The warnings were everywhere yesterday. The storm of the decade. Insanely cold weather. All streets covered with ice. Power outages imminent. People rushed out before the first of the arctic front arrived and vacuumed up everything local grocery stores had to offer. Bags of sand and salt traded like rare earth elements. SUVs were filled to the brim with special blankets for wrapping the landscaping. Peoples' memories of the ICE STORM of 2021 all still freshly in mind....
My friend, Will, was scheduled to have his show of WET DOGS photographs open with a reception at the Neill Cochran House Museum from 4-6 pm. The folks at the museum moved up the start to 3pm to give everyone a fighting chance at seeing the fun photographs and still getting home before the road turned into something like Wesson Oil on polished chrome. Racing against an ever accelerating front line of the ice storm, breathlessly reported by every news outlet in central Texas.
B. and I saddled up the Subaru Legacy. Piled blankets, dehydrated food, a month's supply of drinking water, flares and first aid kits into the trunk to prepare for the worst. I checked and rechecked the tire pressures. Ran the car through the de-icing sprayer and off we went. A whopping five mile journey from door to door. Of course, I had over-prepped for the outward bound journey. The roads were still clear, the ground nowhere near freezing after high temperatures, just days ago, in the low 70s. We made it without issue to the museum. I was worried the weather would wither the opening crowds and put a damper on Will's moment in the spotlight but I was misguided. About 100 people made the perilous trek to support the artist, see the work and maybe get a taste of one of the promised Tito's cocktails.
The artist was in his element. The work, seen in person, was wonderful and rich. The vodka cocktails? A no show. 'Bartender safety' was the reason. But that didn't seem to deflect the crowd. Nope, they were there to see Will and his art. The show was/is a grand success. And an unintentional nod to a "dry" art opening.
B. and I got back into the car and headed home around 5. The temperature at that point had dropped under freezing and we were witness to the first volley of nature's cursed ice storm. It was starting to come down and the roads were starting to see some accumulation. So naturally I red-lined the car's engine, accelerated with gusto and drove home as fast as I could. We slide sideways into the drive way and, with a deft flick of the tight ratio steering, I settled the car precisely into its space. We had avoided the worst of the danger --- so far.
Faucets dripping, heaters running, movies streaming, we survived the evening on the couch. When I finally decided to turn in the sleet (our friend compared to ice) began dancing across the roof and pelting the north facing windows. I woke up this morning expecting the worst and yet... the interior temp of the house was steady at 70° (exactly where I set that thermostat), no pipes had burst, no branches had tumbled down. I reflexively checked the "outage map" at Austin Energy (the city owned power company) and was stunned, surprised, and thrilled to see that the current map showed 99.99% of customers had electrical power. Only three (3) customers were without power. Just three. Time to make coffee.
The ground is covered with sleet and snow. I'm sure there is a layer of ice under there somewhere but I'm equally sure I'm not going looking for it. We have about 24 hours of "extreme" cold left to go. When we say "extreme" in central Texas we're talking lows in the 20s. Maybe in the high teens in spots to the West.
I know all the folks up North are chuckling... But it's our reality and we like to own it.
Weirdest thing of all, there are warnings everywhere that people should stay off the roads today but Federal Express keeps telling me that my package will be delivered today. I think that's just a bit insane but I'm hardly in charge of their logistics. Still, it will be fun to get my hands on a 21mm lens for my rangefinder cameras today. Lots of time in the schedule to play with it...
Ksana. Huh?
5 comments:
Well? Did the lens arrive on Saturday? Honestly, they tell everyone to safe off the roads for fear of instant death all the time here in the Northeast. It’s pretty much because it makes it easier for the crews to clear away the snow and apply salt. There has been nothing on the roads this weekend that I couldn’t easily handle. That includes 6 inches of snow with sleet on top. But the truth is that drivers are generally less competent these days.
Nah. They are still suggesting on the FEDEX website that delivery is/was supposed to happen today before EOD. The roadway stuff is much, much different here. If we get now covered with ice, or just a half inch of ice on the roadways we really are toast because === you know those trucks you are talking about that clear away snow and apply ice? Well, we don't have those in Austin. The protocol here is "the ice will melt when the sun comes out." Well, we may have a day or two more where only the overly intrepid or glaringly insane venture out onto the roads. There are no clear roads. No salt. No trucks. The difference being that here an event like this is a couple days or so each year. Not an all the time for half a year event like in the NE. All drivers are bad here. Especially the ones who have recently moved here from the NE and assume that someone will "Nanny State" all their roadways for them automatically. Not gonna happen. But to summarize the important part of my comment: No Lens Yet. Sigh.
Can someone send instructions on how to make a good snowball? We forgot...
Here’s one quick and easy way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMqVLKcPFA
Nice. Currently throwing them at B. However, she has employed two large, thuggish brutes who are throwing their own versions back at me. I didn't know you could wrap barbed wire around a snow ball. ... ouch
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