Brrrr! It's cold everywhere

Photo caption: Cold wave freezes the US
(Headline: Panamá asks OAS to lift sanctions against Honduras
- but that is another topic)

Just so that we don't complain about the Honduran weather too much, La Prensa reminded us Friday that it could be worse − much, much worse. I love this photo shown on the front page (above) and there were other great ones inside. The school buses seem to have grown tusks of ice. On the Atlanta TV news, I saw cars skidding this way and that, and into each other, on the icy roads. I remember those days in Dallas.

The past week has been as cold as I ever remember in my 8 years in La Ceiba, too. I know that many of you are going to go "boooo" when I mention the temperature, but here goes: It has gotten as low as 62°F (17°C) during the day. Combined with humidity of about 96%, that gives a 'Real Feel' in the 50's F (14-18°C range).

Before you think that we are wimps, please remember that we don't have furnaces or insulation, and many of us have crappy windows that leak air and water. It isn't a whole lot warmer inside the house than it is outside.

But I'm not really complaining. Really, I'm not! It's kind of fun to have an unusual non-threatening weather event like this. I'm just glad that I hung onto two pairs of sweat pants and jackets.

There are a surprising number of ski jackets and knitted caps that come out in tropical La Ceiba in weather like this. Actually, they often come out in weather much less cold than this. I used to laugh about this, but the longer I'm here, the more I'm acclimated to the tropical weather. Maybe in a few more years, I'll get to that point, but for now, sweat pants, socks, and light jacket are all I need. In fact, we have a small box marked 'warm clothes' into which all of our 'winter' clothes fit and that is including El Jefe's down jacket. It's great weather for sleeping and a welcome relief from the sweltering heat that we generally have about 350 days per year.

The chihuahuas shiver like they are out in snow, so it's not just me. Even the chickens huddle to keep warm − though I read about chickens in the US living in 30°F barns (-1°C) just fine. I brought this hen (in the photo) inside on Friday because she was sitting on eggs and being rained on at the same time. That was just in time, because her chicks hatched on Saturday. For now they are living in a large laundry basket in the laundry room. In this photo, they are in their traveling laundry basket. I couldn't resist taking them to show my nieces and nephews.

We are going to have a record breaking rainfall this month in La Ceiba, Honduras, too. In the 14 months that I've been keeping the data, December 2008 was the highest with 26.375 inches (67 cm.). As of January 11, we have already had 25.375 inches (64.5 cm.) and it is raining today.