Snowflower And The Secret Fan

As a new month dawns, thoughts turn to All Hallows Day. Stores begin to stock shelves with more candy than can be consumed. Costumes start appearing everywhere, from supermarkets, to pharmacies and self help stores. Little princesses or little devils, whichever your child desires this year, can be found everywhere. The weather begins to turn, and a cool breeze greets you as you walk out the front door. Of course in Florida that only lasts until 9:00 a.m., then the air conditioner has to kick in.

The yearly migration of snow birds will soon descend on Florida. In their plaid Bermuda shorts and flowered shirts their mating calls of "hurry up already, I have to go shopping" will ring through the malls and supermarkets. Do not get me wrong. I like the snow birds. They bring another flavor to the potpourri dish we call South Florida.

The one thing I will not do when the snow birds return, is drive on the major arteries that cris-cross South Florida. Even assuming everyone on the road has a valid drivers license, not everyone that comes to South Florida knows how to drive. They just think they can. The Long Island Expressway use to be called the mayor's parking lot. When the visitors flock to South Florida, we refer to the interstate as an accident waiting to happen.

People will start collecting fire wood for those three (3) nights in January when the temperature might drop down to forty degrees. It isn't the firewood, or the temperature that causes this yearly ritual, but a memory of childhood. They usually gather enough wood to last the entire month. Some people, who never had a fireplace before, have no idea what to do or how to properly maintain one. They just throw wood into the fireplace and figure that is it. Firemen are much busier then.

I remember the one time I saw snow in South Florida. I was living in Fort Lauderdale then, and driving to work when it began. Everyone stopped their cars in the middle of the road and got out of them. Adults were laughing and trying to catch the flakes as they gently fell from the sky. Strangers actually spoke to each other.

The temperature dropped that night. The next morning almost everyone had ice covering their windshields. The radio sent out a warning every fifteen minutes for people NOT to throw hot water on the windshields to melt the ice. The warning came too late for a lot of people. There was a run on replacement windshields that week.

I told my neighbor not to throw hot water on his windshield. Being an all American male, and since I was only a female, I obviously did not know what I was talking about. His jaw dropped in disbelief as his windshield shattered into a hundred pieces. I just shook my head and went back into my house, trying very hard not to laugh.

I love the fall advertisements. Everyone needs a fleece lined jacket to cover their bathing suit as they go to the beach. It goes so well with the fur lined gloves also on special sale. Let us not forget the heavy, woolen turtle neck sweaters. Every day is not a beach day down here. Sometimes it rains. We actually do have a winter season. If you aren't sure when it starts, just check the department store ads and forget what the weathermen say.

Last year, I drove across the state to the west coast of Florida. I was amazed to see new towns had sprung up in what was the Everglades. I imagined the tons and tons of sand that had to be carted in, to make the land solid. I still wonder about it, as sink holes are springing up in some of the converted areas. Near where I live, is a very expensive development. When that land was being cleared, a bull dozer sank into the muck. It is still there. As we say, dig down four feet if you want a natural brackish pond in your back yard.

Those are my thoughts for October. I can't wait for November.

Athena Louise

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