Down So Long

Hi! I am back. After a few too many emails from my friends asking where the heck I went, I suppose I need to put in a good post! ;)

As most of you know, I was away from home for 5 days trapped at my inlaws house waiting out the ice storm that hit my home town. Grammy and Happy were so good to Kiddo and I, patiently dealing with us (and our laundry) for such a long time. I'm pretty sure it wasn't too much of a chore to have 5 days of Kiddo time though! I thank God every day that I get along with my inlaws so well that something like what happened was not too much of a burden on them (or me). Even though we were all a bit stir crazy in the end, it was still a nice visit. I know many are not so lucky.

For those of you who experience this type of thing often, the ice and snow and cold may not seem like such a big deal. However, in central TX we don't often experience "severe" weather, so the areas that may or may not be affected go into panic mode at the mere mention of something we do not normally face. As I mentioned before, most grocery and big box stores ran out of things like bread and milk, as well as propane and wood, long before anything hit. Then the storm came and, though it was a bit dangerous, it really wasn't all the weather-media hyped it up to be. My home town got hit pretty hard with ice; poor Hubby was basically trapped in the house for 3 days. His office shut down, as did most of the town, and the streets were a mess. I don't care what anyone says, if you get south of Dallas, most Texans know nothing of driving on icy roads. Of course, being the adventure seeker that he is, Hubby ventured forth into our new ice-land in our 4wd vehicle and managed to make me worry all the more being stuck over 150 miles away. Ah well.

At least I was able to go to my best friend's baby girl's first birthday party and I was also able to get some pictures of her. Another added benefit was seeing my backyard mom and partaking in her generosity by letting her cut and color my hair. Yippee! No more roots!

On the way home I was really intrigued by the landscape. The closer I got to home, the more ice was on the road and in the trees. Ahh the trees - so spooky and dead looking with branches all white; heavy, bending and broken from the weight of the ice. Entire trees had toppled and crashed to the ground, shattering like glass and leaving the remnants to mix with the slushy mess left by the cars in passing. In so many places, parallel ruts of churned up earth lined the medians and shoulders of the highways; in some cases property lines were forever changed due to unwelcome travelers plowing their vehicles into fences. It was surreal. In more than one location I saw a cow wandering the side of the road, obviously and escapee from a fence that once was, and enjoying the new vegetation and scenery.

The cows, poor dears, seemed severely confused. If you ever spent a good amount of time on a farm or with someone who spent time on a farm, you learn certain things about cow reading. Farmers and country folk often swear by the position of cows in a pasture being able to tell you if a storm is coming, if it's going to be sunny, or even if it's a good fishing day! I was always told that if all the cows are facing the same direction to watch out for a storm. On my drive home, the highway is lined with pasture after pasture of cows. It seems most of the cows to the right of me called for more storms while the cows on the left thought it would be sunny. hmmmm, I speculate they may both be right...eventually! :)

Suffice it to say, Kiddo and I made it home safely. I was able to have my coffee this morning and sit at my lap top and surf till my heart was content! It was glorious! The ice is now gone, and the town has to suffer the nastiness that comes after with gross roads and dirty cars; debris laden medians and accident reports out the wazoo. Hubby told me the police department was advising citizens to not even bother with reporting traffic accidents when they occurred. People were told to take as much info as possible at the scene and then report the incident sometime at the end of the week! How's that for public service? I guess they all had their hands full.

Thank goodness this only happens once in a while.

I am currently editing photos and should have something for you soon!
Until,
D :)