Fall is just around the corner. I know this because the first of the seasonal pumpkin ale has arrived on the market. Granted, it’s not the best pumpkin ale I’ve ever had. That was in Key West. The home brewer used 10 pounds of pumpkin in making the pie, uh, beer. It tasted like pie though. All it needed was some whipped cream on the top.
But this isn’t about pie. Lord knows, it should be as I could pontificate on hours about the wonders of pie and the nuances of certain pies that make me choose them over all others, including pumpkin.
No, this is about the onset of fall and that diabolical season that follows it. First off, fall is my favorite time of the year in the Northwest. It always has been. I love the crisp fall mornings, the rustling of leaves… there’s just something about the season that I have loved since I was a child.
While I relish the coming of fall, I know that winter is not far behind. This is the season I could do without. Even though they throw Christmas into the mix, it’s just not worth going through most of the time.
You’d think I would curse winter only because I moved back to Seattle. Here, winters can be extremely gray, gray for weeks on end. It will rain cold rain, mist, cold mist and inevitably, there will the the icy days and perhaps, even a few snowy ones.
It dawned on my this morning that I should probably pick up an ice scraper. My last ice scraper is still in Melbourne, Florida somewhere. I was using the brush side to dust away sawdust shavings the last I saw it. I imagine it’s still in the “barn” there.
I have never particularly cared for winter no matter where I’ve been. Well, the times I’ve been enjoying a sandy tropical beach in the Caribbean weren’t so bad. But the day to day of winter? I can take it or leave it.
You’d think that Washington would not be the place I would like to winter. After all, I was in Florida for eight glorious years, the land of endless sunshine. Well, first, that’s not really true. Summers there are sunny, but it’s also the rainy season. And while winters can be downright gorgeous, they can also become very, very cold.
How cold? Well, first, it’s most often in the 70s in Florida in the winter months. Snowbirds go there for a reason. In the northern parts of Florida, it can get down to freezing and even below. Where I was in the middle of the state, down to the 40s.
People in Seattle call that a warm day in the dead of winter. In Florida, you swear you’re going to die. Well, at least I did.
The reason is a funny one, too. While some homes in Florida have heat, most don’t. Certainly our condo didn’t have a traditional furnace. It had great AC, a system that could keep your house a cool, comfortable 72 all summer long when the gauge outside was cracking 95 and up.
But in the winter, there’s no such thing as heat. Oh, sure, the AC will pretend it’s pumping out hot air. But it’s not, anymore than my furnace here in the housienda in Seattle will pump out air conditioned air in the summer.
Our condo was the worst in the winter. On those days, and occasionally weeks when the temperatures plummeted, the house was absolutely freezing. I had two space heaters in the condo running on full when I was working at home, all for naught. They were next to useless.
Part of the reason is that most homes in Florida have tile floors. Carpeting isn’t a standard feature. And tile gets really cold, especially when you’re in an end unit and the people below and above you are snowbirds. You’re not only heating your own place, but the one above you, and the one below you isn’t contributing anything but more frosty cold air.
In Seattle, I would just pick up some long underwear and a pair of gloves. Not so easy in Florida. I went to Wal-Mart. There I could still by swimwear, but not a pair of long johns or gloves in sight.
So back I would go to the freezer. I would crank up the two space heaters. And just as I would start to get feeling in my fingers and toes again, the wind would start to blow.
No, not a tropical breeze. A freeze-breeze. Our condo leaked like the Titanic. Cold air poured in from every single crack in the house, which was surrounded on all sides with six sliding glass doors, none of which had ever seemingly been sealed.
I had no other choice but to stuff towels into the space where the two doors met. Eventually I got smarter and started to used duct tape and masking tape to seal the cracks. It was like being with my ex-whatever again, it was so cold.
I had to laugh during those moments. Perhaps it was just hypothermia setting in, but when I moved to Florida, I made a big deal to all my friends about being able to leave all my sweaters, gloves, thermal boots, scarves and wooly hats back up north. No one bothered to tell me it got cold down there, and no, this isn’t another ex-whatever joke. Really, no one told me.
As winter approaches here, I have come to really appreciate a furnace again. As the temperature begins to dip, I can crank up the old furnace and get all toasty warm. And fail that, I can crank on the gas fireplace, another thoughtful addition to a home up here.
Push come to shove, I still have the two space heaters from my Floridaze. So bring it on Jack Frost, I can take it. Well, as long as I can manage to keep up with the heating bill I can.
In the Emerald City, feeling the heat,
– Robb