Frozen Sunshine - February

Citrus is a winter-time treat in Iowa.

No, I think you just interpreted that wrong.  I am NOT implying that Iowa grows citrus.  What I am saying is that we do NOT grow citrus and it is typically pretty cold during the month of February in my home state.  And that is why citrus is a winter-time treat.

Driving in states like Florida or California, you can see evidence of an abundance of various citrus treats.  If you live in such a place, it would be tempting to feel that there is no reason to believe that a ripe orange that is ready to eat is terribly special.  But, in Iowa, it is not so common and we do appreciate the drops of sunshine that come in the form of a tasty food.

I remember that we would occasionally get a bag of oranges in our house and Dad would do the honor of peeling them.  His four kids would open their mouths like baby birds, asking for the next juicy slice and he would toss them to each, depending a bit on their ability to catch what was offered.

Tammy and I are now fortunate to have relatives in Florida that will send us a box of oranges every so often.  But, we are sometimes not so fortunate if the delivery company does not remember that we live in Iowa - and the temperatures do not stay above freezing here during the month of February.  

It turns out that you can't peel an orange successfully when it has an internal temperature of 27 degrees Fahrenheit.  In fact, it is pretty hard to put the probe of a thermometer into an orange when it is that cold.

Just a bit of frozen sunshine, I guess.

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What's going on here?  For those who do realize that this post is coming out in December, you might be a bit confused.  Well, I am taking photos that were taken during each month during the past year and doing a little bit of writing about each.  This was a picture that we took in Febuary 2021 - and yes, we did our best to make some orange juice out of the frozen fruit before they all went bad on us.