It began last Thursday evening. My wife and younger two children were making a trip to Florida to a religious convention, so they weren’t in Texas. I had picked up my oldest son from high school and we went to get emergency supplies in case the coming ice storm caused us to have a snow day. We got the essentials; gingerbread cookies, milk, hot chocolate mix, and crackers. You know, stuff you can’t live without during a winter storm. I really didn’t think we would miss school. I thought I would just be forced to drive through nasty weather on my commute the next day. How foolish can I be?
That night the icy rain covered everything in a quarter inch case of ice. Branches, leaves, and even one whole neighborhood tree came down, brought down by the weight of the ice. My car was plastered and rendered inoperable, a fact I didn’t discover until I tried to get out the next day. Before 8:00 both my school and my son’s school had canceled classes the next day. It was good that we had no school since I left my winter sense back in Iowa long ago and have no shovel to clear the sidewalk. Heck, I’m too weak nowadays to break through the ice coat anyway.
Our poor dog was unable to get out to go poo, and when I did take her out, not only did I slip and fall on my arthritic old knees, she found it too cold outside to actually go. Great! Swollen knees… more aches and pains… and doggy doo hidden somewhere around the house.
Saturday, I could take the cabin fever no longer. Driven by a need for caffeine (I forgot to buy any Diet Coke and I don’t drink coffee) we got out of the house and walked several blocks to Jack in the Box. Yes, we let that creepy clown do our cooking. I got a lot of writing and some drawing done. I slept poorly because of aching arthritic bones.
Sunday brought more falls while walking the danged dog, who still didn’t poo (at least not outside the house where she was supposed to do her duty). By noon the temperature had climbed to 32.9 degrees Fahrenheit. I tried the car, and no longer frozen solid, it started. We celebrated by going to Walmart and buying groceries, and we ate McDonald’s food, not because we like it, but because nothing else was close by and open.
So, I hilariously believe I have survived another Texas weather event that seriously tried to hurt sick old me. Of course, my son’s school is already canceled for tomorrow. Will I get another break too? Or do I have another 45-stoplight commute in the morning over ice, and laced with idiot white people driving GM death machines too fast in bad weather? We’ll have to see who laughs last.
Catch a Falling Star 