Yep, it’s cold out there. Even here in Florida tonight’s low will probably be in the 20’s. Tomorrow will be a less than balmy 55 degrees, if we’re lucky. Please don’t feel sorry for me—oh, you don’t? (Hey, are you using that finger to point on purpose?)
Anyway, the best thing about winter in Florida is that it’s short—usually a few cold or cool days and then back to normal.
One year, however, we had an extended cold spell. I was still working and I had to leave the house by 6:30 a.m., or be late! So, dutifully, I trudged out to the car one morning. The air was crisp and cold and I then saw something I will never forget.
All of the moisture in the air had crystallized!
It was beautiful in a way that defies description. The ice crystals just hung suspended in the air, like a fine netting of crystals covering everything. It made me gasp in wonder.
In all the years I lived up North, I never saw anything like it.
Of course by the time the sun rose, it was gone.
When I got to school I told Sue, the teacher aide I worked with, about it. Sue was a rarity—a native Floridian. She nodded sagely and said, “Oh yes, Florida snow.”
Brrr! This morning.
Along the golf course there’s some tall wild plants that put out a fluff, sort of like dandelion fluff. In December, on windy days the fluff drifts across the course. I always say, “look, it’s Florida snow.”
Thanks Kathy. The Florida snow description is an entirely new one for me. I will add it to my lexicon to join lake effect and blizzard which are quite different from Florida snow but each invoke a specific set of images in my mind.
What a beautiful description of Florida Snow!