There seems to be a dearth of female reporters all of a sudden but maybe the post Christmas sales are still on. I'm sure they'd be out reporting too if they were available. I'm sure.
Florida, my adopted state, is also 'suffering' unseasonal temperatures and even sunny Buttonwood Bay has not been spared the ravages of Jack Frost. Relatively speaking.
Last night it dipped to 45F (7c) and I was glad to have an electric blanket on my bed. It's due to drop even lower tonight and get to 39F (3.8c) by which time I should be snug and toasty with my blanket set to 'light broil' all night long. Wuss ? Who said that ???
But have these temps affected the hardy residents of the park ? Have they hell as like.
All morning I've watched them zooming past the window, many with dense clouds of smoke pouring from their zimmer frames and a light dusting of frost on their beards. The men too have been out and about with antifreeze in their catheters and a nip of Jack Daniels in their drips. The roller blades and skateboards may have been put away until the weather improves but nothing is going to stop a Buttonwood Bay oldie from taking his or her walk.
And I include myself in that statement.
I'm just back from my daily 2.5 mile walk around the park which regular readers know I try and do once a week !! Wellllll the rest of the days I take frequent walks from my recliner to the kitchen and back so don't tell ME I don't take regular exercise. Given the size of this house that might only be a matter of 8 feet but hey, over the course of a week that adds up.
The temp display was showing 59F (15c) when I set off at 11:45 and this time I took Andy Williams with me. He was half way through 'Moon River' when my world suddenly went silent - either I'd gone deaf or my MP3 batteries had packed in. Thankfully it was the later and with Andy dead in his tracks, so to speak, I had to walk on alone.
If you're used to walking along to music, it's horrible when that music stops. You start to feel every ache and pain in your joints and what had been a lovely aerobic workout along perfectly flat roads suddenly turns into a gruelling trek up the side of the Eiger. And as well as those roads up the side of the Eiger really needing better maintenance, I think the speed bumps are just a triffle unnecessary.
It's all mental of course. While the music is playing, it takes your mind off your aches and pains. Unless it's an Amy Winehouse album in which case the pains are just in a different place. I had to walk the last mile without the aid of a tune to sing along with and even if that was a blessing for those who I passed on the roads, it did me no good at all. My shins suddenly ached, my feet were sore and I started to regret not having trimmed the nail on my little toe, the end of which was now digging deeper and deeper into the side of the toe next to it.
None of this would've been an issue if Andy had still been with me as his crooning may not have been much good for a heavy workout session, but it was perfect for a 2.5 mile walk around the park.
But it was still lovely. The sky was blue and it was warm in the sunshine. I beat my average time by 90 seconds (38mins 31secs and probably helped by wanting to get home to cut that damn toe nail) and when I moved the temp probe into the sun, it shot up to an amazing 91F (32c). It's all very confusing. 59F in the shade and 91F in the sunshine. As I'd been walking in the sunshine, I decided that 91F was why I was now sweating like a pig (have you EVER seen a pig sweat ?) and I decided it's much better to know the sunshine temp than the shade temp. I'd not have worn my sweat pants, heavy t-shirt and Big Dog fleece if I'd known it was going to be 91F.
Maybe all the female reporters are in Florida !
1 comment:
"The sky was blue and it was warm in the sunshine." You'll be telling me next that there are palm trees. I don't care how flat your battery was, I'm still GREEN WITH ENVY.
Post a Comment