Third Snowfall of Winter

So, we had a winter storm earlier this week that was so much fun to watch blow in. It began Tuesday afternoon on Feb. 13th and settled in for good on Valentine's day. Most workplaces shut down on Tuesday afternoon, but I had a little presentation to give on Wednesday. Besdies, I walk to work. On Wednesday, I knew a number of co-workers wouldn't be there, but they would all be on the morning conference call, so I came in just in case I'd still need to put on my show. Turns out I didn't, but I did get to see what a nuclear winter might look like in a small town, minus the destruction and all. There were virtually no cars. In the main operations center, which runs around the clock, there were a few hearty souls, but other than that, the three buildings were empty. Even the cafeteria. I hadn't counted on that. I got a few little work things done, hung around long enough to hear that my presentation portion was postponed, hung around a little longer to get a few more little work things done and drink some of the coffee that I made, and decided that I was going to make the most of this free snow day off work. But not before sending a funny little email to my co-working friends about the irony of heading into work on a level iii emergency snow day to encounter none other than another hearty Texan first thing in the morning.

So I went back home to assess the work cut out for me for the day in daylight (it was still dark when I went in).

Here, you can see my lovely reindeer skin, rabbit-fur lined boots I picked up when on assignment in Norway. I Super Duper Love these boots.



Before even getting to the house, I approached via the back alleyway, through the back garage, to grab the snow shovel - thinking I'd clear a path from the garage to the back deck. My first few scoops told me this might take a while.

Then I looked up toward the back deck and groaned. And then thought, "thank God I don't live in Oswego, New York."

A handy self-shot. I know, in typical me-fashion, absoLUTEly nothing matches, but EVERYthing has a story. Hat: from a trip to go camping in Rocky Mountain National Park where my gear got diverted to Atlanta, and I could either mope about it, or buy new stuff and go camping anyway, which I ultimately did, and with enough nice whining, even pried a flight voucher out of Continental for the inconvenience. What you can't see are the gloves that came from that same trip. The balaclava thing that is rolled down for this photo: found on a trip to Orrestrand beach in Norway in winter. Headphones: New Zealand. Scarf: Singapore. I know, of all places, right? Well, they're the most wonderful quality wool.... Jacket: Norway. Glasses: Wal-mart, circa 1996, camping trip emergency. I was on a camping trip in the Texas hill country, had a little too much to drink a little too close to a campfire, and my glasses were somehow a casualty. Next morning, I drove an hour into town to find a super-Wal-Mart, showed them my charred glasses, from which they were able to clean a lens and take a reading. I had a new pair waiting for me at the end of that camping trip just in time for the drive back home. Front teeth: Houston, 2005. Originals were chipped out in Kansas in 1978 when playing with a friend but I was afraid that if I told my parents about this, they'd make me stop playing. Next morning, with a nerve danging from the stub where my whole tooth used to be, when I took a big swing of orange juice, I felt the presence of God via Raw Nerve. Emergency weekend dental visit and "temporary bonding" later, I had two new temporary front teeth that were supposed to last "a couple of years". 27 years later, I chipped them pretty badly on a bike accident on the Ho Chi Minh bike trail in Memorial Park in Houston. Decided to spring for a real veneer job, but that young dentist in 1978 did a great 'temporary' job. And here I thought I was all out of good stories........

Hope the snow (or lack of it) is just as you like it this winter......