Winjama: Did I Say It Was Cold?

Yesterday morning was, in a word, cold.

56 or 57 degrees (f), depending on who's thermometer you perused. I know, all you folks up North snicker and in one or two cases probably guffaw at our concept of cold down here...

But, when you guys get cold in your house, what do you do? Why head over to the handy furnace thermostat and kick it up a notch or two. Failing that, you might toss another log or two on the fire.

We can't do that down here. No one has this thing called a furnace, much less a thermostat. So, when it gets to 56 degrees inside your house, it's bloody cold. And if your supply of blankets, quilts, throws, etc., is limited, it can get quite uncomfortable.

Not to mention your supply of warm clothes, becomes very limited down here. All the critters that live in your house with you (the uninvited ones that is - geckos, roaches, etc.) all seem to like using bits of your clothing for nests, food, or whatever. So stuff like clothing disappears over time. Then when it gets chilly, you reach for your nice wool sweater and find it has been decimated. Brrrr.

And before I forget, the longer you stay down here, the more you acclimatize. That slight drop in temperature in the evening is noticeable every day. When you have a significant drop, your body not only notices it, but it absolutely freaks out. Goose bumps pop out in places you don't ever remember getting goose bumps before, shivering so bad, you almost slosh your morning coffee. Why, it was so cold yesterday, I had to use my insulated cup to keep my coffee warm. Too warm it turns out - I burned my upper lip (turns out, I have one, not having seen it in many a year, having had a mustache since I was eighteen).

To show just how you acclimate and dress for cold weather, in the foto below is Twyla, our neighbor, on our walk to the market yesterday and she's dressed for the occasion. She's got her fleece top on, long pants and socks on under her Crocs. If Twyla had gloves, she probably would have had them on too.

What she's doing is loading up Lola's packs with veggies. The market vendors love to see us load up the doggies packs. They get a real kick out of it.