Rolling Up the Sidewalks

Inspirational song: More Bad Weather on the Way (Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers)

I admit to a little nihilistic excitement about the ice storm, as it was getting spun up. I do that frequently with storms. Even knowing it could be my house, my Park affected, I do cheer for the weather as the big stuff rolls in. I always get a thrill when they upgrade the hurricanes or increase the depth of predicted snow. I like to brag when we get record setting wind (even though you will never catch me out in it voluntarily). For all I was concerned about losing my trees, I really wanted to see a ton of ice. I went to bed wondering what would happen by dawn. The dogs woke me a little past first light, around 8. We went down and all ran outside, they to pee and I to see the effects of the storm. I think we were all disappointed by the conditions. They didn't dig the crunchy ground, and I was sad that there was no snow on top of the very thin sheet of ice. I left them to do their thing, and went for pictures out front, and was rewarded with the first two or three giant, fluffy flakes to fall. I stayed out in the soft wet snowfall for a while, until my thin t-shirt and sweatpants ceased being enough to keep me warm. I watched it snow for another fifteen or twenty minutes, and then it was over. The tail end of the storm was gone. The air was barely cold enough to compensate for the warmth of the ground. I walked around the entire grounds, listening to the trees crackle and sing, taking dozens of pictures.

I let all the cats have a couple chances to freeze their paws, but oddly, no one seemed to want to go very far into the wilds. The calico didn't last a full fifteen seconds before she scurried back inside, and the two black and white units filed in behind her in short order. Athena had to be lobbed over the threshold, and I had to be fast to catch her in a photograph before she ran back. But of course the old man was as bold and intrepid as a senile old cat can be. He had to be retrieved twice.

The entire town was shut down for two days for this storm. My friends in Colorado got a good chuckle over it, but I am glad they closed everything, including the giant bridges, in all the ice. For all I love a good storm, I hate hearing stories of traffic fatalities. By the time I walked across the street to share a little wine and all the news with my neighbors, the road was completely dry. I hope this means that by tomorrow, my roofing project will be green lit. And I also hope that my reports from the Georgia wing of my family improve. My stepmother apparently couldn't make it all the way home in her car, and had to walk the last portion of her commute. I can't imagine that was an easy hike, in her neighborhood with big rolling hills and no sidewalks.