Oh, Go Blow Something Up...

One of the things I remember most fondly from my early youth, "Penny for the Guy?" Making a Guy Fawkes dummy with my friends and hauling it in a little wagon up and down the high street shopping area begging pennies from passerby, so we could go buy some fireworks (just little ladyfingers and black cats) and then spend the rest of the loot at the local tuck shop. Just what we needed - more sugar.

 Me and My Mates - Kevin and Sean - Way Back When

On a completely different topic, I was perusing my weather software this morning, as I was sitting here absorbing the warmth from the laptop's fan. I noticed the outside temperature said it was 66° (f) as of 4:30 AM. Down here, that is speedily approaching the "Holy sh** mon, it's cold!", threshold of freezing temperatures.

I know, I know. Just like in the past winters, I'll get no sympathy from you folks up north. But, let me tell you, when you've acclimated to 95° (f) for a daily temperature, your body just seizes up at these lower temps.

I've actually got goosebumps on my arms. I'm going to have to go fire up the Mr. Coffee coffee maker, just so I can hug the carafe and stay warm. Well, I might have a cuppa while I reminisce about my youth. Have a happy Guy Fawkes Day!

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.

Twyla Loading Up Lola

The same morning, I just had to take another shot of the pelicans. Sometimes, you just can't resist, y'know?

They're Probably Shivering Too