Thought I'd give you an old shop window picture with some gray clouds and a familiar head.The very hint of winter weather sends Austin into a tizzy with the local weather prognosticators leading the way with a combination of seriousness and barely concealed glee.
So, mind you, it looks perfectly safe outside now at my house. The temperature is above freezing. It isn't cold enough to freeze the rain here. But as you drift out of the area, it might be a bit dangerous and they found ice to show on TV. And the police decided to close a flyover near here for some reason.
I know perfectly well how dangerous it can be to drive on pure ice. I tried to get home from work a bit early in 2001 when some freezing precip was predicted. Suddenly I saw the rain freezing on the road in front of me. I steered toward an exit from the elevated road but traffic was backed up. I steered (well, OK, slipped) into the concrete barrier, one of those where the bottom is fatter and you can lay your tire on them without bashing the car and get a grip. Unfortunately someone came along behind me going way too fast and crashed into my rear end hard enough to 'crumple' the car behind the passenger cage. So I've seen the dangers that ice can bring to us here.
I have no reason to get out of the house either. A dinner party we were supposed to have tonight (in a perilous hilly area west of here) was cancelled by the organizers yesterday so they could avoid starting to prepare expensive food that might go to waste. My country club closed so the staff didn't have to make their way to and fro. It was a holiday already for schools, Feds, etc.
Still I'm shaking my head and feeling a little cabin fever. So we'll be staying here, staying warm and, oh yeah, maybe doing something useful. But right now I think I'll get a cup of coffee and work the Monday New York Times crossword.
All you readers in areas with actual winter can stop laughing now.
No comments:
Post a Comment