The predicted ice storm actually happened this time complete with freezing rain, sleet and ice fog. The Dallas Fort Worth metroplex has been iced in. I haven't checked in with weatherman, Pete Delkus, today but he has not worn his suit coat since Thursday afternoon....at least not on the air. He never took off those cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves so the weather emergency, while dangerous, was apparently not life threatening.
The highways were iced over and many motorists who did not listen to the warnings were trapped in their cars on I35 between Fort Worth and just north of Denton. Rumor has it that many of these drivers were Oklahoma fans trying to get to the OU/OSU game. (People....a football game is just not that important!) The temperatures that night were in the 20's. Your average Texan is just not prepared for that. The Texas Department of Transportation is asking everyone to stay off the roads until sometime on Monday. Of course, all local school districts were closed on Friday and we are wondering about Monday.
My Facebook feed is full of photos and videos of my friends, their children and grandchildren playing on the ice....riding down the local hills in laundry baskets, playing hockey on the streets, sliding down icy driveways on pieces of cardboard. They are definitely making memories and I am wishing that our boys were home and little again. We actually have a real sled and saucer sleds but they are in storage and it is not worth the trip to go to get them. But being the excellent dad that my DH is, he would have gone to dig them out if the kids had been younger and wanted them.
So what did DH and I do during our self-enforced imprisonment? I sewed (no big surprise there) and he got caught up on the DVR'ed shows that I don't care to watch. (Boardwalk Empire.....yuck!) We cooked and we were both glad that I had made that run to WalMart on Wednesday or Thursday for the essentials of life. But now I know that I misjudged the essentials....bread, chocolate milk, chicken, soup ingredients made the list but I forgot eggs, hamburger, semolina flour and parmesan cheese. This would have been the perfect time to bake some cookies and make the Christmas ravs but I honestly did not think this weather crisis would happen. My bad! The Christmas tree is up and decorated and the house is as festive as it will get...downsizing some this year.
The sun is out this afternoon and the temps are above freezing for the first time in over 3 days. (Yes, I know my northern friends, 3 days is no big deal to you but this is Texas! They don't know how to deal with it. Cowboy boots are for fashion, not function!) DH has scrapped off the driveway. I have my fingers crossed that we might venture out to get some dinner tonight.
The temps will fall again tonight and that will cause all of the melting runoffs to refreeze. And since there are no such things as snowplows in Texas, the streets will just ice over again. DH's district is made up of many smaller towns and they bus in lots of students. I don't think he will have school tomorrow but he is optimistic. AT son's district will probably have school. DIL will most likely return to work too as I do not expect FWISD to cancel classes. TMPG will be back at daycare.
No matter what the weather conditions are tomorrow...I AM GOING OUT! Yes, we need eggs and provisions for the week's menus (maybe some more beer) but more importantly, I am in the middle of big applique project and I don't have the right colors in threads! Let's get those priorities in order! Clear the way to JoAnn's....I'm coming in!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Those darn weathermen.....
I hate to admit that I get most of my news from Yahoo these days. I just don't seem to read the newspaper like I have in the past and it's easy to flip through the local news on TV in favor of something that is clogging up the DVR. But DH is a news junkie. He reads the newspaper daily .... yes, every section. ( He also does all of the crossword puzzles and other brain stimulating activities found in the daily paper.) And he likes the local news....especially the local weather reporters. I'm not sure what his attraction to the weather is....he is not a frustrated meteorologist. I think he is entertained by their prophet of doom persona.
His current favorite weather broadcaster is Pete Delkus. Pete usually wears a very nice suit and tie but you can always tell when there is a potential weather emergency. Once Pete takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves, you know that it's time to pay attention to the upcoming weather. (He never takes off the tie. If that ever happens on the air, we can be sure that the end of the world is at hand.)
The week before Thanksgiving, Pete and the other weather forecasters definitely had their jackets off as they warned us about the pending ice storm. Local people were panicked about getting out of town for the holiday week. DH and I were worried about making it to Dallas for the JFK 50th Anniversary Event. Most of the local school districts were off the entire week before Thanksgiving but the ones that were in session Monday and Tuesday were filled with teachers keeping their fingers crossed that school would not be cancelled on Monday....who wants to have the kids for one day before Thanksgiving? They are crazy enough without the addition of one more day off.
I'm certain that you can predict what happened...it rained but there was not one bit of ice in the area. Pete claimed that we missed the disaster by one or two degrees but I think that the weatherpersons just wanted to see how crazy the metroplex could get.
It has now been 10 days since this last weather emergency and Pete is warning us that another winter weather event is on the way. (I haven't seen the weather today so I am not sure if Pete's jacket is off or on.) They say that the temperature will drop all night and through tomorrow. The rain will begin tomorrow at 6 p.m ...how they know the exact time is beyond me. The temperature will continue to drop and we should have a winter weather advisory on Friday morning with possible significant ice accumulation. The bad weather will continue through the weekend.
So what does this mean to me? When we first moved to Kansas in 1982, DH and I laughed when the weather forecasters came on with the blizzard warnings. They would actually advise people to go to the grocery store to stock up on essentials. Intrigued, I had to go to the store to see what the locals considered essentials. Every cart contained milk, bread, chips, beer and in many cases, diapers. Most of the time, these weather forecasters were just as wrong Pete and his buddies were last week. We ignored these blizzard warnings and went on with our lives. But in the winter of 1986-87, I knew it was time to leave Kansas because I actually started going to the store to stock up when the weather advisories were announced....could not risk running out of bread, milk, chips and beer. (No diapers in our cart....the boys were out of diapers and no Depends for us yet.)
And so, what did I do today when faced with an impending weather crisis? I went to WalMart to stock up. But my cart did not have the Kansas essentials....it contained chicken, soup, ingredients for tortilla soup and chocolate milk. (Chocolate milk? But of course....I need it for my hot cocoa and Bailey's Irish Cream.) Once again...no diapers. And we have beer on hand.
So now we wait....will Pete and the other prophets of doom be right or will one or two degrees make all the difference? DH is wondering if he will have school on Friday. I'm worried that my Friday sew day with the Sewing Sisters will be cancelled. Friends are posting photos on Facebook of empty grocery shelves. We have postponed our planned next stop on the Beermuda Triangle trail until January. Will Book Club be able to meet Sunday night? Where is that ice scraper anyway?
I think it's time to leave Texas.
His current favorite weather broadcaster is Pete Delkus. Pete usually wears a very nice suit and tie but you can always tell when there is a potential weather emergency. Once Pete takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves, you know that it's time to pay attention to the upcoming weather. (He never takes off the tie. If that ever happens on the air, we can be sure that the end of the world is at hand.)
The week before Thanksgiving, Pete and the other weather forecasters definitely had their jackets off as they warned us about the pending ice storm. Local people were panicked about getting out of town for the holiday week. DH and I were worried about making it to Dallas for the JFK 50th Anniversary Event. Most of the local school districts were off the entire week before Thanksgiving but the ones that were in session Monday and Tuesday were filled with teachers keeping their fingers crossed that school would not be cancelled on Monday....who wants to have the kids for one day before Thanksgiving? They are crazy enough without the addition of one more day off.
I'm certain that you can predict what happened...it rained but there was not one bit of ice in the area. Pete claimed that we missed the disaster by one or two degrees but I think that the weatherpersons just wanted to see how crazy the metroplex could get.
It has now been 10 days since this last weather emergency and Pete is warning us that another winter weather event is on the way. (I haven't seen the weather today so I am not sure if Pete's jacket is off or on.) They say that the temperature will drop all night and through tomorrow. The rain will begin tomorrow at 6 p.m ...how they know the exact time is beyond me. The temperature will continue to drop and we should have a winter weather advisory on Friday morning with possible significant ice accumulation. The bad weather will continue through the weekend.
So what does this mean to me? When we first moved to Kansas in 1982, DH and I laughed when the weather forecasters came on with the blizzard warnings. They would actually advise people to go to the grocery store to stock up on essentials. Intrigued, I had to go to the store to see what the locals considered essentials. Every cart contained milk, bread, chips, beer and in many cases, diapers. Most of the time, these weather forecasters were just as wrong Pete and his buddies were last week. We ignored these blizzard warnings and went on with our lives. But in the winter of 1986-87, I knew it was time to leave Kansas because I actually started going to the store to stock up when the weather advisories were announced....could not risk running out of bread, milk, chips and beer. (No diapers in our cart....the boys were out of diapers and no Depends for us yet.)
And so, what did I do today when faced with an impending weather crisis? I went to WalMart to stock up. But my cart did not have the Kansas essentials....it contained chicken, soup, ingredients for tortilla soup and chocolate milk. (Chocolate milk? But of course....I need it for my hot cocoa and Bailey's Irish Cream.) Once again...no diapers. And we have beer on hand.
So now we wait....will Pete and the other prophets of doom be right or will one or two degrees make all the difference? DH is wondering if he will have school on Friday. I'm worried that my Friday sew day with the Sewing Sisters will be cancelled. Friends are posting photos on Facebook of empty grocery shelves. We have postponed our planned next stop on the Beermuda Triangle trail until January. Will Book Club be able to meet Sunday night? Where is that ice scraper anyway?
I think it's time to leave Texas.
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