Thursday January 23rd 2025

The high temperature in this area of central Florida has been generally below normal since the middle of December. In the last week, the sun has also been absent from the sky most days. This week has been even worse. We didn’t get the snow and ice that fell in northern Florida, but the high temperatures were in the forties with lots of rain. The average high temperature is in the low seventies about thirty degrees higher than what we have been experiencing.

Experiencing the Florida winter weather at my base camp instead of my RV home is different. I am comfortable in both, but the differences are notable. First my base camp is better insulated or at least it has less glass area to allow heat transfer. It is not as cool in the morning after having the heat off overnight. Perhaps the biggest difference, also related to insulation is the sound deadening. It has to be very severe outside before I become aware of the weather. Normal levels of rain and wind go unnoticed. It takes thunderstorm like rain before I can hear the rain on the roof or awnings. Wind I don’t hear at all unless it is a severe gust that hits from the right angle. In general, I can be oblivious to the weather. That can be annoying when I start to go out and find the weather unsuitable for my plans.

Other than shopping for life’s essentials I don’t have many indoor places that I need or want to go. My outdoor activities like theme park visits or hiking various parks need better weather for comfort. If I didn’t know Florida winter would be over as soon as next week according to the forecast, I would push the envelop for outdoor activity. I have still walked around the park when it hasn’t been raining, but the temperature with wind chill hasn’t made it comfortable. Without pockets for my hands it would have been worse.

All this “talk” about the weather is just an explanation (excuse) for not having done much the last few days. Other than a trip for groceries at Walmart and a visit to Lowes, I have stayed indoors at my base camp. I’ve rearranged the cabinet contents a bit and installed a couple of puck lights for under cabinet lighting. I have a couple more simple maintenance tasks on my list if the indoor weather continues and of course there is always TV and the internet.