The Friday Five hope you are all safe, warm (but not too warm), and comfortable...

[magnetic_pole]

Thinking of those facing down Florence and Mangkhut tonight.

1. Have you ever experienced a hurricane firsthand? No, luckily.

2. Have you ever experienced outside heat over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celcius)? Often when I was young; I grew up on the edge of the high desert. But 100F / 38C and dry is ten times better than 80F / 27C and muggy. My worst moment was just arriving in Hong Kong, passing out for a moment in the heat, and falling at the end of an escalator. I was a sweaty, dizzy mess with a skinned knee and a sprained ankle. Not my best moment.

3. When and where was the coldest temperature you have ever experienced? Objectively? Probably in January in northern New England, where the temperatures sometimes fell to close to 0F / -17C. Subjectively: the weekend I found myself in St. Andrews, Scotland, in mid March with insufficient clothing and/or backbone. I actually had to turn around and get back on the train and head to London, I was that miserable and unprepared. (These were the days before this California girl had discovered wool. That was a bit of a revelation.)

4. Is your household prepared for a possible power outage of two to seven days? No.

5. Do you have a go bag? No. Hm. I'm starting to think there may be a lesson here.

Textbox below (you can link back to thefridayfive), or just stop by and leave a comment: When and where were you your hottest and coldest, flist?

<b>1. Have you ever experienced a hurricane firsthand?</b><b>2. Have you ever experienced outside heat over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celcius)?</b> <b>3. When and where was the coldest temperature you have ever experienced?</b> <b>4. Is your household prepared for a possible power outage of two to seven days?</b> <b>5. Do you have a go bag?</b>

***

And on a completely different and much happier note: a very happy birthday to the incorrigible lash_larue! I spotted this months ago and thought of you....





Hope you've all had a great week, flist!

Comments

[out_there]

Hottest, would probably be Dubai with a very dry 44C day, while we had a tour around the market. Surprisingly, due to the combination of fantastic airconditioning everywhere you go (you step in and feel the chill, as opposed to Italy, which says it has airconditioning but that just means it's not quite as hot as outside) and shade and dry air, it didn't feel that hot. Felt like 33C - 35C, so hot but not hideous.

Usually we get a few hot days here over summer, but hitting 40C-42C is a rarity and doesn't even happen every summer.

Coldest... hmmm. Under 16 y.o., I grew up in Canberra. It's the nation's capital, but it's also in a valley and near the Snowy Mountains (which, true to their name, are cold and snowy). Overnight cold once hit -8C -- and the nature of those days is that it stays pretty cold in the morning, but will get up to 13C and sunny for a few hours at midday -- but my memories of winter are occasionally hiding my head under the covers in the middle of the night (cold nose) and wrapping up with scarves / beanies / gloves, trying to hide skin from the freezing air while waiting for the school bus.

Given that I get asthma from the cold -- which I don't ski or do any holidays that involve cold -- there's no way I'd ever consider moving back there.

[lash_larue]

Thanks, Maggie! That kitty looks like one of our dearly departed friends.

Hottest? Here at random times over the last few years. Around 105F and downright swamplike humidity.

Coldest was an island in New England back in the early 80's, going out early to tend to the animals and break the ice out of their watering places. -15f to 20f and 35+ mph wind. The bay froze over and only icebreakers could navigate. That was cold.

L

[ayebydan]

Minus 17C was temp in my town in our coldest winter in 2010/11. You know..by the time you are that point I don't think it registers how cold you are? It just like COLD AS BALLS AHA GET TO WHERE I AM GOING FAST PLEASE.

Hottest was 43C in Seville one year. I thought I had been hottest in Barcelona with 41 and swore never again. Yeah well 6 years later Spain got a heatwave while we were on a daytrip. Fun.

[jesse_the_k]

The cat package is excellent (and I'm a dog person).

I've become someone who is happiest indoors. I'm sad about that, and it may not be sustainable.

[minervas_eule]

NC did get a hurrican, while we lived there, but we were in the middle of the state and not at the coast.

Sevilla 2 years ago was the hottest, I experienced (43°C) - I fled to Cadiz at the coast for some sea-breeze to make it bearable to be outside, because I did not want to spend my vacation in the apartment or the pool....

The coldest I made do with was while skiing in the Alps in January (never did that again) - I hate it when my fingers almost freeze off in the mittens and my cheeks under the scarf...

[secretsolitaire]

Kitty! *pets*

I visited St. Andrews in January, if I recall correctly, and Jesus, was that wind frigid. Cut right through every layer.

Your Hong Kong anecdote sounds like a pretty bad start to a trip!

[lash_larue]

Oops. I missed a couple.

Hurricane - Three that I was actually in the path of. For two of them, I was on The Outer Banks in NC. This was long ago and they were minor. We actually sat out on top of the dunes to watch. It was spectacular. There was a pretty big one when we were on that island up north. That one had me worried because they were predicting torrential rains and a huge storm surge. We put plywood over the most vulnerable windows and taped "X's" on the others, and sevured the boats as best we could.

The rain never appeared, nor did the surge. The winds passed 100 mph on occasion, though. My brother and I went down to the dock to check on the boats during the less violent times, and wound up lying on the foredeck of the big one just watching the storm. It was bouncy, but the way the wind whipped foam from the waves and the clouds raced across the sky was riveting and beautiful beyond description. Mother Nature's violent artistry at its finest.

The lack of rain and surge spared the boats and buildings severe damage, but without the rain, the salt spray in the wind killed almost every leaf on every tree.

Go bag - Not as such. How we are situated makes an emergency evacuation very unlikely, and we couldn't abandon the cats in any event. There is equipment ready to hand for most serious situations likely to arise. Frankly, I'm just too old and beat up to run from much of anything, :)

L

[semielliptical]

Actually passing out in the heat - yikes! That is scary.

I don't have a go bag either. But the natural disasters around here are not the kinds one would usually evacuate for (tornadoes, snow storms).

[kelly_chambliss]

As someone who is really laid low by heat, I sympathize with your Hong Kong story! Ouch. How did you manage with a sprained ankle in a foreign country?

[therealsnape]

I'm so relieved to hear you weren't in Florence's direct path. Over here, you hear East Coast and Boston, and we were both worried.

The Hong Kong experience sounds awful, poor you. I'm glad I live in a very moderate climate.