The Simple Pleasures in Life

JDgreen227 · Jan 9, 2004

Don,

Interesting to find this talk about Florida and hurricanes because last night I just finished reading a novel by Carl Hiaasen--"Stormy Weather". It deals with a cast of characters caught in a severe hurricane in the Miami/Dade County area. Although it is currently 15 degrees here where I live, after reading that book I think I will cope better being cold than having to worry about a hurricane. Best wishes !

Bill

Boondox · Jan 9, 2004

Phil -- You said a mouthful, and I'm delighted that there are others like me who find enjoyment not from pushing a button for instant heat, but in keeping a woodstove going. It hit minus 22 here last night. Not bad if you dress warmly and keep your gloves and boots by the stove till needed. But the light of the full moon on a deep snowpack, with the stars overhead so clear you can reach out and touch them, with the crack of a tree in the forest splitting from the cold, one or two dogs demanding your attention while the rest are inside camped out in front of the stove with the wife...it's the stuff of dreams!

Pete

PhilNH5 · Jan 10, 2004

Pete,
It is a different approach or outlook on life to heat with wood. Most of the people I work with think I am nuts to put up with the work, dirt and time required. And I don't fully heat with wood. I have an oil furnace and in this type of weather it does indeed cycle on.
But the pleasures of the wood stove are worth the work. We spend many hours together as a family putting the wood up - be it cutting, splitting or stacking. We talk, laugh and generally have a good time.
Right now I am beside the wood cookstove. On top is a little thermo powered fan that helps to circulate the heat. Also on top are a kettle of hot water for tea and a cast iron fry pan with some sausage slowly cooking. In the oven is a cran bread. I sit here content and warm.
Pretty soon the smells of breakfast will wake my wife and daughter. Ahter a hearty meal we will go skating on the pond.
It thawed over Christmas and refroze crystal clear in this cold snap.
Wish I could make a bob sled run like you have. That looks like fun.

Phil

PineRidge · Jan 10, 2004

Phil it sounds to me like you really do enjoy the extra work involved in burning and cooking with wood and I applaud you for it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I have an elderly neighbor that also enjoys the use of wood as a heating supplement to his gas-fired water boiler in his home. I enjoy watching him using a hydraulic splitter on his wood every summer in preparation of winter. Any trees that I have cut in past years on my properties I then reduce to 18 inch pieces and add them to his growing woodpile. I figure someone who enjoys it that much might as well get the full benefit from my waste.

OkeeDon · Jan 10, 2004

Things have changed a bit. Last night, a cold front came in. Now, this may be a bit hard to understand for those who have not experienced it, but 54 degrees in Florida is cold. The humidity is 77%, there's a good breeze out of the North, and it feels as cold as 30 degrees up North. When you live here a while you become acclimated to the summer heat, but the same "blood thinning" process makes the cold seem even colder. It's down to about 65 degrees inside the house, and we're hovering on the brink of turning on the heat, something we rearely do.

I think maybe all you guys decided to take revenge on us poor Floridians, turned towards the South and started waving your hands as hard as you could. OK, we get the point. You can quit now.... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

hazmat · Jan 10, 2004

I'll take 54 with the "damp chill". Had to unfreeze my pipes this morning. Luckily no damage to the plumbing or myself this time.

Last year the pipes burst & I burned my hand on a heat gun (grabbed the wrong end picking it up /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif).

Tonight enjoying the simple pleasures, wood stove cranked up, game on, & a good book (taking a break right now to catch up on tbn).

PineRidge · Jan 10, 2004

Don I'm looking at my outside thermometer and it reads 13 degrees F. The weather forcast is calling for single digits later tonight. The dogs won't even go out to relieve themselves without a lot of coaxing on my end and when you walk on the exposed grass you can hear it break like glass under your shoes. But hey that's winter here in Ohio and I wouldn't have it any other way. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Alan L. · Jan 10, 2004

Living in North Texas, we obvious have pretty rough summers, and medium humidity. I hate summers here, and 49 years has not been enough to get used to it. We visit down around Houston several times a year and it is UNBEARABLE in the summer. Like Florida, its usually only 90 or so, but the humidity is stifling. Everything has mildew on it, and you can't go outside without sweating to the bone. You can't take your camera out of the air conditioned house outside to take pictures without waiting for the condensation to evaporate.

I've never been to Florida, but I'm sure I would hate it. The weather that is.

Gary_in_Indiana · Jan 11, 2004

54 degrees in Florida is cold. The humidity is 77%, there's a good breeze out of the North, and it feels as cold as 30 degrees up North. 

As I type this the humidity here is 68%. The temperature is somewhere in the teens. The wind chill is below zero.

Tell me again about 54 being cold. Laughing keeps me warm. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Boondox · Jan 11, 2004

( I've never been to Florida, but I'm sure I would hate it. The weather that is. )

Funny how perceptions differ so much. My in-laws moved to Daytona Beach years ago to get away from the cold up here in Vermont. Tamara and I find Florida extremely boring, flat, crowded, hot and muggy. But the old folks love it! They hate the cold up here. We love it!

On the plus side, we usually try to visit the in-laws in November or early December when we have the beach pretty much to ourselves. We walk along the beach in shorts and t-shirts, hand in hand, talking and having a good time in weather that's at least 30 degrees warmer than back home...while all around us folks behind plate glass windows or bundled up like Eskimos stare at us like we're crazy! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think pretty much any place is nice to visit, but there's no place like home.

Pete