In The Dead Of Winter

In Florida. there is no dead of winter, but there is cold. Temperatures down to 25 is an extreme.

Many people live in trailers, aka manufactured homes. All homes of this kind are above the ground and space under that allows wind, damp, and cold to come up from the bottom, no matter how wonderful the salesman said the insulation was. Central heat needs assistance in the way of portable heaters. Those little heaters that get the bathroom temperature warm enough to take a shower, those little heaters that warm the baby's room just a notch, and those heaters that accomodate people who have no central air or conditioning of any kind.

In the town of Sun City Center, Florida, there is not one heater of any sort to be had. The first freeze sold out the 12 that had been on the shelves, no more will be ordered. Now the window AC units will occupy those shelves. I am talking a radius of 50 miles, no heaters.

I find it amazing that marketing has gotten so fine tuned and that all the stores follow the same ordering. Walmart, Big Lots, Ace Hardware, Walgreens, K Mart, and even the Goodwill.

To buy a heater, it must be ordered on line from Sears, who will ship it from some where in the north.

Humbug!

Love,
Betty

Betty, Are you cold? I hope not.

Dear Alice,
No, I am not cold, but David's mom is. I wanted to buy her a heater for Christmas. I could not even find an electric blanket. I settled for an electric throw.

We gave them a central a/c, but they cannot afford to pay the electrictiy for it. They heat their rooms with the kitchen oven. We cannot afford to do it for them.

I hope you are warm, too. I worry on Carol.

Love,
Betty

Betty,

We are fine. I am sure Carol is too. Her place is new.
Sorry about your Mom.


Love,

Alice

Although electric heaters consume much energy, they can save lives. Are they as important as A/C?

It's a shame that local stores don't cater to the needs of the population. I think they often rely on techlology. On-line ordering often gives a better deal than from a local store, and they ship quickly. It gets down to economics. Do they stock an item just in case - in case there is a cold spell? It's a tough call.

Betty you need lots of hugs to keep you warm.
I have lots to give I wish I could send you some.

12/13/2010

Dear Betty..

Here in Santa Fe, NM so far it's been high 40's , low
20's , each apt. has it's own heating thermostat, thank God it's
included in the rent. One day we had a high of 16 degrees, low
8 degrees !, so far NO SNOW !


Cheers..Joe

This night, right here in central Florida, the temperature will be 25 or less. I have spent the day covering with blankets and ground cover cloth what I could of the many tropical plants that grow here. The wind has been around 30 mph all day.

Our strawberry crop is in danger. It had just begun to blossum. I worry about the bees, too. We will water over head all night and the whole crop will be covered in ice. This freeze will last until past Wednesday. A frozen block of ice we will be. The citrus trees are in danger, too. I covered the Key lime and the Myers lemon and we put a work light under the cloth. I hope that keeps them alive.

I have covered the chickens. Margaret and Reginald, Feeney, Sweeney, Hermine and Flo. not to forget Georgia the youngest hen.

Tomorrow is a new day. And the day after.

LOve,
Betty

Saturday, the temperature will be close to 70.

In her book, "Cross Creek," Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings tells of a Florida freeze that threatened her orange grove and the measures they took to protect it. Her little house was still standing the last time we were there, and it was open to the public. The groves were mostly untended then. They are across the road from the house, near the town of Micanopy, which has many antique shops.

Betty,


Hope you, your strawberries, citrus and chickens are okay?