florida

The Jacksonville streets are dangerous today.

Lovers are fighting. Children are weeping. Best friends are now sworn enemies. RVs are backing up without making the beeping noise.

It's Florida-Georgia time.

And whether you hail the red and black or boast the blue and orange, you can be certain that the pre-game activities will be almost as entertaining as the throwdown itself.

I'm a Bulldog fan. You read it right. Doesn't matter if a win is a long shot or not; I grew up cheering the Cubbies and Bears. I'm used to this 'hope' thing.

My handbag today is red, black, glitter and Ugga's face. I'm proud of it, but for safety's sake, it's in my drawer as I sit here at work. I question the wisdom of leaving my Georgia cap prominently displayed on the dash of my Jeep this morning. I am comforted that the guy I saw with a stuffed alligator dragging from his truck's bumper is going to have a worse day than I will.

I was waiting for my car's oil change to be done this afternoon and had a chance to read the February 2007 issue of Backpacker magazine, which had a great article on taking children hiking and getting them used to being outdoors. I can't say it enough: kids love the woods! Take them outside any chance you can. I know my love of hiking came from my parents taking me on trails when I was little ... as I grew older, I started wandering off on my own. One of my blog readers posed a question regards great places for a child's first backpacking trip, and I offered some suggestions in Central Florida.

One of the main reasons I moved to Florida from Cleveland, Ohio had to do with this time of year.

The last couple days my parents who live in a suburb Southeast of the city called me with accounts of sideways blowing snow, drifts up to 7 feet and close-to-zero temperatures.

Dad said his drive to work this morning was one of the scariest commutes he ever made, fighting blinding snow and wind gusts that threatened to toss his car off the highway.

Mom made the best of it; all of her neighbors are snowed in. So she spent today at an impromptu afternoon cocktail party since no one is working today.

That sounds like fun, but no amount of dayside libations would ever convince me that living in those conditions is more attractive than golfing in February.