"Cold Snap"

"Cold Snap". I heard that term for the first time when I was maybe 12 or so. I was living in New Jersey, and every winter my grandparents would head south to Florida to take advantage of the warmer weather. I specifically recall them calling and always seeming to sneak into conversation something about the weather. It never seemed fair to hear about 80-degree weather while we were dealing with winter jackets and all that jazz. Well, every once in a while they'd mention a "cold snap" and we'd have to laugh. For them that meant that it dropped below 60, which of course meant the jackets came out. Meanwhile, we would have been happy to see temperatures above freezing!

Usually over Easter break we'd come visit them (they were in the Sarasota area). At that time of the year it was usually quite warm in Florida, at least by our standards. If it was above 70, we'd be in shorts, above 75 and we'd be at the beach. I remember thinking that the old people were nuts, 'cause they'd still be in jeans and sweaters. My grandmother always said that all "Floridians" were that way, but I didn't believe it. I wasn't gonna assume that people who rode bikes to the clubhouse to play cards were in-the-know when it came to fashion.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and I now live here. I can't say I adapted completely. I STILL think 85 is hot and would prefer to be in the air, but I'm probably the last one to break out the jeans when the weather gets "cold".

After spending New Year's Eve (at midnight) outside in shorts and a t-shirt, I was shocked to hear that it would drop near freezing last night. Today, a high of only 52. That is not gonna stop me though. We donned our only "winter" gear and head to the playground around 10:15am, at around 40-43 degrees or so. You just KNOW you are in Florida when the playground is completely empty at 10:30am on a weekday holiday when the sun is shining brightly. So, my son happily played on the equipment by himself (in his cute little winter hat that he'll likely never wear again) and I am just waiting to call my mom when she gets home from work to complain about the "cold snap". He, he.