Monday, December 15, 2008

We ain't in Iowa anymore

On the way home from piano lessons tonight, there was just this microscopic film of ice on the freeway. We all drove 20mph or less in hopes of not having to file on our auto insurance... I was particularly careful, since just TODAY we cancelled the collision portion of my insurance on my van.

In northern Denton County, out in the middle of nowhere on I-35, traffic suddenly came to a complete stop. Not a crawl or a slowdown. A full-on stop. For a good long time, even. I was hoping we'd actually make it HOME. Once traffic finally moved along again, I never did see an accident or anything, so my assumption is that the trucks were unable to negotiate the long hill just south of Sanger and that it just took them that long to finally make it.

I dunno.

It was Iowa cold, and I was thankful that I still keep a bad-weather kit in the back of the van (a little something I learned in the blizzards of the high northern plains). Unlike Iowa, though, the people here get rather freaked out and skitter all about. They're seriously talking school cancellation tomorrow, even... which in the case of these folks is probably the safest alternative. No-one here is equipped to deal with slick streets; we just wait 'til it melts later in the afternoon or sublimates in the wind. No need for salt/sand trucks or snowplows (PTL!).

Doesn't mean it's not fargin' COLD in this drafty old house, though.

Rick just came downstairs and informed me that we have a leak in the vicinity of the washer. Could be a chunk of ice in the hose, though, who knows? It'd be nice if we didn't have to dismantle the ceiling/floor right now...

I think I'm going to go stand by the gas heater for a few minutes and then dash off to bed before my nightgown gets cold. Thank you, Lord, for gas heaters. They are a beautiful thing, indeed.

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