Things to ponder as Texas shuts down
It is cold here. The temperature gauge outside my window is hovering at around 35 degrees. Tonight will be a hard freeze, which means I will probably sleep in the trailer so that the heat can run all night and protect the pipes etc.. This is not a problem for me, for, as those who know me are aware, I would rather live in it anyway.
When the weather turns like this, Texas breaks. The entire state freezes, snaps off the map and shatters on the ground. That is why, if you open your maps today, Texas will not be there.
“AHHHH there is a 4×4 patch of ice on the bridge. Everyone go home early from work or we will all die!”
“No school (even though we live 2 blocks from it, as does most of the town)!”
Dingo’s long for the warmth of the house, since Australia is too much to ask for.*
Children dig in their drawers for hats and gloves, many times coming up empty handed and substituting socks for mittens, because, well, their mother is very unprepared for life.
Husbands call from work and carry on conversations with their wives that go something like this:
“Hi, what are you doing?”
“Nothing. We are trapped inside, the kids have a friend over and are playing nerf dart tag, and I am reconsidering my choice in house size.”
“Are you keeping warm?”
“Yes. We killed Honey and are taking turns crawling in her still warm hide.”
“Great. Hey, I will be home early today. The clinic is closing so that we can come home in case of ice.”
“Is it, like, still raining?”
“No”
“Are the roads wet?”
“No.”
“Hmm. So, the roads are clear and the temperature is above freezing?”
“Yes.”
“Well alrighty then, be careful driving home on the roads that just might get icy sometime in the future.”
Jack freeze found Texas, so if you are driving through our little state, be prepared for all hell to be breaking loose on the highways. We drive like drunks with any kind of ice. Many have never even seen ice before.
All you northern folks, laughing is allowed.
*yes, she came in. She is a major lap dog and spends 99% of her time indoors. And yes, my window is filthy, so there.
It sounds cold there, but it’s somewhat colder here! No rain, but lots of ice and freezing! We’re in the 20’s evenings and mornings!
Brrrrr!
Stay warm and safe!
We got snow here today…just slightly north of you in Iowa. We’re so excited. We’ve been waiting forever for snow. But then we expect it in Iowa. Probably not so much in Texas. Stay warm!
Tee hee he he hee! I can’t help myself! 35F is NOTHING. We are freezing our tushies off here at -35F. Yeah, no going outside for us today but that is because we already had school off. Tomorrow will be just as cold and life will go on as usual.
And my screen door looks just like yours except my mud streaks are in the shape of kitty paws.
I live in Baytown and I know what you mean about Texas “shutting down” when it gets cold like this! I myself, haven’t figured out what the big deal is. Maybe I should have but I haven’t gone to the store to stock up on “supplies” or anything like that. LOL.
By the way, I love reading your blog. An extra bit of excitement is added for me because it seems like you live somwhat close to me! Keep the entries comming!
Yeah, I don’t know that I’ll laugh but I’ll certainly smirk. Up here in the Great White North it’s currently around -22 degrees Fahrenheit. But, we Manitobans take great pride in being able to survive it so I’m not complaining.
so funny. we saw on our news today about the ice in texas and they were interviewing a man who had an accident (relatively minor) and he said he slammed on his breaks and kept pumping them but the car kept sliding.
Of course rob and I laughed because that is precisely what you are not supposed to do on ice.
I’m in the DFW area and I’ll agree it’s quite comical. We moved here from Michigan about 4 years ago and still get a kick out of it all.
We live in California where we are just as wimpy as you Texans when the weather gets cold. Friday morning it actually snowed (not cold enough to stick) but the kids thought it was great and were sure they were going to get out of school. No way!! Put on a jacket and suck it up. I am sooo mean.
Hey Jody
Hope you are still sane after your snow or rather ice day!
You can send some of the white stuff up the Ohio valley to the Burgh. We want to ski!!!!
I love snow day. I especially appreciated them when the children were elementary school aged. It made everything slow down and grind to a stop almost. The neighbourhood kids would spend the whole day sledding and boarding on the backyard hills. Many marshmallows and much hot coco would be consumed by days end. Chili was the favourite meal on snow days and the smell of homemade bread or toll house cookies warmed the house. The evenings seemed to go on forever and it was always a good idea to have a fire and crack open some wine. Ah I miss them. Not a single snow day this year, not even a hint of one, or a two hour delay!
You can keep the shiny clear stuff but bring on the snow!
mak
That’s crazy!
I would say I can’t ever imagine that, but it’s been freakin’ cold out here too (in L.A.) the last week. But nothing like that…
This is my first time to your site. I am laughing because I grew up in Illinois, but now live in Georgia. The first time I got “snowed in” down here, I could still see grass on the ground!
Last I heard, we are supposed to have ice and sleet on Thursday. I had to go get groceries this morning. By tomorrow, all the milk and bread will be gone! Ha!
Hey Jody, I feel your pain. Yesterday was a holiday, so the kids had the day off from school. We happened to also get our first winter storm, in the form of ice, which brought tree limbs down which brought power lines down. Very painful, having four active boys at home with no electricity. So they went sledding outside. On the ice. Who needs snow? More ice this morning, but the Superintendent of our school probably could feel our pain. Despite the fact that we lost power (again), they merely delayed school 90 minutes and the buses came and transported them off. They may have been slipping and sliding up and down driveways, and some of us didn’t have electricity, but they did us the tremendous favor of keeping school open. Life continues on even in the worst Mother Nature sends our way.
Here in Phoenix we’ve had below freezing temperatures at night for the past 4-5 days. One of the lead stories on talk radio and local news? Pipe breaking in people’s houses. Schools closed because of pipes breaking. We haven’t had cold like this in over 16 years and our population in this county has doubled in that time. Silly people..the desert traditionally gets really cold at night, we just have changed that with all the concrete. Anyway, your post reminds me of all the people here who are mightily confused with broken pipes and dead plants. We are even worse when it rains. If it rains and is cold…oh wow..please stay far away.
they are setting up shelters in the city of Monterrey with temperatures for this am at 3C, this afternoon at 2C and this evening at 1C. Freezing rain in Piedras Negras.
Here in Ciudad Valles (San Luis Potosi) it is 50F (10C) but sure feels colder as we had the A/C on the other night to be able to sleep. Sheesh!
Spent last night in the mountains (Xilitla) and got up close and personal with coffee plants but left early due to the cold. This is REALLY cold for this part of Mexico.
But, as the weatherman assured us last night, no freezing rain or snow.
we used to get bonus pay for coming in to work when it iced. *boggle*
of course, now it’s icy here, and I’m wussing out. Ice is much nastier than snow. I did find out that you can scrape ice off a car with an expired credit/debit card. Just in case you ever need to know that.
Hope Texas is still there when we come to visit!
hey iam in oklahoma so i feel ur pain
French people cannot drive in the smallest bit of ice or snow, either.
As others have commented, worrying about the cold at 34 just makes me laugh.