September 13, 2011--A Chill In the Air
As I write, it is 56 degrees outside as well as in the house. We do not have heat.
Though we are very happy here and resist even thinking about leaving, when the temperature gets to the low 30s--by the end of October/very early November--we begin to worry about the water pipes and what a domestic disaster it would be if they were to freeze and burst.
So thoughts begin to crop up about November in New York City and then winter in Delray Beach. In Florida where our seasonal governor, Rick Scott, and the legislature have been hard at work cutting unemployment benefits, firing policemen and teachers, refusing federal money for rail and other infrastructure projects, while imposing drug testing on welfare recipients. And, I almost forgot, changing the state's already "liberal" gun laws.
In a blow to local control--a conservative axiom--Scott got the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a law that does not allow local communities to retain any of their own gun ordinances. Like Miami which currently does not permit gun totters to take their weapons into libraries, hospitals, or airports. Or allow suburban communities to ban homeowners from setting up shooting ranges in their backyards. By October 1st, at the risk of hefty fines, Florida cities and municipalities have to follow the all-encompassing state law when it comes to guns and ammo.
And cities are hastening to do so. "No Guns Allowed" signs are coming down all across south Florida and in the university cities of Gainesville and Tallahassee
The New York Times reports that the rationale for eliminating local options is to reduce confusion when gun owners move about the state from, for example, rural areas such as Lake County (where currently almost anything goes when it comes to guns) to West Palm Beach where librarians after October 1st will be reluctant to shush anyone who might be locked and loaded. (Article linked below.)
So by the time we get to Delray, we'll have to get used to hearing gunfire on the other side of the Intracoasal. Or right next door, including, as in the Middle East, on New Year's Eve, when our neighbors will be allowed to fire their weapons in the air.
Though we are very happy here and resist even thinking about leaving, when the temperature gets to the low 30s--by the end of October/very early November--we begin to worry about the water pipes and what a domestic disaster it would be if they were to freeze and burst.
So thoughts begin to crop up about November in New York City and then winter in Delray Beach. In Florida where our seasonal governor, Rick Scott, and the legislature have been hard at work cutting unemployment benefits, firing policemen and teachers, refusing federal money for rail and other infrastructure projects, while imposing drug testing on welfare recipients. And, I almost forgot, changing the state's already "liberal" gun laws.
In a blow to local control--a conservative axiom--Scott got the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a law that does not allow local communities to retain any of their own gun ordinances. Like Miami which currently does not permit gun totters to take their weapons into libraries, hospitals, or airports. Or allow suburban communities to ban homeowners from setting up shooting ranges in their backyards. By October 1st, at the risk of hefty fines, Florida cities and municipalities have to follow the all-encompassing state law when it comes to guns and ammo.
And cities are hastening to do so. "No Guns Allowed" signs are coming down all across south Florida and in the university cities of Gainesville and Tallahassee
The New York Times reports that the rationale for eliminating local options is to reduce confusion when gun owners move about the state from, for example, rural areas such as Lake County (where currently almost anything goes when it comes to guns) to West Palm Beach where librarians after October 1st will be reluctant to shush anyone who might be locked and loaded. (Article linked below.)
So by the time we get to Delray, we'll have to get used to hearing gunfire on the other side of the Intracoasal. Or right next door, including, as in the Middle East, on New Year's Eve, when our neighbors will be allowed to fire their weapons in the air.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home