As frosty as it gets.

When I got back to Miami, a week and a bit ago, it was cold. And not cold in a typical South Florida oh-low-teens-break-out-the-woollens way; cold in a near-freezing, good-grief-why-did-I-come-back-here way. It was the coldest cold snap here in 30-odd years, and a big enough event to still be the talking point a week later in my regular focus group of retired white women (it turns out that botanical gardens tend to draw their volunteers from a quite well-defined social group).

The funniest thing about genuine cold here is how utterly unprepared for it everything is. The mercury heading towards 0 (or 32, as it is here) triggers crisis and panic in the same way that an inch of snow brings the South of England to a grinding halt. Many buildings have absolutely no heating. Air con, of course, but no heating. The philosophy department was as cold as the air outside; people were wearing three jumpers and a coat at their desks. Since nobody has the right clothes, Michelin-man outfits become briefly the hot style -- layer upon layer of whatever can be fitted on top of what's underneath.

People get by, anyway, but the plants and animals don't so well. The nursery at Fairchild has lost a lot of plants. My back garden was littered with lizards that had frozen to death. And there are many stories involving iguanas hibernating in trees and falling out on to people's heads, or trying to take refuge in heated pools and getting sick from chlorine.

A week later, and things are back to normal. Today, it got up to 27 degrees C. The lizards still left are basking and scurrying, and the iguanas are as active as they ever are. Two days ago, I saw a group of manatees in the river on the way back from school. I was so excited I nearly fell off my bike and into the river myself. They look far more graceful and natural in the flabby flesh than they ever do in photos; movement suits them.

So far as my work goes, things change this semester. No more coursework and essays. Instead, I'm reading for a qualifying exam that will determine whether I get to go on and write a thesis. The exam is in early May, and I have a reading list that works out at two books a week till then. Big, dense works of philosophy. I'm not panicking yet, but give me time.

Finally, apologies for the long hiatus between posts. I had somehow got the idea that nobody much was reading this any more, but over Christmas, several people -- some of whom aren't even related to me -- asked me what had happened to the thing. So, back once again, and hopefully more assiduous about it this semester. If I don't drown in reading.