*Everyone* is talking about the cold weather this week! Yesterday, the temperature broke a 15-year COLD record here in Costa Rica - It was 50 (FIFTY) degrees in the central valley!
Yeah, yeah, I know - you folks in the states and Europe are laughing in a puzzled manner, rolling your eyes so far back into your heads, you're getting a headache...
I would be too, except that I'm *here!* Costa Rica is not set up for this - we don't have insulation, no central heat (or *any* heaters, for that matter), *and* our houses are made for maximum ventilation - those super leaky windows that are great in warm weather don't serve too well this week. We don't have parkas, gloves, or snow boots. The lucky few who suffered before and remembered, have sweatsuits and slippers (yay!).
Thankfully, giving baked goods is something of a tradition at this time of year. I'm taking full advantage of that. Yesterday, the inside temperature upon waking, nose peeping out of quilts and thermal blankets, was 66 degrees F. We went out for lunch and supplies (biting wind and total-sun-blocking clouds added to the cold). Then, yay! I baked all afternoon - brownies, zapote cake, and ginger snaps. Peak inside temperatures (outside the kitchen) made it all the way up to .... 76 degrees!!!!
Overnight temperatures inside plunged again - 65 degrees. Fortunately, I have a looooong list of things left to bake. I already started on the cornbread, and have plans for more brownies and cookies...
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4 comments:
Wow, I am getting icicles on my brain just thinking about those frigid temperatures!
Don
Edina, MN
..snort..
I was there in Dec of '76 in CR and it went to 50F one night in downtown SJ. People were putting on shawls, jackets and coats and complaining bitterly that it hadn't been that cold in 20 years!
That was my first visit to CR and that particular night I was walking around in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a denim jacket and it didn't feel too bad. I had just arrived from Florida where it had just been in the low-40s, so that felt pretty good to me.
Now that currently I spend half the year in CR I am fast growing accustomed to the mid-70s of Alajuela in the rainy season. And now that same 50F in Tampa feels darned cold to me.
Stay warm, Julie!
Cheers!
Paul M.
==
Funny how we change, eh Paul?
Rick says we're now "weather wimps" - but actually, I'm remembering how we would set the thermostat to 76 in the winter, so maybe we've just always been cold-phobes...
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