I Am A Wimp

You may have read about my half marathon training (decidedly un-wimpy) and even the long run in the cold. But the truth cannot be overstated here: I, along with many of my fellow Floridians, am a wimp when it comes to cold weather. Fortunately, it’s not all that often. But when it gets nippy, it is all anybody can talk about. Yes, we understand the rest of the country is colder, by a lot, but most of those people are what I affectionately refer to as “hearty northerners“. I am clearly not one of them.

The other night the temperatures dropped to about 48 degrees. It started off over 80, so the house was nice and toasty. In the middle of the night, I was quite cool. It was a whopping 73 degrees in the house. FKGuy went out and bought Babka a jacket so she wouldn’t be cold on her walks. (Naturally, it is pink, quilted and fleece lined.) Yesterday, it was actually cold out – about 50 degrees when I left the house. I wore my winter gear: jeans, a thin sweater, a light jacket, socks, and, my nemesis, close toed shoes. I headed out to a meeting in Fort Lauderdale. The meeting room was even colder than the outdoors. By the time I left, my fingers were numb, and I had to turn the heat on full blast in the car.

So, here you go… the top 5 ways you know you are a Floridian in the winter:

1. Friends that live in actually cold places call you to see if you have survived the sub-70 degree freeze. They then mock you mercilessly.
2. Friends that hate living in actually cold places start ignoring your Facebook rants about the indignity of having to wear socks.
3. If it is cold more than 2 days in a row, you need to do laundry so you have clean socks on the third day.
4. You remember the one time it “snowed” (It was about two flakes, and I was in nursery school. I’m pretty sure I was wearing jeans that winter, too. I was a very stylish toddler.)
5. You actually think your dog (you know, the one who lives in a fur coat…) might be cold.  (Disclosure: yes, FKGuy went shopping to buy Babka a coat, but in fact, it was my idea as I wondered aloud “Won’t Babka be too cold to go for long walks when it is 50 degrees???” Yes, I said it, and now it is in writing, and I am only slightly embarrassed by that.)

When it is not too cold out, I often avoid being a wimp. I exercise, I play tennis (recently in long sleeves – oh the horror!), I eat things smothered on hot sauce, and do all sorts of other un-wimpy things (none of which I can think of right at this moment). Meanwhile, I’ll be going back to my never-ending supply of Keurig K cup teas, and warming up.