We experienced our first snowfall today!
And by snowfall, I mean a few flurries that I didn't even have the pleasure of observing before they died a quick, steamy death a few inches above the ground. Blink and you miss it, seriously, folks.
But it was COLD. Cold enough for me to learn about yet another deluxe feature of my car. This vehicle, my friends, is so thoughtful and concerned for my well-being that it kindly informs me the second the remotest possibility of unsafe driving conditions blips onto its radar. And it accomplishes all this with the utmost in efficiency, a single word added above the digital display that tells me exactly how many miles lie between me and desperate prayers for a WaWa station.
The word? ICY.
I was so touched, I didn't have the heart to tell my sweet love machine that water actually freezes at 32 degrees Farenheit, rather than the toasty 38 at which the warning blinked on.
How far I've come since my days of praying to reach my destination with all four wheels attached.
But perhaps the thermometer of my little bundle of highway happiness would serve well as an advanced warning system for the poor palm trees that have been imported to our fake-tropical resort city. They are no doubt eager for their "Christmas wrapping", as it were, to preserve them from cold damage, which is often manifested in the form of stunted growth, root damage, and increased susceptibility to infection.
(yes, I researched palm tree winterization solely to sound intelligent in this blog post...and discovered a whole new brand of botany nerd out there on the interweb.)
(not me, I mean those guys with the palm tree blogs.)
Palm tree winterization, for you ignoramuses, is rarely neat and never pretty:
Full disclosure: I totally ripped this photo from someone's Flickr account. But at least I'm honest about it, right? When I get a chance I'll get you a photo of real, live, authentic Va Beach palm trees all bundled up for winter. Sometimes they even have Christmas lights draped around them, like it's not depressing enough already to see a palm tree on life support, now they have to draw attention to it like some poor carnival misfit.
Oh, ye north, how I long for your frosty winters and honest, deciduous flora.
Please, reward my loyal yearnings with a blanket of snow for Thanksgiving? Preferably falling promptly on Thanksgiving and completely melting no later than Sunday noon, thanks. The Nissan may be deluxe, but there's no reason to press our luck now.
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