I'm from what they call a "temperate" climate, meaning, actually, "intemperate." I'm used to -4 to +104 in the course of 6 months. But it's that 6 month thing that's important. Going for an early morning walk in Ft. Lauderdale today, I found myself in a disoriented, musing mood, the way I get when I travel someplace really foreign to me -- Asia, the Caribbean. At first I thought that was because the climate, plants and birds here are so close to tropical, and I associate that with being abroad. But then I realized it was more this: It was 75, the sun was shining, the trees were green, birds were singing -- all this happens in NY, but it takes time. When I left yesterday, the streets were covered with snow and the wind made me shiver. Slowly, over months, this softness of air and hot sun will creep up on us, but I'm here in the middle of it right now, with no build-up. Of course I knew it would be like this, but I'm astonished nevertheless. It's the sudden been-dropped-into-another-world feeling that's disorienting.

That, and the boat storage yard down the block where they hang the boats three stories above the sidewalk on a steel frame.