Over the past two days, I have been struck by how at home–and how not–I feel during the threat of bad weather, thanks to a guy named Noel.
DC: Weather forecast for possibility of snow a week out. Stores run low on milk and eggs and chips the next day. Video stores are inundated.
Here: Weather forecast for strong winds and tropical nastiness. Everyone already has a stash of water and canned food selections they would never otherwise eat. Why bother with videos when the power will be out?
DC: Weather forecast for possibility of a trace of snow the next day. Parents call TV stations asking if schools are closed.
Here: Weather forecast for tropical everything. Parents call TV stations asking if schools are closed.
DC: Schools in the Metro area close at the mere hint of snow and somehow manage to stay open only to close an hour later when it really does snow.
Here: So far, schools are open.
DC: People like to walk around and see what the snow looks like downtown.
Here: People like to go to the beach and see what the sand looks like piled up on sidewalks.
DC: People like to drive in the snow because they have an SUV.
Here: People like to drive down A1A to see the surf and feel the sand blast the paint of their SUVs.
DC: Snow plows
Here: Sand plows
DC: Cold and gray during the winter
Here: Always warm in paradise
I was in Tampa two years ago when one of the hurricanes grazed the city before moving on to Alabama etc. I was in a waterfront Marriott on the 14th floor, the rain made it through the closed patio doors 6 feet into the room. I am a 6’2″ 300lbs man and the wind was strong enough to blow me over during the peak of the storm (not a direct hit). Being from Texas with plenty of weather weirdness I am not easily bothered but that was one tense night.
Best of luck to ya!
Joe
A1A? Your in the Miami area! Welcome! I didn’t realize this is the south florida area you moved to! I’m moving to Miami in the next 2 months, I currently live in southwest Florida. Keep the surf warm for me!
Growing up on Long Island in New York, we got our fair share of snow days. Students were crushed the year we got a new superintendent of schools . . . from Buffalo. As a teacher, I got myself on the call list (“snow chain”) so I wouldn’t have to get up and turn on the radio or TV to see if I had to go to work. I worked in a district that didn’t have a lot of buses or valleys and hills for them to traverse, so the “delay” came into my vocabulary.
When I moved to DC, I was reminded that I was truly south of the Mason-Dixon line. All it would take was someone to whisper the word snow to a school superintendent and classes would be canceled. Lightweights.
My parents had friends who moved to DC in the 60s. One morning he went off to work in a few inches of snow. He got to the bottom of a hill and enountered several people in front of him unsure how to get up the hill. He got out and drove each car up the hill before doing it for himself. Again, lightweights.
For you, I wish that I had to deal with some sand in my shoes. I had to wear my heavy coat today. Send us some warmth? Please?