Our {first Florida} Summer
As the first Fall Facebook Posts begin to pop up,
(I am LOVING this cooler weather! First morning wearing my new boots! Sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte while wearing my wool cardigan!)
I thought it was time to reflect on our first Summer in Florida (Which is currently still going strong, by the way) Coming from South Carolina I knew the hot summer wouldn't be a complete shock, but there were a few things that left an impression on us.
1. THE HEAT
No need to check the weather forecast from June-September. Everyday is a high of 92. At first I thought, "92 is sooo doable" since some SC Summer days would occasionally climb to 98+. What's NOT highlighted on the cute NBC weatherboard is the heat index of 102. Mix in a whole lot of humidity and you're ready to fry eggs in front of your house. Early in the Summer Caris learned the word "hot" from dinner time and then she started to say, "Hot hot hot" every time we walked out of our front door. Some people wore sweaters and jeans over the summer and I would patiently wait for them to pass out from the heat (They never did).
2. THE LANDSCAPE
Florida is super flat so it feels like there's nowhere to hide from the heat. The sun just bakes you like a Pillsbury break and bake cookie. It's like living in a toaster oven. There are trees, but not many that wave to you, beckoning you to seek shelter under its leaves. One day, I pulled into Kohl's and noticed that the parking lot was fairly empty, there were a lot of parking spaces open by the front of the store (Woot!) And ALL of the parking spaces under the dinky parking lot trees were taken. Even if it meant that the driver would have to walk halfway across the parking lot to the store, it was worth it to park in the shade. There's really no good way of explaining this other than to live here. The "Flat-so-hot-no-where-to-hide" Issue.
3. THE LIZARDS
There are lizards everywhere. When I walk up our front walkway, at least six of them scatter. They are sitting on every outdoor furniture piece we have. One rides up the garage door every time I open it (And I imagine him saying in a surfer voice, "DUDE THIS IS SO GNARLY!") As I type this, there's one clinging to the window. I don't remember seeing as many when we moved in January so I'm hoping that the amount of them will lessen as the weather gets cooler.
4. THE STORMS
Almost everyday in July, and a few weeks surrounding it, there was a Summer storm. All of the sudden there were huge, dark clouds rolling in and p-o-u-r-i-n-g rain, lightening, thunder, wind, yikes! They were usually quick storms. Some days it would just thunder for a few hours. The storms (and especially solo thunder) made it hard to swim because of the pool's Thunder Rule (30 minutes out of the water). On the plus side, all of the rain made for pretty, green grass and a free irrigation system.
So as we wear our tank tops, shorts and flip flops straight through into October, I'll read the Facebook posts with longing and a bit of jealousy, but my revenge will come one cold morning at the end of January when I'm finally wearing a sweatshirt and the rest of the world doesn't want to get out of bed, scrap the ice off of their car and put on that same wool cardigan again.
(I am LOVING this cooler weather! First morning wearing my new boots! Sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte while wearing my wool cardigan!)
I thought it was time to reflect on our first Summer in Florida (Which is currently still going strong, by the way) Coming from South Carolina I knew the hot summer wouldn't be a complete shock, but there were a few things that left an impression on us.
1. THE HEAT
No need to check the weather forecast from June-September. Everyday is a high of 92. At first I thought, "92 is sooo doable" since some SC Summer days would occasionally climb to 98+. What's NOT highlighted on the cute NBC weatherboard is the heat index of 102. Mix in a whole lot of humidity and you're ready to fry eggs in front of your house. Early in the Summer Caris learned the word "hot" from dinner time and then she started to say, "Hot hot hot" every time we walked out of our front door. Some people wore sweaters and jeans over the summer and I would patiently wait for them to pass out from the heat (They never did).
2. THE LANDSCAPE
Florida is super flat so it feels like there's nowhere to hide from the heat. The sun just bakes you like a Pillsbury break and bake cookie. It's like living in a toaster oven. There are trees, but not many that wave to you, beckoning you to seek shelter under its leaves. One day, I pulled into Kohl's and noticed that the parking lot was fairly empty, there were a lot of parking spaces open by the front of the store (Woot!) And ALL of the parking spaces under the dinky parking lot trees were taken. Even if it meant that the driver would have to walk halfway across the parking lot to the store, it was worth it to park in the shade. There's really no good way of explaining this other than to live here. The "Flat-so-hot-no-where-to-hide" Issue.
3. THE LIZARDS
There are lizards everywhere. When I walk up our front walkway, at least six of them scatter. They are sitting on every outdoor furniture piece we have. One rides up the garage door every time I open it (And I imagine him saying in a surfer voice, "DUDE THIS IS SO GNARLY!") As I type this, there's one clinging to the window. I don't remember seeing as many when we moved in January so I'm hoping that the amount of them will lessen as the weather gets cooler.
4. THE STORMS
Almost everyday in July, and a few weeks surrounding it, there was a Summer storm. All of the sudden there were huge, dark clouds rolling in and p-o-u-r-i-n-g rain, lightening, thunder, wind, yikes! They were usually quick storms. Some days it would just thunder for a few hours. The storms (and especially solo thunder) made it hard to swim because of the pool's Thunder Rule (30 minutes out of the water). On the plus side, all of the rain made for pretty, green grass and a free irrigation system.
Watching the rain
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