An Invernessian in America: Diane Knox says the Sunshine State isn't always as sunny as people think
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If you live in Florida, how do you make a Scottish person angry? Complain about the weather!
Alright, alright, I live in the Sunshine State. Florida is sunny, hot and you can’t drive for more than a mile without seeing a row of picture-perfect palm trees, right? Well, it’s now December and Florida is certainly on the chilly
side.
I’m talking puffer jackets and woolly hats, with temperatures of 50…sorry 10 degrees Celsius. Actually, even after five-and-a-half years, my weather app is still set to Celsius which would baffle any American who glanced at my phone.
Last weekend was the coldest I had been in a loooong time. My brother Russell was playing in a golf tournament in Sea Island, Georgia – a coastal town about 90 minutes drive from Jacksonville. Friday was beautiful sunshine, but Saturday resembled a walk around the links in Scotland. Piercing wind and the type of cold where you can’t feel your lips, toes or fingers – we know it all too well, but it always seems so out of place here.
How does the saying go? There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation. Well, I made sure I was prepared with my thick, padded waistcoat, but I had to make a mad dash to the merchandise tent to pick up a woolly hat. And I scooped up the last one!
I tweeted a picture from the course, and in came the snarky replies: “You need to get back to your roots”; “What kind of Scot are you?”; “You’ve been away from Inverness for too long”.
You have to chuckle because if you’re cold, you’re cold! It’s funny how the keyboard warriors think they’re the ones to decide just how cold you’re allowed to be.
I caught up with Russell after the round, and we all talked about how tough the conditions were. With winds nearing 40mph, the golfers were regularly seen backing off from the ball and waiting for the gusts to subside. Fast forward a week and Russell is back in the homeland!
We FaceTimed the other day, from the snowy winter wonderland of Aberdeen, and he told me about the terrible storms that were battering the east coast, with winds nearing 100mph! If that were over here, Floridians would be on lockdown. And there would be no golf, that’s for sure.
Russ booked a last-minute flight over to see his old Culloden Academy best friend, who just welcomed a baby girl with his wife.
So while our winter weather is far from that of the north east of Scotland, being able to wrap up warm in Jacksonville and turn the heating on is such a welcome break from the summer climate.
With Thanksgiving over and the Christmas preparations under way, it really feels like such a special time and I am definitely basking in the festive spirit.
The decorations are up, the Holiday Favourites radio channel has been programmed in my car, and with the golf year coming to an end next week I’ll be ready to take a break – with woolly hats and palm trees.
Diane Knox: Hospital Radio is an absolute tonic
