A Florida Winter Wonderland!

 

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

While most of us think of winter wonderlands as picturesque snowy scenes and couples ice skating, skiing, or seated around a blazing fireplace, I am here to tell you that Florida winter wonderlands are anything but cool.

Here, a wintery Florida day means temps in the seventies and should they nosedive into the sixties, out come the boots and mufflers. That is not a joke.

As a Northeast transplant, it was the most ridiculous sight I’d ever seen, but over the years I have gotten to view the cooler weather as an opportunity to break out the sweaters and boots, and wear something other than shorts.

So, what does a Florida winter wonderland mean to me? Well, it means a less expensive electric bill that’s for sure. It means tucking away sleeveless shirts and bringing out the ankle boots and earmuffs. Yes, earmuffs and even knee-high boots. It’s the time of year when small beach towns come alive and college students come from all over to seek out sun and fun. Spring Break, though good for the economy, makes the locals break out in hives.

Pre-Covid, winter meant packed restaurants and crowded beaches. Although, frankly, restaurants here are hardly empty and the beaches aren’t exactly bare.

What I miss most are the outdoor festivals, the traveling Broadway and craft shows happening during this cooler time of year, the excitement of planning big trips and small local ones. Since most of the world is back on lockdown, and the countries require a 14-day quarantine, there goes my vacation. 

Kicking it off on New Year’s Day, in my part of the state, is usually a huge art show. This is held in one of the swankier neighborhoods and people come from all over.  Also, the first Sunday of the month, on the waterfront, there is an outdoor jazz festival with musicians performing live on at least three stages.

What I really don’t miss is the traffic created by the “snowbirds,” the name given to those people who take flight south in winter, making traffic unbearable. Although, truthfully, traffic in general has increased since many have now migrated south permanently.

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So, what am I doing to create my own wonderland this January? I am doing a lot of reading and writing, and I am reconnecting with old friends.  I am venturing out in the world again and patronizing small businesses that I’d hate to see go under.  I am investing in myself and totally focusing on my writing. I am upping my exercise routine, and although last year was not the best for many, I can honestly say  I used that  time to reflect. To sum up, I ended the year happy, content, and good with me.

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Now I am determined to make this year my personal wonderland

and. I can confidently say bring on winter, summer, spring and fall!

2021 I got you!

 

About Marcia King-Gamble

Romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This travel industry executive and current world traveler has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling to exotic locales, and caring for her animal family.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

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MY PERSONAL WINTER WONDERLAND

 By Caroline Clemmons

For me, our month’s theme of Winter Wonderland is fitting. My husband (I call him Hero) and I will have a wedding anniversary next week. We were married in a winter wonderland that gave the occasion added beauty.

We married at East Dallas Christian Church with a friend of Hero's officiating. You know the lines—richer or poorer, sickness and health, forsaking all others, love, honor, cherish. Fortunately, Hero and I meant those words as a promise and not merely as rote. He has proven them over and over and I hope I have as well.

Life has ups and downs, of course. We have made some odd decisions that seemed wise at the time. Don’t they always?

Hero has been a constant protector and nurse through my numerous health concerns even though he has issues of his own. He has been a loving and caring husband and father. He has encouraged and aided my writing. I feel blessed to have him as my husband.

As mentioned above, the day we were married was snowy. I will never forget the moonlight on the snow as we came from our wedding to our new home. What a winter wonderland!

As the climate has changed, we have less snow than all those years ago. At our house we haven’t had snow in five years, although nearby areas had light snowfall about ten days ago. But now we live in Tarrant County, of which Fort Worth is the county seat, instead of Dallas County as we did then. 

Is snow required for a winter wonderland? Not at all. Wonder is a state of mind.

Wishing you a new year filled with wonder, enchantment, and peace!

Turn on the Heat by Hannah Rowan #romancegems

 Winter wonderland?  Really, fellow Gems?

I can’t help but think of Green Eggs and Ham. “I do not like it…”

I know there are people who love the cold weather. I don’t understand them one little bit.

Do they not have to go out in the morning and scape a few inches of ice from their windshields, then slide sideways along slippery highways to get to work?

Do they not then come out of work only to find it already dark at 4:30 in the afternoon?

There was a time when I was probably insane. As a child I would bundle up in my hat and gloves and boots and trudge through the snow to ride a sled down a steep hill that ended at a river. My brother and I would make a trail through the woods so we’d have a clear path on the way down, but inevitably my sled would veer off course and I’d crash head-first into a tree. Brain damage would indeed explain why I thought this activity was fun, with snow melting down the back of my coat and my mittens and sleeves all wet and freezing and snow sliding into my boots.

My town would flood a parking lot bordered by railroad ties so kids could ice skate there. I tottered along on my skates—no graceful gliding for me—with visions of hot chocolate dancing through my frozen head.

And I thought I was having fun?  As I look back, I’m horrified.

Later I would take my children skiing. Or more accurately, I would drive them to the slopes and huddle in the ski lodge by the fireplace reading or writing a book until they came to tell me they were done.

In the summer I can toss on a pair of sandals and walk out the door. In the winter I have to don my armor, with hats and gloves scarf and boots, a down coat that almost keeps me warm bolstered by a few layers of sweaters beneath.

At bedtime I snuggle under a blanket, a bedspread, a down quilt, a fluffy Ugg blanket folded in half to provide two layers, and a fleecy robe, and I’m almost warm.

And this year I can’t even break up the cold by spending a week or so in a nice warm place, reminding me that winter can’t last forever.

So I tell myself it builds character, that I’m tough enough to endure it, and that this too shall pass.

But I do not like it, not one little bit!