Sunshine State of Sunshine

Weather for Valrico, FL

26°F Current: Clear Wind: NW at 0 mph Humidity: 95%

It's a cold and frosty morning, here in Tampa. Don't laugh, those of you who regularly freeze your buns off; for this part of Florida this is some serious cold. Also, I'm not complaining. My morning walk with Scout was invigorating and the golf-course looked beautiful with its dusting of frost iridescent in the thin morning light. I can enjoy the occasional trip into the mid 20's. Just let's not go there too often!

Great story about the cold: My newspaper writing puts me in touch with a bunch of interesting people. One question I often ask is this: "Why did you move to Florida?" Inevitably some story comes out about keys frozen in the car door, icicles in the fireplace, walking to work because the snow-plow got stuck in a drift... that kind of thing.

Then one day a woman from New England told me that decision point for her family had come early one morning - after her dad went out to the street and spent two hours digging his car out of a drift.

When he finally finished he realized he'd actually dug out his neighbor's car by mistake. He stormed into the kitchen and vented

in the general direction of his wife. "Put the house on the market and get a newspaper from Florida," he instructed. "Tampa, Miami, Orlando; any city, I don't care. Let's look at want ads for work - because we're moving."

Got to love this sunshine. It's 35 degrees already (9:00 AM) and we're looking for a projected high temp of around 60. There will be people up on the green in another hour, playing golf.

This is Derek Maul reporting from Valrico, Florida, where just a hint of winter keeps us grounded and grateful.

(snow photo found on the internet - unattributed)