When I was a kid, we definitely had winter. “Snow Days” occurred usually in January. It wasn’t a huge deal. Rarely, did we lose power, if ever. I’m not sure how this worked, but I can’t recall sitting in the dark freezing cold. Maybe we were just lucky through those times. It was not advisable to drive when the roads were icy, so mostly, we didn’t, but sometimes when we were going somewhere and we hit winter weather, well, we (Dad) just had to soldier on.
I remember once, going out to West Texas to my grandparents’ house for some holiday, probably Thanksgiving or Christmas, and we hit a snowstorm head on. It was night time. It was crazy scary, but being that Dad grew up in Oklahoma, he’d seen much worse. In these situations, it isn’t always us that is the issue, but usually “them” that do not have experience driving in snow or ice and do stupid driver tricks skidding out or doing donuts in the middle of the road, out of control.
Once we were going down to Houston for my grandmother’s birthday party and there was black ice on the freeway. Two cars in front of us collided, then parted just in time for us to shoot the gap, my Dad driving, just escaping a bad accident. We turned around and went home on the feeder road. It was scary for the passengers, that’s for sure.
Many times in other places I have lived, there have been snowy and icy roads that had to be traversed. Usually, we got through it, but not always was it pleasant, and usually, it was treacherous – but, we were very, very lucky most of the time.
Once again we have the onslaught of cold weather with a lot of people impacted by this. I am grateful we have, this time, been less impacted. As we know it could be worse, and it still could happen in the next couple of months. We’re not out of the woods yet.
“White Dog on Snow” – The 2021 Freezeageddon – we are missing this girl this year.
This holiday season started off as normally as it could. But then. The super-winter-weather-bomb cyclone event named Elliot (like a winter Hurricane) – the swooping down of the Arctic Vortex like this has caused havoc for millions of people this holiday:
That is where it is today – and let’s just say people in places along the yellow and above that are freezing their asses off or buried in snow today.
So, as you might expect, this is doing a big number on the US power-grid. Thanks to the tracking by the good folks at United States Power Outage Map – you can see for yourself at any given moment. Today’s winners are North Carolina, Tennessee, and Maine, with South Carolina and New York as runner-ups. Our famous Texas ERCOT grid, which promised full capacity is apparently still not there yet – oops. To be fair, part of Texas is actually in the MISO grid, but you would never hear the “dear gubner of Texas” say that out loud.
Today’s power outage winners – a high level view of who is in and who is out of power on the morning of Christmas Eve 2022. Yesterday it was awful as Elliot has moved eastward across the USA – leaving freezing cold temps and/or precipitation for some.
Current 10:47 AM look at where Santa has been already and where he and his sleigh are headed next…according to the Google Santa Tracker https://santatracker.google.com/
Again, Google’s Santa Tracker gives us the view of where Santa is at the given moment on Christmas Eve having already begun his journey over 24 hours ago… Looks like he is over Russia at this hour. We’re not going to explain why “Vladdie P” isn’t getting a visit. That’s just obvious. But all the good children will certainly have the magic of Christmas wherever possible. Let’s hope that Santa encounters no issues as he works his way west to complete his journey! He has lots of experience, so we would expect that he knows the ropes, despite the climate change woes.
For us here, it is small gatherings with family and friends. Colder than usual. No precipitation. Just riding the waves of memories of Christmases past and per my usual I hope for Peace on Earth and for people to get along better than they have been of late (and I’m talking about the whole wide world, not that I’m doing anything but feeding my hopes into some sort of pleading prayer stream…).
OK, I was excited about something, but not sure what Dad was thinking!
I am moved to write when I get to this time of year. Lots of the flowing memories and anxieties that come with the celebration of what this is all about.
Sweet Jesus
I am thankful for the gifts of the people in my life. For those who have left us, I am grateful that at least I had them in my life for the period of time that was meant to be a part of my role in this ongoing theater of life on Planet Earth. I am missing my people who are not here. Every year I miss them all the time. Guess this is just part of living…
So, it’s been building. That overwhelmed feeling that comes in around Thanksgiving and builds until after New Year’s Day.
Can I do what I need to do in time? What am I forgetting? Things cost too much. Can I make people happy or happier? What? When? How? Oh shit. Then the occasional panic attack, the deep breathing, the thought that at least I’m not trying to bake cookies for everyone (circa the 1970’s – 1980’s). Maybe I should host a cookie bake party. We could drink adult beverages and… Or then, that might be too much, too.
Then there were the days when I felt compelled to write Christmas greetings individually on each card that I sent. And I am verbose in my writing…so, this made me exhausted. I was going to night school, and really trying to be and do everything… I think. After work, I went to class. On the weekends, I studied. Then there was some amount of “free” time which seems ludicrous to me now. The expectation that I thought was there, might have been in my head. I don’t know.
And of course came hosting the holiday meals. I took this plunge one year, when I didn’t know I was expecting, but somehow the smell of collard greens cooking knocked me back! And I love collard greens! Yep, it wasn’t long before other things happened and I made an appointment at my doctor’s office, and you guessed it. A September baby was coming!
But, here I am forty and decades later plus a couple of years. No babies to expect (of my own). Only the drive to have a happy holiday with family, friends, and pray for Peace during these times of turmoil that seems to be everywhere.
The prayers are endless. Pray for the impact of the pandemic to lessen. Pray for a better economic situation for everyone in the world. Pray for those who are alone. Pray for those who are sick and in need of help. Pray for the homeless and those suffering difficulties due to mental health issues… And especially for the people in Ukraine who were needlessly and cruelly attacked.
In answer to the hysteria of the holidaze around here… I can do things to mitigate the stress. I
Just a little green thing
Then maybe, I could just go out and take a run or jump in the pool (yes, it’s still warm outside in December it’s been in the 80’s F for a couple of weeks…).
Welcome to climate change. A curse of humankind, but potentially it’s what happens in end times if someone in the distant past seeded this planet and set this in motion. It could be significant that there are multiple rule books that have been written – multiple versions that have a disparate appeal, depending…
Antiquities from the grands and great-grands
But, then, it’s the holidays. We should be having a good time.
So, why all this stress during the holidays? Lots of theories out there…
I get told that I shouldn’t decorate so much. But it does help me to remember happy times with people who aren’t here anymore. Yes, it makes me sad, but then it makes me think about how much love there was and how they were, when they were here. Some of the decorations are really old – antiques by now, seriously. I do treasure them, because I treasure the people whose these were. The historical significance of these is immeasurable.
Just born so many years ago
Going out to stores to shop is crazy these days. Anything from the angry men driving the two story trucks, to the impatient women all dressed up in hot fashion just to go to the grocery store…
It’s a statement. It requires an escalator to get into it. Behind me in traffic, honking, I think, “Gee, I hope they don’t shoot me!”
I just get in the mode of, WTF? Can you people just relax, already? Then, I say to myself, “look who’s talking…” Eye roll. Get a grip! I guess it just depends on the person and the stress that they suffer, and how they decide to manage it.
Me, I don’t think people should need to look intimidating. It just puts people off. I sometimes think I should experiment and say to the driver, if I got the chance, “Do you need a hug?” But, I don’t. I suppress my impulses to do something that could land me in a lot of trouble. People here are not very friendly. It’s a real mixed crowd. As long as the goats stay away from the cows, everything is fine for them, if you get my drift. Color outside the lines and they’ll be trouble.
So, as I go about my business, I will keep trying to enjoy the next two weeks as best as I can and remember my family and friends even if it is in the tiniest of ways and gestures – of kind words, and do my part in trying to take the pressure off. I definitely need to practice at this. Learn something new every day!
Leading up to the crescendo of Christmas and the Twelve Days thereof, what I always like to say at some point is:
Wishing You and Yours, Peace on Earth, and Goodwill towards Humankind!
