OT - Attacked by sleet, mud

I waited for a break in the storm to dash to the post office, normally a
ten-minute walk but today it took almost twice that long due to ice. Got
there just in time to send off a package and chat with a lady behind me in
line, who said she was going my way and offered me a ride home. I declined
the offer because I needed to stop at a grocery store on the way back and
didn't want to make her wait.

Leaving post office area, with the first step out of their parking lot, my
right foot was sucked into a very deep pool of sticky mud, like quicksand.
It almost pulled off my boot and left my slacks muddy up to the knee.

Now hurrying as the wind picked up and the sleet began to sting... only to
find the grocery had closed two hours early today. With six blocks to go,
the wind was getting faster, the sleet growing thicker, the sky growing
dark. Flying ice gives a nice scalp massage, and now my ears are blazing
hot!

Pat wrote:
Now hurrying as the wind picked up and the sleet began to sting...
only to find the grocery had closed two hours early today. With six
blocks to go, the wind was getting faster, the sleet growing thicker,
the sky growing dark. Flying ice gives a nice scalp massage, and now
my ears are blazing hot!

Yikes! Purrs, Pat! Yes, the winter storm I am expecting tonight has hit
Kansas, Missouri and as close as Jonesboro, Arkansas. It's still fairly
warm here but the meteorologists are saying just wait a couple of hours,
it's on its way. Cold temps then sleet and freezing rain. Good thing I
stocked up the pantry (and hey, -L, I don't have food stamps yet!!). I
brought in firewood two days ago to dry out from drizzling rain, just in
case there is a loss of electricity. I'm not really expecting that but you
never know.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote

brought in firewood two days ago to dry out from drizzling rain, just in
case there is a loss of electricity. I'm not really expecting that but
you
never know.

It shouldn't happen unless your electric lines are above ground. Ours are,
and so are the phone lines, so if I don't reply to someone it's probably coz
a branch got too heavy and pulled the phone line down.

Pat wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote

brought in firewood two days ago to dry out from drizzling rain,
just in case there is a loss of electricity. I'm not really
expecting that but you
never know.

It shouldn't happen unless your electric lines are above ground. Ours
are, and so are the phone lines, so if I don't reply to someone it's
probably coz a branch got too heavy and pulled the phone line down.

Some of the lines out here are still above ground. I'm not in the city.
And my apartment is surrounded by tall pine trees with lots of loose
branches. The apartment manager does her best to have guys cut the
over-hanging branches every year but trees are trees: they grow new or
extend other branches.

Be that as it may, even underground transformers sometimes go out when
severe weather hits. So I keep firewood on hand.

Jill

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:02:18 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Pat wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote

brought in firewood two days ago to dry out from drizzling rain,
just in case there is a loss of electricity. I'm not really
expecting that but you
never know.

It shouldn't happen unless your electric lines are above ground. Ours
are, and so are the phone lines, so if I don't reply to someone it's
probably coz a branch got too heavy and pulled the phone line down.

Some of the lines out here are still above ground. I'm not in the city.
And my apartment is surrounded by tall pine trees with lots of loose
branches. The apartment manager does her best to have guys cut the
over-hanging branches every year but trees are trees: they grow new or
extend other branches.

Be that as it may, even underground transformers sometimes go out when
severe weather hits. So I keep firewood on hand.

I also live in Tennessee, in Nashville. The storm is expected to come
through here tomorrow afternoon and evening. There isn't likely to be
any accumulation on the ground, as the ground is too warm from the
week or so of low-70's temperatures, but there may be some freezing on
tree limbs, power lines, and bridges.

The Nashville Christmas Parade is scheduled for tomorrow night.
Murphy's Law usually guarantees that the Christmas Parade will have
cold weather with rain and/or snow, even though there may be mild
weather a few days before and a few days after.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:26:17 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Pat wrote:
Now hurrying as the wind picked up and the sleet began to sting...
only to find the grocery had closed two hours early today. With six
blocks to go, the wind was getting faster, the sleet growing thicker,
the sky growing dark. Flying ice gives a nice scalp massage, and now
my ears are blazing hot!

Yikes! Purrs, Pat! Yes, the winter storm I am expecting tonight has hit
Kansas, Missouri and as close as Jonesboro, Arkansas. It's still fairly
warm here but the meteorologists are saying just wait a couple of hours,
it's on its way. Cold temps then sleet and freezing rain. Good thing I
stocked up the pantry (and hey, -L, I don't have food stamps yet!!). I
brought in firewood two days ago to dry out from drizzling rain, just in
case there is a loss of electricity. I'm not really expecting that but you
never know.

Jill

Oh, you are so lucky. Colorado got hit with it yesterday. We got about
three inches fluffy snow at 15 degrees F. By evening it got too cold
to snow. Early this morning, Thursday, the temp was zero! But the sky
was clear and it warmed up all day. I sure hope you don't get such
frigid temps.

--
CATherine

Pat wrote:
Leaving post office area, with the first step out of their parking lot, my
right foot was sucked into a very deep pool of sticky mud, like quicksand.
It almost pulled off my boot and left my slacks muddy up to the knee.

You remind me of a memory from when I was probably
no older than five. I went out to the little park nearby
our home one afternoon, after it had been raining.
I walked over a baseball diamond and stepped into
a small, tiny, innocent-looking muddy patch, not
even a proper puddle and my little foot stuck fast.
I suppose it wasn't really stuck all that badly, but
I was only five and didn't have a lot of leg power
so I was absolutely stuck. Wearing new shoes,
and there was no way I was going to take my
foot out of the shoe and walk home without it.
I didn't know what to do, so I stood there
wallowing (literally and figuratively) in mud and
self-pity, crying oh so pathetically. I don't know
how long I was there in real-time, but it certainly
felt like twenty minutes or so when finally some
man came along and saw me crying there and
came over to rescue me, picking me up without
my shoe and then going back in to rescue it
for me. What a forlorn little soul I was,
slinking along into my house all bummed out
about my new shoes and the "near-tragedy"
I had suffered! 8^P

--tension

tension_on_the_wire wrote:

You remind me of a memory from when I was probably
no older than five. I went out to the little park nearby
our home one afternoon, after it had been raining.
I walked over a baseball diamond and stepped into
a small, tiny, innocent-looking muddy patch, not
even a proper puddle and my little foot stuck fast.
I suppose it wasn't really stuck all that badly, but
I was only five and didn't have a lot of leg power
so I was absolutely stuck. Wearing new shoes,
and there was no way I was going to take my
foot out of the shoe and walk home without it.
I didn't know what to do, so I stood there
wallowing (literally and figuratively) in mud and
self-pity, crying oh so pathetically.

It is impossible for a 5-year-old to wallow in self-pity. They are
too young to have whatever discipline is required to "pull yourself
up, and take charge of your situation." So no matter how much fear,
frustration, or upset they may feel, they are completely entitled
to all of it.

I don't know
how long I was there in real-time, but it certainly
felt like twenty minutes or so when finally some
man came along and saw me crying there and
came over to rescue me, picking me up without
my shoe and then going back in to rescue it
for me. What a forlorn little soul I was,
slinking along into my house all bummed out
about my new shoes and the "near-tragedy"
I had suffered! 8^P

You might be being a tad hard on yourself about this, don't you
think? Sheesh - you were a baby! Even though it doesn't seem like
a big deal now, it obviously felt like one back then. I would've
been freaked, myself.

Joyce

Pat wrote:
I waited for a break in the storm to dash to the post office,
normally a ten-minute walk but today it took almost twice that long
due to ice. Got there just in time to send off a package and chat
with a lady behind me in line, who said she was going my way and
offered me a ride home. I declined the offer because I needed to stop
at a grocery store on the way back and didn't want to make her wait.

Leaving post office area, with the first step out of their parking
lot, my right foot was sucked into a very deep pool of sticky mud,
like quicksand. It almost pulled off my boot and left my slacks muddy
up to the knee.

Now hurrying as the wind picked up and the sleet began to sting...
only to find the grocery had closed two hours early today. With six
blocks to go, the wind was getting faster, the sleet growing thicker,
the sky growing dark. Flying ice gives a nice scalp massage, and now
my ears are blazing hot!

I hope you had a nice warm cat to cuddle when you got home.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

"Adrian A" wrote

I hope you had a nice warm cat to cuddle when you got home.

When I want a cat to cuddle here, all I have to do is lay down, and within
half a minute I am covered in cats.