Alabama
Today the church prays for the Episcopal diocese of Alabama. When my far-away friends ask me where Pensacola is, I tell them we are so far west in Florida that we are next door to Alabama. It’s the truth. I can drive ten minutes and be in Alabama.
A Record Low for Pensacola
The previous record was 19°F set in 1924, according to Weather Underground:
There have been entire winters when I haven’t turned on the heat. Last year, I turned it on twice, when I was having meetings with people who are more sensitive to cold than I am. AdventureMan says we tackle it Continental-style – we put on another layer 🙂 I have a drawer full of lovely Austrian sweaters that I am happy to wear 🙂
The High In Pensacola is 38° F.
Pensacola is Florida. Yes, it is Northern Florida, but it is not the North Pole. The temperatures today and tomorrow would have us believe otherwise:
Pensacola Named ‘Toughest City in America’
This is from the Pensacola News Journal, I think. I realized I hadn’t attributed it.
Just because our mayor is a pretty boy doesn’t mean Pensacola ain’t got grit.
And if you say otherwise, we’ve got a knuckle sandwich for you.
Pensacola has received this dubious honor via PolicyMic.com says the Pensacola News Journal:
Yes, little ol’ Pensacola has been named the Toughest City in America by the online news site PolicyMic (www.policymic.com).
Writer Akil Holmes used a variety of statistics to determine the “toughness” ranking, including the number of first round NFL draft picks, boxing champions, Medal of Honor and other military service citations, violent crime rates, and the percentage of workers employed in protective service, farming, fishing, construction and other tough-guy occupations.
Pensacola ranked No. 1 on the list, followed by Miami, Memphis, Detroit and Washington D.C.
Find story and see the other cities, visit policymic
.com. Look for the headline, “If You Can’t Stand Hipsters, These 11 Cities Are For You.’’ Pensacola might be tough, but it’s far from hipster-free. (Hello, Sluggo’s!)
Bundle Up, Pensacola!
It’s a wild ride, Pensacola catching the bottom end of the cold waves rolling across the USA, and oh, my poor bougainvilleas! People told me they didn’t think bougainvilleas would do well in Pensacola, and I was determined to prove them wrong. For three years, they have been beautiful, but I haven never had to get them through temperatures this low:
Today we were out having lunch and there were people wearing shorts! The highest the thermometer got today was 44°F. So COOOLLLDDD!
Ghost of Christmas Past
I remember Thanksgiving. It was yesterday. The season has never gone so fast, with Thanksgiving being so close to Christmas. Taking care of my sweet little granddaughter in the afternoons was a wonderful, quiet interlude in an otherwise swirling-with-events December, complicated by AdventureMan and I both catching terrible colds and lacking energy during the middle part leading up to Christmas.
I wouldn’t pass up the babysitting part for anything. My little granddaughter is the sweetest little baby ever. If she fusses, she doesn’t fuss much, and it is easily covered by “change my diaper” or “feed me” or “I really need to sleep” or I’m bored, walk me around a little until I fall asleep” or “Now I really really need to go to sleep!” Every now and then she fools you with an “I’m too hot! Take some clothes off!” but that makes me laugh, because once you do she is so grateful she just gurgles and coos. She is also beautiful 🙂
We had a wonderful Christmas, colds gone, great houseguests, fun family times, including taking our grandson to his first Nutcracker. Just after Christmas we rushed off to a family wedding in south Florida – a horrid 13 hour drive down – so I grabbed a few Christmas photos before it all gets taken down:
Here’s what I love. We have so many decorations loaded with Christmas baggage – you know the kind. “Oh! We got those candlesticks the year we moved to Wiesbaden!” “Oh! Remember that palm tree from our CENTCOM years?” “Look! Our creche!” “Oh! Our Damascus ornaments!” It is wonderful, and it is time consuming, and with a short Christmas this year, and a lot going on, I did something I have never done before. I saw some ornaments in WalMart, I call them “bang-for-your-buck” ornaments, sparkling snowflakes and stars, 20 for $2.98.
I bought a lot. Maybe about $25 worth. A lot of twinkling little stars and snowflakes.
The tree was all silver balls and silver stars this year, with an ivory cross on top.
The stairwell was all silver snowflakes. It was magical. It was also quick and easy and inexpensive – I grinned every time I saw it.
I did pull the Nurnburg angel out; I don’t think I can do Christmas without her and she provided a pop of red against all the greenery and silver and white.
The little silver reindeer are easy; stored all together in a box that says “Early Christmas” right along with the suction cups that hold them up – if it takes me five minutes, it’s a slow year, LOL.
A King is Given
It is the sweetest, quietest morning in the year; the Qatari Cat awoke me early – well actualy, he awoke me often as the temperatures have dropped dramatically and he wanted my body heat. He is a BIG cat, and takes up a lot of room wherever he stretches out, so I end up sleeping cramped much of the night, LOL. He is such a sweet cat, who can complain?
Yesterday, our church started a new service, a noon service, to help drain off some of the 4:00 and crush of good Episcopalians wanting to start Christmas with a moment of holiness and order before the chaos. Noon was a perfect time for me, and it was a perfect service, full of great readings and music, a goodly crowd, many people I know, and cold enough to wear one of my vintage German coats, coats I considered ‘investments’ when I thought we would be living in Seatte after retirement. If I get to wear them one day each year, they still look new at the end of this century.
A little later in the day, the festivities began, friends arriving from out of town, a family gathering and Christmas Eve dinner where my beloved daughter in law made some of the best crab cakes with Remoulade sauce I have ever eaten, the children were adorable, and the conversation full of laughter and memories. This morning has dawned clear and cold, the Qatari Cat is fed, AdventureMan still snoozing, and I have a few minutes to share a Psalm from today’s lectionary with you. Life is sweet.
Happy, happy Christmas to all!
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
3 ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us.’
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’
7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
with trembling 12kiss his feet,*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
WalMart: A Sea of Bicycles
We stopped by a different WalMart in Pensacola a few days ago, and I was blown away – they had thousands – I am not kidding – thousands of bikes. It was like Santa’s workshop on steroids:
Pensacola, A Very Middle Eastern City
We had no idea when we left home this morning that when we got to the school, all the parking spaces would be full and it would be almost impossible to find a seat in the auditorium. It was only 8:45 in the morning, and it was only the Pre-K 3’s who would be performing.
We had forgotten – Pensacola is like the Middle East. Family first, and time off for a Christmas Pageant – well, of course!
Pensacola is not like Seattle, or any of the larger cities. While spread out, it is only around 50,000 people, and the worst traffic is never that bad, not if you’ve driven in Amman, or Seattle, or Qatar, or Kuwait. You may not have to stop while the shepherd and his sheep cross the road, but you can get to downtown Pensacola from almost any part of the city in under 15 minutes.
The parking spaces were GONE. The auditorium was PACKED. Friends were greeting friends, all dressed in the reds and greens of Christmas time.
And then the children marched in, and it was barely controlled bedlam as these young stars spotted parents and grandparents and yelled “Grandpa! Here I am!” and angels and sheep and shepherds and wise men all were carefully lined up to sing their songs and tell us the Christmas Story as only 3-years-old can. Oh, it was not to be missed!
We love it that Pensacola is not a city with a lot of rushing about; people have time to go see their children in the school Christmas pageant, that the teachers take the time to herd these cats so that they can sing the songs, do the motions, and probably, if asked, give a rough outline of what happened on that first Christmas.
It’s all a matter of priorities. Pensacola, like our homes in the Middle East, places a high value on family activities, family time, and a balance of work and family where family time has a cherished place.
Moron Weather
Sunday got warm, and yesterday, when we had a huge physical task to complete, lugging bags and bicycles from here to there and then out-there, it was hot and humid, and we were drenched with sweat. Even last night, leaving Darling Baby, it was hot. And humid. And foggy. It was horrible. Then, this morning, suddenly it is 46° again – still cloudy and foggy, but it feels lighter, less humid. I checked good old Weather Underground, and here is what the temperatures looked like through the early morning:
It dripped 20° from 4:23 to 7:10. This is very strange weather, and a lot of people are getting colds, or having trouble breathing, or having migraines from the air pressure or changes. It is bizarre weather!
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