Through rain, cold, and the dark of night; it’s that time when family visits!

It’s raining!

How hard can it rain?

Walkways are awash and the pool is full to the brim. More than once have we resorted to stretching out the blue tube, the “blue snake” as we call it, and switching to backwash. There is a drain separating the pool area from the covered and, as best as we have seen to date, protected, lanai. Winter has descended and reminded us that we live well above the line separating tropical Southern Florida from the subtropical Florida Panhandle.

Yes, it just gets colder when you drive north. We did not realize, or put much thought into, any of this when we built our house, the lanai and the pool and spa (under a “birdcage”) in the Panhandle.

For comparisons sake, and for the benefit of my Australian family, the latitude of Panama City Beach is 30.22 North whereas Sydney is 33.8 South (and Brisbane, 27.47 S placing Panama City Beach and Coffs Harbor, NSW, Australia at 30.29 S equidistant from the equator. And we know how much it rains at Coffs, let alone further north. Should we be surprised to see this much rain? It’s winter so according to the locals, it happens!

Regularly, apparently. Hence the appearance of those dreaded blue tubes, snaking their way down to the curb. 

 

It’s cold!

It’s Florida, can it really be this cold?

So much so that it has caught many new arrivals by surprise. When we step outside to freezing conditions, we mean freezing. In our last post we led with a weather map and, at the time, never expecting to see another forecasting even colder weather to come. At one point, our Florida locale was warmer than what was being experienced at our Colorado condo.

No one really educated us about this after all, our experiences of Florida were limited to a few trips to Kew West with the occasional stop in Orlando. Brr – where’s our winter kit? Oh, that’s right, back in Colorado. We have a trip planned for a return to Colorado so you don’t need two guesses what we will be looking to bring back with us.

When we did our scouting trip of Florida back in May, 2024 – and briefly covered in a post of that time, We just keep on moving; all the while the miles add up! – we were unsure of what, and where, might influence our ambitions for dropping anchor “somewhere warm.” It was entirely serendipitous that we spent a couple of days by the sea in Panama City Beach before striking out for a tour of Latitude Margaritaville Water Sound (LMWS).

How are we liking the temperature? No, brr! 

Planned Community!

All cookie-cutter, never lift a finger, calm?

Again, the result of this excursion has now been well covered in subsequent posts to the above initial post of May, 2024. Needless to say, sitting by the intracoastal waterway as the sun left us, for a planned community we felt settled for the first time in a very long while. We were hooked. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we would be candidates for a lifestyle totally planned and limited to folks in our age demographic.

Almost every second or third garage appears to be home to a Corvette, along with an occasional Mustang and as seen to date, a sole Porsche 911. Perhaps, that old adage about what mid-life crisis produces can be just was easily applied to those, one demographic removed. Yes, an older demographic. It appears as though we are all experiencing an old-life crisis. Not that this is a disaster or a time of regrets. 

But did I mention it rains? Did I mention it gets very cold? Brr!

It's dark!

It gets much darker earlier than we anticipated, who knew?

Florida is the Sunshine State (I know, Queenslanders; not that unique a tag line), but then again, don’t dwell on that tagline for too long if you happen to live in the Panhandle. The arc of the sun is well to the south and with our northern aspect, we see little of it. We have recently added dimmers to all of our can lights as we now live with lights-on much of the time. Open the blinds? Pull the drapes? Little difference!

You might say we enjoy a little bit of Colorado at this time of year – a reminder that Christmas isn’t too far away. A reminder of that outstanding observation, “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden,” as was observed by Chance the Gardener in the film, Being There. “First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.” Profound!

We are definitely now happily ensuring our roots here, as they are in America as a whole, are not severed. 

We need heat!

Can we be warmer with the flick of a (smartphone app) switch?

When the good folks at Opitz & Sons Electric LLC., Brian and Lara, installed our pool cage pillar lights, they also promoted the installation of an InfraRed Heater. “You know, it gets cold sometimes,” said Brian. “All you really need is an IR heater where you plan to dine.” An easy sale when you have begun to frequent your backyard less and less as the days shortened. And it worked!

The thermometer may be telling is it’s 53F and chilled further with 67% humidity but we don’t notice any more. Throwing extra shrimp on the barbie (and steaks, of course, and a hamburger or two) and eating has become enjoyable once again. Prior to Thanksgiving we were able to test it out when good friends, Brian and Jan Kenny, spent a long weekend with us and getting the heater proved to be a good investment.

It may be cold outside. It may even be raining. But heat heals chills faster than a burnt hamburger. 

We need lights!

How about adding a bright Christmas theme to the outdoor lighting?

As the Kenny’s prepared to depart for home in California, our daughter and son-in-law, Anna and Erich, arrived with our three grandkids, Ella, Evan and Aiden. Separation had been quite long and Margo was so looking forward to being with family. The truth be told, we remain convinced that it was less about us and had more to do with having a pool and spa. From the moment they awoke each morning, they raced headlong for the pool.

This was the entire reason why we elected to have the pool, the spa, the protective birdcage and yes, the lights and heater all set up prior to their arrival. Just as we were looking forward to spending time with them, we wanted to ensure the occasion warranted return trips. It seems likely that this goal of ours has been achieved.

It may indeed be cold and rather wet but with light, it’s soon all smiles!

We want turkey!

Was the turkey big enough and what were all those side dishes?

It was the week of Thanksgiving and turkey would be involved. Befitting the occasion, we dined outside. This was something we could no longer do back in Longmont, Colorado, where the weather continued to trail that of our locale by twenty plus points. We may have dipped to 40F but back there, along Colorado’s front ranges, it dipped below 20F.

Thanksgiving is always a festive time here in the US. There’s no escaping the contributions Thanksgiving provides the rest of the world. Who would miss the NFL gridiron match, allowing us to fully digest the meal? And what about Black Friday? Or, perhaps it’s just the idea of sticking fruit in a bowl of jelly and calling it exciting? No matter, it always comes back to the sense of family and of family gatherings and for Americans, it is the presence of family that has given rise to Thanksgiving becoming more important than Christmas.

Recovering? We are definitely only now just coming out of recovery-mode even as we are taking pleasure in our home returning to a sense of normalcy! Time to head back out onto the Lanai for a well-deserved dinner under the lamp, feasting on something more Australian (and indeed from Australia), lamb short loin chops (with mint sauce!)

With Thanksgiving behind us, let Margo and I wish you all, a very Merry Christmas and an equally Happy, New Year!