A week ahead to warm you up, plus Ernie

The early November chill came this week. Those arriving here seemed happy about it, as it was colder every place else in America. Florida retailers always like the cold too; it is hard to get customers in the spirit of Christmas shopping when it is hot outside. In the old Florida days, when lots of people had orange groves, Florida’s grove owners also liked a cool night without a freeze; it was said that it made sweet citrus better.

In the chill, bugs also disappear, and we can make jokes about iguanas. The reptiles head to the warm pavement, so slow down. This editor found a tiny worm snake squirreling on the Park Avenue sidewalk at Gasparilla Adventures. After trying to catch it to put it back in Sam Murphy Park, thinking it an earthworm, it slipped away, too fast in the sand. Looking it up after the herpetology exercise, it was not the native thunder worm or graveyard worm, Rhineura floridana (they are white), but probably the non-native Brahminy blindsnake, or Ramphotyphlops braminus.

Sunday, on the way to church, Gasparilla Inn staff were escorting and protecting a gopher tortoise who had made his way onto Gilchrist. They were worried that cars might hit it. A reminder: the gopher is a keystone species, as its burrows provide shelter for hundreds of other species. If you have open land on the island or Cape Haze, make sure it isn’t all paved.

The water gets cold too, so this is the time to watch out for migrating manatees. Slow down.

This weekend will begin a series of mild nights and sunny days, with highs in the 70s. The chill this week had both Charlotte and Lee counties beginning their cold-weather outreach teams, which help when the weather gets below 40 or 45 degrees. In Lee County, they are called HOT teams (for Housing, Outreach and Treatment) and they give out supplies. There are also a series of “Warming Buses” and places you can go, called “Resiliency Hubs.”

This week, the blue food barrels will come out from Lighthouse United Methodist Church, with locations in town. There are also a number of other drives for food, including dog food for the Suncoast Humane Society. See Ballyhoo for details. 

All of the local charities need help.

While the cold was new for the year, the Publix firewood has been out for a bit. They are $8.99. If you look at the package, the hardwood comes from Newberry, near Gainesville, from a company called Southern Fuelwood. The company takes their sustainable energy production seriously, calling it “made from the finest Southern hardwoods available for our discerning customers.” On Reddit, Kroger fans dismiss the Publix wood as “kindling,” so it’s a healthy rivalry.

Southern Fuelwood would seem to be a satisfying setting for an upcoming Christmas Hallmark movie. Their website reads:

“We are not a reseller of someone else’s products, and we do not produce our products from diseased wood from tree surgeons. We are not in that business, as some of our firewood competitors are, and you can be assured that all Southern Fuelwood products are from carefully selected healthy trees.”

By the way, if you need lots of coals for stockings for Christmas, Southern Fuelwood also sells Reading anthracite hard coal. It is advertised as “Mother Nature’s clean coal.” You won’t find it at Publix, but it’s nice to know it is still possible to get a bag of coal, and Tractor Supply can get you some.

If you have a fireplace, there are a few local firewood vendors, and those who do sell it from tree and yard work. If you use a lot, it runs from $100 for a face cord to $300 for a full cord, if you have a pickup truck and can get it. How satisfying is it to check the price of a cord of wood? Pity there are fewer and fewer fireplaces.

There are local guys who can deliver you a cord as well; some vendors even sell the cut up nuisance tree the Australian pine, which is apparently one of the best-burning woods around. And it is not actually pine, so it burns without much sap or smoke.

In thinking about the cool temps, it was interesting to see a group in the Gasparilla Inn lobby Wednesday night, the women with matching plaid blankets. A cozy scene, and proof that we all are happier when together.

On a separate note, and this editor is not sure why this is meaningful, but Ernie, the screwy younger brother with glasses on the old TV show “My Three Sons,” posts regularly on social media. He looks well, is still acting and is now identified as a digital creator. Fans use the term M3S, BTW. Someone out there does need to know this fact. And he does wear glasses, though he has switched to wire frames.

And on yet another separate note, Micky Dolenz of “The Monkees” is setting up for a 2026 tour entitled “60 Years of The Monkees.”

Enjoy the cool mornings.

Garland Pollard is editor of the Boca Beacon. Email your letters to editor@bocabeacon.com.