Freezing in Florida

It's too cold! We're going to Florida. Hey! We're already in Florida! Well, if we're in Florida, how come it's so DARN COLD?

Along with much of the rest of the country (and many parts of the world - a number of people recently died in Great Britain due to abnormally cold weather), Florida experienced colder than normal temperatures over the past two weeks. Records for cold temperatures were broken all over the state. So much for global warming.

During past winters we spent in Florida, we have always hit one or two cold spells with a few nights down as low as the mid 20s. But this year, with the exception of one night when it was about 38 degrees, we have had almost two weeks straight with nighttime temperatures at or below freezing. We had one day when the temperatures didn't get out of the 30s in Bushnell; and there were several nights when it hit 22 degrees.

The farms and orange groves here in Florida are struggling to keep their crops alive. Oranges are OK as long as it doesn't get below 28 degrees for more than four hours. If it gets colder than that, they sometimes spray the trees with water to form an insulating layer of ice. If oranges freeze, they can still be used for juice, but they have to be processed within a few days. When there is a hard freeze all the processing plants are jammed, and they can't process all the oranges in time.

The landscape nurseries, like the one in the photo below, also spray plants with water during a freeze. This photo was taken a little later in the morning after things began to thaw, but ice still clings to the fence and grass in the foreground.

Crops like corn and tomatoes can't stand frost, much less a freeze, and frost can even occur at temperatures above freezing if the air is very clear and still. Fortunately, the vegetable farms are located a little farther south of where we are, but the cold extended all the way down to Miami. There was a story on the news about farmers hiring helicopters to fly over their fields to try to blow warmer air from aloft down onto their crops.

Just as the temperature looked like it was going to start to moderate (we actually hit a high of 60 degrees one day), another cold front came through with precipitation during the day and overnight. The next morning there was even snow and freezing rain almost all the way down to Orlando. Bushnell is a little northwest of Orlando, so we were included in that area. Yes, that is sleet that has collected at the base of our car windshield...

 

...and on the cover for our bikes.

These unusually low temperatures have curtailed our sightseeing, but Paul made good use of our time indoors to do an indoor repair project. He had been wanting to replace some discolored caulk around the kitchen sink. When he noticed a few drops of water under the sink, he realized the seal around the drain in the bottom of one bowl of the sink was leaking, and he decided to repair the leak and recaulk the sink sooner rather than later. As you can see, removing the sink required dragging everything out from under the sink, which made quite a mess in the confines of the motor home.

It's been two years since Margery had partial knee replacements in both knees. The mobility she gained has truly been a blessing. This fall, however, she began to experience pain around both her knees. She knew the knee joints felt good, but was perplexed by the sometimes bothersome pain. A visit with the orthopedic surgeon last week confirmed that all was still well with her knees. The cause of the pain is unknown...bursitis? tendonitis? Bottom line is the knees will never be as good as God made them originally. It is what it is. So we will enjoy her mobility, take it easy as needed, and be grateful for the blessings of each day.

The forecast is finally predicting somewhat warmer temperatures. We have friends from up north stopping by in a few days, so we'll probably schedule some sightseeing with them. Plus, we have another motor home improvement project in the works, so keep looking for our posts.

Comments

[Gerri Jones]

At least we didn't get the sleet but it has been brutally cold here too. I hope the worse is over.

Sorry to hear about your recent knee pain. It is good news that nothing relating to the surgery is to blame. I know it is annoying but your outlook is so upbeat. Good for you!!

Take care and continue to stay warm!