Jack Frost Will See You Now

My wife and I were recently speaking of how we recalled the winters of our younger days in West Palm Beach, FL. They seemed to be colder and longer than they had been in recent years. Then, New Year's Night 2010 began what has been a near non-stop wave of refreshingly arctic air. A lot of brilliantly cold days and nights. One for the history books.

There was talk of snow flurries. The temps were threatening to plunge into the upper20s/low 30s. This is seriously cold for South Florida. We've had such occurances here and there in years passed, but this time the presence of precipitation made one wonder if we could see some flakes, again. Yes, 33 years ago, South FL had snow.

I remember the morning so clearly. I ran from my front door to the school bus, which was filled with a gaggle of screaming kids. That wasn't unusual, but the reason for it was. I looked up and saw what seemed like hundreds of tiny flurries dropping from a steel grey sky. They landed on my jacket and melted. Most probably died quick deaths once on the ground. No matter. It was beyond exciting. It would be one of the first times that I would realize that I preferred the chill. When we got to school, the principal, a miniature, ancient lady, almost immediately sent us all home. That late January day in 1977 would go down in history, fodder for many conversations over the years.

Ever since, I've waited for the white to return. Most winters were disappointing, and none provided the flakes. Anyone who knows me well can attest that I complain quite loudly about the warm/balmy winter months. Maybe I should've never lived here. My parents decided to flee NYC when I was 4. After years of this warm latitude, I think I'm more suited to seasonal climate. Retirement will be in some such place. Anyway, this past Saturday was an archetypical winter day-overcast, wet, and cold. Unusually cold. We headed out to a reception that evening and the rain had cleared. On the way home, we started hearing that flurries and ice pellets had been seen in parts of western Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Criminy! Didn't see any here, and we're north of there! But, our temps were colder than Oregon that night, so all meterological bets seemed to be off, at least for the time being.

But what a great run we've had. Even if we get no more cold fronts this season, the cleansing swath of 2010 chill has been quite satisfying. And historic.

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