SOUTH FLORIDA IN AUGUST - FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL!

 Preface

August 4th, Friday, and it's 6:30 p.m. and the temp outside is 83 F (feels like 95). The low tonight is suppose to be 78. I'll believe it when I see it. This has been a brutal summer!

Story

Almost every day in July was FL over 100 degrees! We even hit 121! If you have to go out and DO anything in that heat, it's the feels like heat that will get you. If the humidity is down below 60% then it's tolerable, for 5-10 minutes, but if not, there's no working in that heat.

I feel so bad for those workers on roofs, construction, or anything outside. They have to have breaks and water or we will loose some of them to heat stroke! 

James says that the way things are going, we will be living in the best place to survive the weather changes. South Florida. REALLY?? The heat trough across the US is bringing our temps to places that have never had to deal with a 100 degrees, ever. 

Conclusion

I don't think we can fix this. I don't think the humans will survive. Once we are gone, the Earth and its inhabitants can grow and thrive. "Thanks for all the fish."

COVID-19 WEEK 18: LET'S EXPLODE THINGS! 4 HORSES DEAD!

PREFACE
Ah yes, the Fourth of July. Celebrating our country's birthday...during a pandemic. All public gatherings cancelled, meaning all the big fireworks displays are cancelled. Meaning what are the people going to do to show their patriotism and salute America's birthday and independence from a ruling country that didn't represent our needs and wants??? Let's blow stuff up!

STORY
The Fourth of July has always been a terrible night for my sister. I've been living with her for 6 years now and even when I was living elsewhere, I would come and keep her company. She has horses. Horses tend to panic or are very stressed by the loud booming and exploding of fireworks. We live in a livestock area. An area that was founded on horse ownership and 1-acre minimum homesteading. As the 'city' encroached on the wide-open land, and the 'city dwellers' moved out of the city and into our spaces, they brought what they were running away from. They think that now that they have all this land, they can do whatever they want. But we have laws out here too. Dogs have to be on leashes. You can't plant things in the swale (the area from the road to where the sidewalk would be if there was one...also called easement). There are established trails for horses, pedestrians, and bicycles. ATVs, Gator carts, and golf carts are not allowed on these trails. Nor are they street legal. But that doesn't stop 'them' from using the trails illegally!

The mayor of our big/little town lost her horse a few years back due to a heart attack during 4th/July fireworks. She has worked hard to minimize who can shoot them off. But this year, due to COVID-19 and cancellations of firework displays, everybody thought they could have their own display! Even the GOVERNOR waived the ban on fireworks for Florida! The signs posted this year were watered down in language so that nobody paid attention to them. NO FIREWORKS WITHIN 1000 FEET OF LIVESTOCK! The fireworks started even before dark (8:30 pm) and didn't stop until 1 AM! Two of our horses were frantic during the booming and crashing and popping. Neighbors shot off illegal fireworks, the kind that go high in the air...we call mortars...and explode with a loud BOOM! All we could do was watch as the two horses ran around the ring, bucking, snorting, and in general distress.  Not to mention the stress it puts on countless dogs, traumatized cats, and PTSD Veterans. 4 horses in our neighborhood died on the night of the 4th of July.

Poor Danny Boy was exhausted by 1 am and he laid down in the ring. My sister checked on him throughout the night to make sure he was still alive. The third horse is over 30 years old and didn't seem to react to it all, but she's always been very steady about it. Maybe she just can't hear it as well. Danny Boy is very young, 13 or so. His heart could have burst from all the stress. This is only the second 4th/July he's gone through down here. He's from Ohio country living. Last year was his first year, but with all the effort of our Mayor, the fireworks were very mild and didn't stress him out. But last year, the people had central places to gather and watch them. They didn't feel it necessary to blow stuff up in their yards.

CONCLUSION
Everyone has rights. The rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. You have the right to swing your arms if you want to, but when your arm comes in contact with the next person's nose...that's where your rights end. Other people have the right to their rights. Everyone needs to respect the rights of others, even when you have to modify your perception of your rights. We do not live in closed boxes. Or defined spaces. You can draw a property line in the sand, but that does not stop air, wind, smells, voices, or freedom. We ALL need to be better neighbors. Better neighbors in our communities, in our cities, counties, states, and in the World. Everyone is connected, despite lines drawn in the sand. Love One Another.

COVID-19 STAY-IN-PLACE: WEEK 16?!

PREFACE
Here we all are. People going stir crazy, protesting wearing masks in public places, protesting civil rights (George Floyd murder, police brutality, murder by police of black people, Black Lives Matter...), people calling for de-funding the police (diverting funds to other community services that have been slashed and now the police have to do them), and a spike in COVID-19 cases since "phase 1" re-opening of the states.

STORY
WTF?! Each new day brings unimagined horror. Our leadership is "off the grid" insane.

Gassing citizen's exercising their right to assemble, so #45 can stroll across to the damaged church he never attends and hold up a BIBLE?! The police that stood by and were yelled at and spit on by white "I've got the right not to wear a mask," GUN TOTING!, protesters...stood fast in front of the state capital! didn't fire teargas (pepper bombs...whatever), didn't fire rubber bullets into the crowd. A crowd that was an untrained militia carrying assault rifles to the capital. Nothing?

But peaceful, non-combative protesters, mostly of color, marching to protest the way police treats POC! are gassed by police, and shot at with rubber bullets, arrested, beaten, along with REPORTERS! with no regard for public safety. I understand that police have the responsibility to maintain order...but a PEACEFUL protest doesn't require teargas! or tasers! or urban assault vehicles!

And now, to address the "phase 1" re-opening!! TOO SOON! Everybody said TOO SOON! But the orange toddler claims the economy is more important than the lives of the elderly. What's 200,000 dead compared to a profit margin?! If you order everyone to re-open, then everyone has to go back to work...no more UE benefits to pay out (that is if you GOT benefits at all! Florida is not on the ball when it comes to Unemployment benefits.). People started going out to clubs, bars, and bar/restaurants WITHOUT MASKS! and then some with masks. Code enforcement closed them down. Daily infection rates went up to ALL NEW HIGHS, breaking records each consecutive day! There was NEVER A FLATTENED CURVE!

CONCLUSION
I had been working again after not working for two months. I do vendor work, going into stores (which are not as crowded as they were pre-COVID) and wearing my mask, washing my hands after each location. I visited (34) 7-Elevens over three weeks, with one week break before the last week. I cancelled the last 6 locations because of the spike in cases. It doesn't look like I will be getting back to work before the end of the year or longer. It doesn't look like the leadership, nor the citizens, are exercising good judgement or good sense. I think I'll wait for a TRULY FLATTENED CURVE before I venture out to work among the masses again.

I really don't know what to expect from day to day. It's exhausting. I'm depressed most of the time. I'm not sleeping right. It's a million degrees outside in the daytime, so...no going out anyway. Things are shutting down again, so...no going out. I need to work on stuff here, at home. My garden. Fitting in some exercise. Reading! Yeah, right. There is no "getting back to normal" ever again. There is only THE NEW NORMAL. What is happening now. What will be "normal" going forward. What will keep us safe, healthy, and alive. FUCK THE TRUMP VIRUS! We will survive! And come November, send in the military and ESCORT HIM OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE! Better days are coming!

COVID-19 LOCKDOWN - WEEK 6

PREFACE
Six weeks into "stay in place" and I haven't lost my mind. I started limiting my travels outside on March 5th. I'm still here. I'm still healthy. I'm a homebody. That's what they call someone that doesn't go out much. Someone who stays home and lives their life in a smaller world than most people. It's not a choice I made but a choice I fell into after experiencing one last trauma that broke me. PTSD. Depression. Anxiety. Being single, female, older, and vulnerable...prevented me venturing out to nightclubs, dating events, even movies...until I just went out to do the few jobs I contract to perform, and occasional "drive to nowhere" to relieve stress. I saw it coming...just wish our country's leadership had seen it coming.

STORY
Now, the coronavirus pandemic! After an extended time, our governor finally ordered a lockdown of the state of Florida on April 1st, 2020. After thousands and tens of thousands of spring breakers played on the beaches for weeks after the first confirmed cases, oblivious to the damage (contagion) that they were spreading. They believed they were immune to a DEADLY VIRUS. Youth. Hubris. False concept of immortality. We may never know the extent of the deaths that delay caused.
The lockdown didn't change my life very much.

I wipe down the groceries that are delivered to my door (instead of picking up the grocery order from Walmart, shopped by someone else___I HATE GROCERY SHOPPING!). Making the switch over to grocery delivery was seamless, until everyone else started doing it too. Now instead of next day or the day after, it's a 4-5 day wait. Still, you just have to plan it out and be a little organized. Publix still has same day or next day delivery...they're more expensive but they have a few things that I buy that no one else has, anywhere!

Any packages or mail gets quarantined for several days or wiped down with Clorox. All surfaces in the house are wiped down with bleach every 2-3 days. There are only me and my sister living in the house and no one else has come into the house in over a month. We wash our hands a lot anyway, so that's no different. Not much has changed.

CONCLUSION
I know lots of people are out there going bonkers. Too much togetherness with family. Too much being alone for others. I'm fine with being alone with myself, my thoughts, playing video games, writing, painting, crocheting...lots to occupy my mind.

Also I'm lucky to live with my sister, whom I get along with famously. She's my best friend. I'm lucky that her house is on an acre of land. We have 2 cats for mental comfort. 3 horses to occupy my sister when she gets stressed. There are many that are not so lucky. I wish I could help them all. Comfort them all. I do wish you all peace and good health. I pray for the end of this pandemic. A treatment. A cure. A vaccine. Better days are coming!

FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

PREFACE
Summer in south Florida is like living 8" from the sun. Daytime temperatures can 'feel like' 100+ degrees. Sure everybody loves to invade us when it starts to get cold up north. But when they leave, the REAL FLORIDIANS come out to play (or rather, stay in the AC and find other things to do...lol).

STORY
Just like when the snow falls and the wind blows a gale, and the temperatures drop to the teens or single digits, the northern dwellers stay inside, under blankets, drinking hot chocolate, and inching the thermostat up a degree or two. They hibernate. Not much you can do outside without chancing frostbite, so catching up on movies or series's missed is the activity of the night.

Those that work and have to brave the weather during the weekdays, forge ahead, dreaming of the Florida vacation in the spring (February or March) when the ground is still frozen up north. Florida is having it's most enjoyable weather. It's winter from the middle of January to the middle of March, and there are about two weeks of winter for us. One or two days at a time, the temperature will dip down below 60 degrees. It's glorious! We have to put on sweaters and jackets, to the sheer amusement of the snowbirds.

CONCLUSION
Every location has it's good and bad to recommend living there. The good you enjoy and the bad you'll put up with. It has to balance out for you to stay. I've been here for more than 50 years. I wasn't born here but moved here when I was 2. I've left for 5 years or so at a time, but have always come back. "Once you get the sand between your toes, you never leave (for good)." With the sea level rising, that may be the only reason that I leave Florida...for higher ground. We are at (or some places below) sea level here! Time to head north! 😊

4 DAYS 'TIL SUMMER!

PREFACE
Summer in south Florida started in March! Truth be told, we've had a few days this spring that were quite nice. Below 70 degrees even. But when you're 8 inches from the sun, SUMMER is half the year.

STORY
Having lived most of my life in south Florida, I'm not surprised that it is over 80 degrees on April 2nd. But when it gets to be June, it's over 90 degrees every day! And that is just the thermometer reading, not factoring in the humidity over 80% most days and lack of cloud cover (read as "sun beating down relentlessly"). I remember half a dozen days in the summer being over 100! when I was a kid. I remember downtown flooding "because it's near impossible to drain sea level" and more than 2 days of straight rain causes flooding. There's no place for water to go 'down' when you're at sea level!

What is surprising to me is to look at the rest of the country and their weather. My son lives in Madison, WI and today it was 74 degrees there. My nephew lives in San Francisco, CA and it was  70. There are other places to live besides here! The only problem is that THEY have their extremes too. Where I can't live is a place where it gets colder than freezing (32 degrees F), or I can't see the sky most of the year (gray, cloud covered, low hanging sky is SO DEPRESSING!), nor a place that has lots of tornadoes. I need to be close to water (even if it's not the ocean, which is preferred). Now that the sea level is rising, HERE is not a good place to live.

CONCLUSION
We've been looking at Georgia and South Carolina for places to live. It's hard for my sister because she's got so much history here (50 years in the same house, this year). She has connections to the community. (And she HATES change.) I'm not so rooted.

I have lived with my sister for the past 5 years. I know that due to my income and PTSD, that I'm not likely to move out and get my own place. Where ever she decides will be a good place for her, will be fine with me. I can eBay from anywhere. I'm retired, so no job to sever myself from. My friends have moved away or I moved away from them. Most of my friends are now online, more than in person. I can live anywhere. I would just like to live somewhere that it doesn't feel like I just walked into HELL's front door when I walk out my front door!