So I think I am beginning to understand why Miamians complain so much when it gets cold down here. I know, I know, all of you guys up North are thinking "What cold?"
But really, last week it almost froze a couple of nights, and for us down here, it feels like a big deal. And now, going on my third year here, I think a lot of it is psychological, and the rest is just being unprepared for cold weather.
We are all accustomed here to waking up, throwing on a T-shirt and sandals and walking out the door, almost every day. So in January, those few bouts with sub 60-degree weather leaves us shivering. We wonder, "Where am I?" (As an aside, as a native of the North, everyone here is always surprised that I too get cold. I have to explain to them that we Northerners get cold in the winter too, we are not all polar bears.)
The cold weather down here is a wet chill that goes right to your bones, and our subtropical psyches just can't take it!
Really though, I think mostly we are just not prepared. All of my former "winter clothes", all the sweaters, long sleeved T-shirts, wool socks, they've all slowly been culled from my wardrobe. The only jacket I own is of the denim variety. So, on a cold morning, I find myself rummaging through my closet, lamenting the absence of anything warm. I end up wrapped in blankets, unwilling to leave the house. Actually, one particularly cold day last week, we had an unusually high number of people call in sick at work.
What's more, many homes don't even have heat. Take our first apartment here...in January and February the thermostat often hovered at 60. I invited my aunt and uncle for brunch, and we were all sitting in our jackets and scarves eating scones! I have a wall unit AC/heater in my office, and the heat is seldom on. The first time I used it, I came into my office and I thought I had an electrical fire somewhere. I was wandering around the office sniffing all the outlets. Really, it was just all the leaves and mold burning up in the heater.
So have some pity on us, you there up North, we are too mentally fragile and completely unprepared for the harshness of winter.
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