Junkyardgirl, where do you live? We live in Melbourne. I think it got to 32 on Wed night. Several places near here spotted a few snow flurries.

"I think the Florida / South cold weather *feels* as cold to the southerns as the cold feels to us in the Northeast". Really it doesn't. We know there's a big difference between 20 degrees and -20. I grew up in N.Dakota and lived there until after college so I've know what serious cold feels like and what 8 foot snow drifts look like. I remember going cross country skiing in Wisconsin when it was well below 0. THAT was cold. You're right though in that it's all relative. In the north and midwest, you're prepared for winter. Houses are built for it, people have the clothing for it. You can have extremes of cold or snow that can make it more dangerous or hard to deal with, but you're usually prepared. At -20 in North Dakota, our pipes didn't freeze because they were built to handle the cold. Here they often are run through our attics and freeze easily. Lots of us have solar heaters on our pools that are susceptible to freezing too; we've been running the pool pump at night for a week because if the solar piping freezes it will burst. At -20 in North Dakota, the farmers didn't panic because their crops are dormant during the winter. Here many citrus, fern/foliage and strawberry growers will lose their crops this year. I know ranchers and dairy farmers up north have it tough in extreme winters because they can lose part of their herd. The temps here won't harm cattle but the iguanas are dropping from the trees. (The iguana thing has been kind of amusing.) At -20 in North Dakota, people may have bundled up more than normal, but they owned coats, hats, scarves and expected to use them every winter. Many people here don't have the clothes for this! At -20 in North Dakota I didn't have roses and orchids blooming in January! Kate

It used to be that you were asked to put in your name, or screen name, your State and zone, your birthday, and what you would like to be called, meaning you might have a screen name but preferred to be called by your real name. That changed when iVillage bought it. They took the 6 away from my VA6, and everybody lost the CAPS in their names. A lot of peeps didn't want to post their birthday year, so those who didn't all got January 1st. as their birthday. So be it. Sue

The way the weather has been lately, it wouldn't surprise me if it had been Florida! Wonder where that pic was taken? We actually did have 2 feet of snow here. I'm going to send it to my friends and relatives down South. Sue