14 March 2025
It’s official! Fort Lauderdale gets the most rainfall of any place in the U.S. based on cities of 100,000 population or more. According to the New York Times, we get 68.77 inches per year. As a matter of fact, Florida gets the most inches of rainfall of any state with 4 cities in the top 10.
Normally, one would think of Portland or Seattle, particularly with a coastal rainforest in the area. Based on days of measurable precipitation, Syracuse, NY is tops with 172 days with precipitation and Seattle is only number 5 and Portland is number 9.
I suspect Fort Lauderdale’s rainfall is skewed by that one major flood we had on April 12, 2023 with 25.91 inches in a 24 hour period. It certainly caused me flood damage.
I overdid it again today. I haven’t raked leaves in a while and I ended up with three large piles that needed to go into the yard waste bin. I had to take three breaks for the leaves and another break for sweeping the pavement.
After that, I could sit down for the pool filter cleaning but then it was back up hosing down the patio and watering plants and then spraying for weeds.
It’s getting to the point that I’m tired of doing all this. I could get a pool service but I would still be skimming leaves off the pool, checking chemicals in between service, and cleaning out the pump basket and skimmer. I could also get someone to do weekly yard service but I would still need to pick up the occasional palm frond, clear the patio of leaves, etc.
I’m at the point that an independent living facility is looking better and better. To be honest, I’m just tired of handling the every day joys of being a home owner. I would say it’s laziness on my part but it really isn’t. I just don’t have the energy for it any more and I don’t particularly like doing the chores any more.
At 76, life is winding down and I don’t think I want to spend the remainder or my years doing mundane things. Of course, the housing market in South Florida is not very strong right now. I see houses in the neighborhood for sale and they’ve been for sale for quite a length of time. I would need to clear a pretty good sum on the sale of the house to give me the opportunity to go into independent living.
Anyhoo, I decided the answer to everything was to bake the New York Times recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I made the dough yesterday and you are to let it rest in the fridge for 24-48 hours. I figure a chocolate chip cookies cures a myriad of ills.
Stay tuned!