The Caribbean Princess’s Weblog
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The Seasons
Living in South Florida, we miss out on the whole change-of-seasons thing. We really only have two seasons: Dry Season (what would be winter) and Hurricane Season (what would summer, but it lasts until November). Yes, from June ’til November we have that nagging little voice from the weather radar continuously occupying itself with tracking the latest mass of organized clouds moving off the west coast of Africa, and which could potentially wreak havoc on our entire ecological and economic system. Watch out!!
I personally don’t mind. I really am perfectly happy with the year-round lush foliage, bright sunshine from the months of November through May, and the ease of NOT having to wear 15 layers of coats before I walk out of my house. And as for the hurricanes… well, yeah… they are a pain. But you get plenty of warning. You can prepare, or just leave town if you want to.
There are three main indicators here in sunny South Florida that remind us that elsewhere in the world, the seasons are changing:
1. There is a slight decrease in rainfall as we move from Wet Season into Dry Season. There is, simply put, more sunshine.
2. The temperature drops from a sweltering, ultra-humid 105º to a comfortable, steady 84º all around. This also brings the occasional “cold front” which will drop temperatures into the frigid 40-50º range (brrr!!!).
3. The assortment of produce on sale will vary. We’ll go from refreshing watermelons and berries to luscious figs, fragrant pears, and tart apples.
Ah, now we hit on my favorite subject.
While elsewhere, people are starting to put away their weber grills and patio furniture, as they start to think of the frost killing their plants and dusting off their vacuum-packed piles of sweaters, we are just getting started. The grill? NOW’s when it’s going to be put to good use. The sweaters? Won’t need’em for another 4 months. And the frost…. What the hell is a frost?!?! The best part? I will be baking apples. And roasting a turkey. And cooking a whole roasted pig in December. And I’ve been enjoying figs and pears with pungent Danish bleu cheese. All while wearing a summer dress, flip flops, and a damn sun hat. Yes, my dear, I am.
However! Having said that… there is something about baking apples while you are in fact, wearing one of those vacuum-packed sweaters, looking out your kitchen window and watching the leaves turn brown, and knowing you can probably start up the fireplace, and it will be perfect. Ahh….
Ok, I was just kiddin’ with that last part. It’s nice while you’re on vacationing up on some frigid mountainside and all you can do is ski and sip hot chocolate in the hopes that your bones won’t shatter from the cold. No thanks. I can bake them apples in my oven, while wearing a beach dress and flipflops, and overlooking the beautiful palm trees in my backyard. Ciao Bella!
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Sharing from Vogue.com. It seems like a very shallow thing, this video, but if you look deeper you know it’s about a woman’s dream about her wedding, and a life that is the dream of a lot of people.
The motive for this post is simple: One living vicariously through someone else’s life, when one knows the door’s already been closed on our own expectations.
To work or not to work?
Well, you have to think about you and your children’s futures. Do you *really* think your husband’s going to be around forever?
Blind answer #1: We have life insurance. Hello: Life insurance runs out. Quickly.
Blind answer #2: He won’t leave me. That’s the epitome of delusional thinking. Many men have left perfectly good wives for new/younger pussy. It happens. And anyway, what if you ever want to leave HIM? Life changes people. Your once laid-back, loving hunn-bun can eventually turn bitter, cold, and mean. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen. What then? How do you leave a decaying relationship without any means to support yourself? What if the relationship turns abusive? Don’t automatically assume that this won’t happen to you. You just never know.
In the event that you find yourself having to support a family on your own… how do you plan on doing that with no career? How do you plan to do that making minimum wage?
I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I stayed home for three years, then went back to work full-time, then back to part-time. I was a former Stay-Home Enthusiast, and here’s what I have to say: JUST SAY NO to SAHM syndrome. If you must stay home, which I can wholeheartedly understand because I spent many Monday mornings in the office bathroom crying my eyes out because I missed my son, then do it. But for Christ’s sake (and your own, and your children’s), at least continue your education. Take online courses. Read. Get a part-time job when the little ones are a little bit more self-sufficient. Hey now, did you see that word? SELF-SUFFICIENCY. If it’s important for your children to learn it, shouldn’t it be important for you to keep it?
Florida is quite a mess. People are crazy, everyone’s a transplant (not that that’s really a problem, but it doesn’t account for much hometown pride), and salaries have stalled for the last 10 years while cost of living has tripled (or more? I’m no financial analyst, so I don’t know. It just seems that way).
Just saying.
But then again…..
I was supposed to fly out of Gross-tlanta yesterday at 10:30am. Unfortunately, something was wrong with our plane, and nobody knew what exactly was wrong or how to fix it, so we sat in the aircraft for … “we don’t know how long”. I have to confess that I am severely claustrophobic. So at this point I’m thinking I’m going to show up in the 6 o’clock news:
“Woman is shot dead by the Air Marshall for throwing a fit in stalled plane.” (At least that’s what my mother says would happen. . .)
Coño. Not good.
Fortunately, I had taken a sleeping pill, so after about 15 minutes of this ordeal, I became quite dettached from my surroundings, and didn’t give a rat’s bum what the airline did.
We sat in the plane for TWO HOURS before they decided they did not know how to fix the problem, and we all got ushered out of the aircraft. Mind you, the flight from Gross-tlanta to Fort Lauderdale is only an hour and change, so at this point I could’ve have been happily at home!!
To make a long story short, the entire flight was canceled, and I spent more than 12 hours at the airport.
But I did make it home. And that’s what matters.
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