No long life altering post today. It's just way too cold for that. The winter has been rough (on almost everyone, from what I understand) and I think it's really starting to get to me.
As much as I love the snow, I'm tired of the isolation. When I do leave the house, it's somewhat with my life (and limbs) in my hands. I've had to prioritize when I would go out, and that's really put a dent in my usual (if rare) activities. This means I've missed therapy for two weeks in a row and tomorrow will miss seeing my best friend.
This is wearing on me. I am a triple Earth and I need my patterns to be followed. I've spent so much time trying to establish some order to my chaos. I need that order, however marginal it is, to help me hold myself together.
As I said, a rough winter. There was this kind of dark banality to December that wandered into a rather robotic holiday season. Now everything is still and stagnating under this blanket of snow. I need my routine back.
I'll write more tomorrow.
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Snark on Ice
I have a long history of falling down. My mother almost named me Grace Elizabeth, which would have been the ironies of ironies as I am as clumsy as any human can be. And I don't mean in that Bella-Swan-MarySue-Out-of-Sequence kind of way. I mean, real fall on your ass clumsy.
The night of my junior prom, I was doing some level of giggle and tickle with the boy I adored and somehow managed to fall and break my leg. And this was after I was already out of high heels and the dress. I spent the remaining days of my junior year hobbling around in a cast.
When I was in college, one of my friend's lived in a house that existed at the bottom of an incline. When it would rain, the sidewalk leading to the house would be covered in mud, sludge, and slime. On the day I found out my GRE score, I went over to said friend's house to happily report my success. I was so elated with my intelligence (okay, let's face it, my LUCK in getting questions I knew) that I discounted the slimy hellpit that was the sidewalk and slipped headfirst into the quagmire of nastiness.
So as you can imagine, it is always with much trepidation that I venture out into ice covered streets. Honestly, I'd planned not to do this at all, content to just sit in the house and ride out the slick. But my roommate had an emergency dental issue, so I rode with him. I thought it was the least I could do. Yes, as usual, the least I can do is......sit.
Of course, the ride was deeply scary. We fishtailed a couple of times. He described me as "white-knuckled and silent" during the trip. I wasn't exactly silent. I seem to remember a lot of unintelligible wailing, but it may have been too high pitched for my roommate to hear. I saw a lot of dogs staring at the van though.
We stopped midway to FS and he decided it would try and calm me down with chocolate and coffee. While well-intentioned, the coffee became more of a burden than a blessing. It was too hot to drink and so I just kept it in my hands, trying to make sure I didn't spill it on myself as we skitted along.
However, in the end, the coffee did turn into a blessing. When we got to the denist office, I needed to use the restroom. All the jostling and fear, I guess. My roommate got out and informed me the parking area by my feet was covered in ice.
I opened the door and footed around, finding nothing secure. I knew if I could just find a non-icy-evil-threateny place to step, I'd be okay. Hopefully. I just didn't know how to accomplish that.
Until I remembered the coffee.....
I took the cup and poured it all out, letting the blistering hellish temp of it melt the ice around me. I smiled just a little as I stepped out . . .then I almost slipped. . .but I grabbed myself and made it in just fine.
Honestly, me on ice should be its own reality show. Or its own warning tale. Either way, at least I'm home and safe . . .until tomorrow when we have to go and pay bills.
The night of my junior prom, I was doing some level of giggle and tickle with the boy I adored and somehow managed to fall and break my leg. And this was after I was already out of high heels and the dress. I spent the remaining days of my junior year hobbling around in a cast.
When I was in college, one of my friend's lived in a house that existed at the bottom of an incline. When it would rain, the sidewalk leading to the house would be covered in mud, sludge, and slime. On the day I found out my GRE score, I went over to said friend's house to happily report my success. I was so elated with my intelligence (okay, let's face it, my LUCK in getting questions I knew) that I discounted the slimy hellpit that was the sidewalk and slipped headfirst into the quagmire of nastiness.
So as you can imagine, it is always with much trepidation that I venture out into ice covered streets. Honestly, I'd planned not to do this at all, content to just sit in the house and ride out the slick. But my roommate had an emergency dental issue, so I rode with him. I thought it was the least I could do. Yes, as usual, the least I can do is......sit.
Of course, the ride was deeply scary. We fishtailed a couple of times. He described me as "white-knuckled and silent" during the trip. I wasn't exactly silent. I seem to remember a lot of unintelligible wailing, but it may have been too high pitched for my roommate to hear. I saw a lot of dogs staring at the van though.
We stopped midway to FS and he decided it would try and calm me down with chocolate and coffee. While well-intentioned, the coffee became more of a burden than a blessing. It was too hot to drink and so I just kept it in my hands, trying to make sure I didn't spill it on myself as we skitted along.
However, in the end, the coffee did turn into a blessing. When we got to the denist office, I needed to use the restroom. All the jostling and fear, I guess. My roommate got out and informed me the parking area by my feet was covered in ice.
I opened the door and footed around, finding nothing secure. I knew if I could just find a non-icy-evil-threateny place to step, I'd be okay. Hopefully. I just didn't know how to accomplish that.
Until I remembered the coffee.....
I took the cup and poured it all out, letting the blistering hellish temp of it melt the ice around me. I smiled just a little as I stepped out . . .then I almost slipped. . .but I grabbed myself and made it in just fine.
Honestly, me on ice should be its own reality show. Or its own warning tale. Either way, at least I'm home and safe . . .until tomorrow when we have to go and pay bills.
Monday, January 31, 2011
The Great Ice War
An ice storm is moving into the area, or at least the area around my area. People don't handle such frosty weather so well around here, so there is always a little (to a lot) of panic.
The stores were filled to capacity today with people trying to buy everything they may need to survive the ice. My guess is this mostly consists of toilet paper and beer, beating out chips, soda, and bullets by a small hair. This is close to the list of things people need during zombie movies too. On that note, there really REALLY needs to be a zombie/ice storm combo movie, just for the simple pleasure of watching zombies slip and fall on the ice.
Ice storms are a real, if infrequent, weather hell in this area. The last one was two years ago and a lot of people around here lost power. We didn't, thankfully. At the time, we were living in the world's most questionable trailer and relied on electric for our heating. I'm honestly not sure how we would have handled things if we'd lost power. Even on the days when the heater was working well, the place was still freezing.
The ice storm that I will always remember most happened back in the early 2000s around Christmas. It was deeply horrible for a lot of reasons. For one thing, the power DID go out almost every where. Thick sheets of ice froze onto the tree limbs, power lines snapped, in a lot of places, there wasn't even water. People who worked on electrical lines came from all over the country to help with the patch job. It was a mess.
When the snow started, I'd been at a friend's house celebrating Christmas. It got bad quickly and I knew I needed to stay and wait it out. I really didn't understand I'd be there for days. Because of this, I was not a physical witness to the great war that was to take place.
My mother lived about 12 miles out of town in a small rural community, small enough that while they have city water.....which they've only had for about ten years or so....they have no stores or gas stations. The nearest convenience store is about five miles away and only where it is because of a thriving recreational lake. Really, my mom's area consists of a church, old and/or crazy people, and graveyards.
Mom and her husband managed to get one of their old vehicles to work well enough to drive into town. The trip involved getting over to rather nasty hills and various roads that tend to wind this way and that. Somehow, they got here, to the relative safety and comfort of my grandmother's old rock house. Gran's house, while minus power, did have gas stoves, so it was at least warm.
Yes, the gas was still working and so were the telephones, so moments after the Great Ice War, I was getting to hear about it. I remember sitting in my friend's living room and being handed his phone, informed it was my grandmother.
Me: Hello?
Gran: Your mother was here to stay with me and I kicked her out because SHE told ME to shut up!
Me: .................oh.
About this time, the beep that I have another call is happening, so I tell Gran to hold on while I answer it.
Me: Hello?
Mom: We went to stay with Mother and she would NOT stop running her mouth it was just going on and on and when I suggested to her that maybe she could stop talking for a few minutes SHE KICKED US OUT OF THE HOUSE.
Me: ..............oh.
I don't even remember how I got them both off of the phone. I know it was somewhat involved. Once they start ranting about each other, it's difficult to pull away from the discussion. As always, I was in SHUT DOWN mode, saying as little as possible and making noncommittal statements as to not be drawn into the war.
Of course, inside I was livid. I mean, there was a sheet of ice covering everything. How could they not manage to be civil (or at least manage to blow each other off) long enough to stay warm and safe until the sheet of ice was gone?
The reality was, they needed each other. Mom needed Gran because she had heat and shelter. Gran needed Mom because it was scary and depressing to be stranded by ice and alone. Somehow, this escaped them. I don't remember where Mom and her husband ended up staying, but I do know that my grandmother's hot water heater had some sort of melt down and she had to deal with ALONE because they couldn't manage to get along for two or three days.
There were so many places where this could have been resolved. No one likes being told to shut up, especially in their own home. At the same time, no one likes listening to someone talk constantly either. Still, Mom could have realized that Gran had been stranded for hours and just needed some human contact. Gran could have realized that Mom just went through the harrowing experience of traveling to her house. There could have been some kindness and sympathy on both of their parts. Some real communication.
I can't say that my way was any better. While at times I would try to make peace of their wars, most often I just hid away, either physically or emotionally, from where ever the bombs were being dropped. I didn't want to be involved.
I guess if there is anything to take away from The Great Ice War, it's that when dealing with people who get the hell on our nerves, we should always try to be objective and realize that maybe their crazy isn't about us and that also, maybe a little crazy is worth it in order to get through the current situation.
That isn't to say you should let the annoying people win. Just that sometimes, we all need shelter and someone beside us. Sometimes the crazies are all we have.
The stores were filled to capacity today with people trying to buy everything they may need to survive the ice. My guess is this mostly consists of toilet paper and beer, beating out chips, soda, and bullets by a small hair. This is close to the list of things people need during zombie movies too. On that note, there really REALLY needs to be a zombie/ice storm combo movie, just for the simple pleasure of watching zombies slip and fall on the ice.
Ice storms are a real, if infrequent, weather hell in this area. The last one was two years ago and a lot of people around here lost power. We didn't, thankfully. At the time, we were living in the world's most questionable trailer and relied on electric for our heating. I'm honestly not sure how we would have handled things if we'd lost power. Even on the days when the heater was working well, the place was still freezing.
The ice storm that I will always remember most happened back in the early 2000s around Christmas. It was deeply horrible for a lot of reasons. For one thing, the power DID go out almost every where. Thick sheets of ice froze onto the tree limbs, power lines snapped, in a lot of places, there wasn't even water. People who worked on electrical lines came from all over the country to help with the patch job. It was a mess.
When the snow started, I'd been at a friend's house celebrating Christmas. It got bad quickly and I knew I needed to stay and wait it out. I really didn't understand I'd be there for days. Because of this, I was not a physical witness to the great war that was to take place.
My mother lived about 12 miles out of town in a small rural community, small enough that while they have city water.....which they've only had for about ten years or so....they have no stores or gas stations. The nearest convenience store is about five miles away and only where it is because of a thriving recreational lake. Really, my mom's area consists of a church, old and/or crazy people, and graveyards.
Mom and her husband managed to get one of their old vehicles to work well enough to drive into town. The trip involved getting over to rather nasty hills and various roads that tend to wind this way and that. Somehow, they got here, to the relative safety and comfort of my grandmother's old rock house. Gran's house, while minus power, did have gas stoves, so it was at least warm.
Yes, the gas was still working and so were the telephones, so moments after the Great Ice War, I was getting to hear about it. I remember sitting in my friend's living room and being handed his phone, informed it was my grandmother.
Me: Hello?
Gran: Your mother was here to stay with me and I kicked her out because SHE told ME to shut up!
Me: .................oh.
About this time, the beep that I have another call is happening, so I tell Gran to hold on while I answer it.
Me: Hello?
Mom: We went to stay with Mother and she would NOT stop running her mouth it was just going on and on and when I suggested to her that maybe she could stop talking for a few minutes SHE KICKED US OUT OF THE HOUSE.
Me: ..............oh.
I don't even remember how I got them both off of the phone. I know it was somewhat involved. Once they start ranting about each other, it's difficult to pull away from the discussion. As always, I was in SHUT DOWN mode, saying as little as possible and making noncommittal statements as to not be drawn into the war.
Of course, inside I was livid. I mean, there was a sheet of ice covering everything. How could they not manage to be civil (or at least manage to blow each other off) long enough to stay warm and safe until the sheet of ice was gone?
The reality was, they needed each other. Mom needed Gran because she had heat and shelter. Gran needed Mom because it was scary and depressing to be stranded by ice and alone. Somehow, this escaped them. I don't remember where Mom and her husband ended up staying, but I do know that my grandmother's hot water heater had some sort of melt down and she had to deal with ALONE because they couldn't manage to get along for two or three days.
There were so many places where this could have been resolved. No one likes being told to shut up, especially in their own home. At the same time, no one likes listening to someone talk constantly either. Still, Mom could have realized that Gran had been stranded for hours and just needed some human contact. Gran could have realized that Mom just went through the harrowing experience of traveling to her house. There could have been some kindness and sympathy on both of their parts. Some real communication.
I can't say that my way was any better. While at times I would try to make peace of their wars, most often I just hid away, either physically or emotionally, from where ever the bombs were being dropped. I didn't want to be involved.
I guess if there is anything to take away from The Great Ice War, it's that when dealing with people who get the hell on our nerves, we should always try to be objective and realize that maybe their crazy isn't about us and that also, maybe a little crazy is worth it in order to get through the current situation.
That isn't to say you should let the annoying people win. Just that sometimes, we all need shelter and someone beside us. Sometimes the crazies are all we have.
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