Well, here we go... tonight and tomorrow night the temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-30s. The cold weather makes me cranky, so I'm warning y'all right now.
When we first moved to Texas in 1993, our winter temperatures were in the mid 70s, with barely a day or two when those numbers dropped into the 40s. Our "winter coats" back then were light jackets and blazers, or a heavy sweater. We had a barbeque one New Year's Day when we called our family in New York to tell them we were eating lunch out on the deck and enjoying the sun. They had all just finished shoveling snow and they were probably sorry they even answered the phone.
For the past five years or so, the Texas winters have gotten progressively colder. When we lived in Clear Lake, I don't remember ever going through any hard-freezes during the months of December, January, and February. Maybe getting the warmer air from the Gulf made a big difference in the temperatures. Up here, two hours away from the hurricane-threatening coast (our reason for moving) there are no warm Gulf breezes. Plenty of winds and breezes whipping around these hills, though, and when your house is in the middle of so many acres, there's nothing around to catch those winds before they get to you.
The first winter we were up here, the Hill Country had a hard freeze that lasted two weeks... the pipes froze and my husband became a plumber.... fixed all the pipes, insulated everything... and we've been cautious weather-watchers ever since. Water filters get covered up, indoor faucets get dripped, outdoor faucets get wrapped with Styrofoam covers. We're barely into November here, and that's all going to be on today's to-do list.
The prospect of leaving New York's cold winters and re-locating to warm and sunny Texas had a certain appeal to it back in 1993. Now, in 2013, I cannot believe that the weather wizards on the local television stations are telling us to "bundle up, wrap up, and hunker down" for the next two nights. Give me a blessed break.
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