Cold Spell

If you happen to be reading this from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, or any place with a high of 4 degrees and a sea of white snow covering everything, please know that I REALLY don't think our recent cold snap here in the Keys was TRULY cold. I feel your winter pain, and I have experienced many cold and snowy seasons in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Frigid temps, major storms, snow plows burying the car, kids missing countless days of school....been there, too.

All of that said, Key West is coming out of a week of record-breaking temperatures. This morning, when I drove the kids across the island for school, it was a balmy 69 degrees....normal winter temps for this part of the world. Last week it was 20 degrees below that. People joke that Conchs get out their Uggs and scarves when the temp goes below 60 degrees. Well, you should see what they do when it gets below 50.

First off, some people don't seem to have clothing for chilly weather, so they just wear ALL their clothes in layers. It's quite a look! Every time I saw someone in this state it reminded me of the 'Friends' episode where Joey put on all of Chandler's clothes. Pajamas as pants, socks with flip flops....I even saw a woman walking her dog on my street and she was wearing one of those winter hats with the ear flaps, like Elmer Fudd wore when he was hunting rabbits.

The girls' school sent out an email reminding parents to dress children appropriately for the frigid temps so that they could continue to have PE and recess outside. Apparently some parents didn't get the memo....Josie said they actually had PE indoors that day. Science wading trips were cancelled. If it's too cold to play on the playground, surely the kids can't be knee-deep in water looking for turtle grass. And on the coldest morning, all elementary students were ushered into the cafeteria from car line. I am pretty sure that is the first time that has happened in the five years we have gone to this school.

By Sunday afternoon, I started seeing the change on Facebook. After a week of screen shots of the morning's lowest temperature (48 was the lowest I saw) and lots of 'brrrr!!' status updates, friends started venturing back out to the beach. One friend actually referred to yesterday's high of 77 as 'hot.' That cracked me up as much as the rest of it. It's all relative. 

Nocturnal Creatures

Ah, winter in Key West! Beautiful blooms on the bougainvillea, blue skies, and highs in the 70s. With nights in the mid- to low- 60's, it makes for some perfect sleeping weather....all windows open, my linen curtains blowing in the breeze. Unfortunately, we had to close the windows this week to get some uninterrupted sleep. It is sad to have the air conditioner on in this gorgeous, breezy weather, but the comings and goings in our front yard have been keeping us up. We had new sod put in while we were traveling over the holidays. It is just gorgeous - bright green and uniform, unlike the straggly stuff we had before. We are enjoying it, and sadly, so are many of the feral creatures that roam the streets of mid-town Key West at night.

It started with the chickens. I started hearing a strange noise through the open windows, and eventually caught a rooster and his girlfriend making baby chickens in my new green grass. I scared them off many times and he must have found a new date spot. Until this week. Mr. Rooster must have realized that while I may yell out the window or squirt him with the house during the day, I'm probably not going to get out of bed to do it in the middle of the night. So he's been back. And he's been busy. Apparently word has spread to the cats who call this area of town home, because they have been making one heck of a racket as well. Without getting too graphic, mating cats produce a terrible sound, a wail/growl/scream combo that is hard to forget. Not something you want to be woken by....scary! And loud if it's right under your bedroom window.

I feel like we should start charging rent! What is going on? There are lots of places chickens and cats can get busy.....why do they have to do it in my yard in the middle of the night? Last night was peaceful with the windows shut, and John and I got a good night's sleep. We need to make a plan to keep these amorous creatures out of our space so we can enjoy the rest of the winter with the windows open. I haven't been keen on getting another dog, but this week I'm thinking we just might need one. A big one with a taste for chickens and cats.

Generousity

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind....the stuff of daily life with kids and a house to keep in fairly decent order, plus girl scout cookie season and a large fundraising event at our church. As I sit here at the laptop in my office (wow, where does all this stuff on my desk come from??), on probably the first morning in several weeks that I haven't had a place I needed or wanted to be, I am feeling kind of emotional (just a little!) about all the kindness I have witnessed in my recent travels.

First off, I want to thank all the awesome people who have listened to the members of my girl scout troop's impassioned pleas and explanations on the business of cookie selling. Sometimes you may have gotten WAY more information than you were looking for, but you didn't show it, and I'm sure you felt as good as I did when you walked away from our little table with a armful of Thin Mints and Samoas. Key Westers are kind-hearted souls. So far we've sent many boxes to the troops deployed overseas, and I know the donation jar will be filled again in these last two weekends. Filled with not just dollar bills, but with fives, and tens, and twenties for cookies you will never taste. Thank you! What an example for the girls - giving to others may just be the sweetest treat of all.

Next, I would like to thank the generous business owners on this small island for their overwhelming support for the fundraising event. As a member of the silent auction team, my main job was to hit the streets. Armed with a thick file of donation request letters, I visited restaurants, gift shops, jewelry stores, and bars. And more often than not, I left with a gift certificate or a specialty item.  If the manager wasn't there, I left a letter with my cell number, offering to come back and pick up anything they may like to donate. And sure enough, they called me back. It was fun to answer my phone and hear 'Hey Kendi, I'm the manager of Margaritaville....your items are at the hostess station!' and 'Hi, it's Sean from Eaton Street Seafood. Lunch rush is over so your gift certificates are ready and waiting!.' There are many, many fundraising events in Key West throughout the year. And the island's businesses somehow manage to donate to many of them. One more reason to shop local and support them. They deserve it.