecast of 81° today. Maybe you didn’t travel far enough south! 😉
Our kid in Montana is looking at -34 for Friday…and that is not wind chill. I cannot imagine!
It’s a very good thing we don’t have wild iguanas here in Nebraska. They wouldn’t have a chance. Tomorrow night (Wed.) the forecast is for -20, wind chill -52. Thurs. the high will be -13, wind chill -51. Thurs. night will be -18, wind chill -56. I’m thinking some global warming wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.