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!
Pockets of Silence
On Christmas Eve Day, when I attended church, I prayed for ‘pockets of silence.’ I am an introvert. I love my family and our gatherings, and I also find all that interaction exhausting. When you pray for a need, you often get the answer to your prayer; I shared this with AdventureMan and now I am kidded about needing my pockets of silence. It’s OK, I’ll take the kidding, as long as I get my pockets 🙂
I’ve always loved this scripture; I think of the huge desert storms, full of power and fierce winds, I think of the roar of an earthquake, and how it jars you to the bones, and I smile as I think of the Lord’s voice in the ‘pocket of silence.’
1 Kings 19:9-18
9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 10He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
11 He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 14He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
15Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’
“I Make Three Times What She Makes and She Wants To Talk About Chore Charts?!”
The man in the next booth was pushing all my buttons. The truth is, we don’t want to hear about his personal life. I don’t want to hear about anyone’s personal lives unless it is me and one of my oldest bestest friends, and we keep our voices down. Private lives are PRIVATE!
He is talking with someone, maybe his co-worker, and his entire monologue is about his failing relationship with his wife. I really don’t want to hear this.
And then he says “I make three times what she makes, and she wants to talk about chore charts???” and please, I need a pat on the back, I didn’t say anything, I didn’t get up and clock him, I didn’t even blink. AdventureMan laughed, he knew I was choking mad on the inside.
It doesn’t matter what you make, big man. If you are both working, you share the household chores. You both live there. You clean up your own mess, you pick up your own dirty clothes and put them in the laundry basket. You rinse your own dishes. You change the baby, you drive your son to his soccer game. It’s called teamwork.
Sure, I totally get division of labor. What I don’t get is this attitude of entitlement; like the fifties are long gone and we all work and we all share the duties of home and children and making it all work out at the end of the day. It’s never giving 50% – 50% – It’s always giving at least 75% – 75%.
We call it the Well of Good Will. If we were perfect people we wouldn’t need it, but we are people who screw up. We need mercy. We need forgiveness. So you give a little extra every day and hope that on a day when you fall short, there is enough on deposit in the well of good will that you can get a pass on your shortcomings for today.
If you are having a problem with your primary relationship, have a straight talk with that person. It doesn’t do any good to bad-mouth your spouse to a co-worker, and it certainly is not amusing to those of us forced to overhear. Ugh.
The Driftwood Inn, Homer Alaska
We stayed at the Driftwood Inn the last time we were in Homer, and liked it, except that our room next to the Elks Club got a little noisy on a Saturday night.
This time we tried another room, room 29; you can choose and book for specific rooms at the Driftwood Inn. We love the view, we feast on the view. We love the cleanness and spaciousness of the rooms, and we love all the common areas – there is a fridge and microwave and stove, and a large sitting room, kitchen table, etc. There is a washer and dryer, woooo hooooo, even though we are mostly in jeans and chinos and layers of shirts, things get dirty and I like a chance to wash up.
We also have a lovely large closet where we can stow all our gear, and we have a Keurig coffee maker, well stocked. Alaska is like Seattle, people drink a lot of coffee.
LOL, first things first, the closet:
This room could work well for a family, with two beds, a double and a queen:
There is also a lovely balcony, and a door to the balcony, which we often kept open so we could listen to the waves.
View from balcony on a cloudy day:
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