Snowed In! jk




No snow.  1/9/11



Winter storms in middle Georgia are usually a letdown.  Someone predicts snow, school gets cancelled, everyone raids the grocery store, then half an inch of snow arrives and turns the dirt to mud.  Last year we did get a sizable storm and I missed it--I was further south in Valdosta, got stuck there overnight, and saw about 20 minutes' worth of fat, wet snowflakes arrive and turn the dirt to mud.  I was pissed that I had to buy a sweatshirt at Old Navy so I wouldn't freeze in my hotel room overnight.  Getting stranded turned out not to be such a bad thing--partly because I drove home the next day and saw at least a dozen tire tracks veering off of I-75 into the cotton fields.  Partly because that sweatshirt is now one of my favorite articles of clothing.



So, a few days ago they started saying Atlanta was going to get snow Sunday-Tuesday.  No biggie, we don't get the kind of weather that Atlanta gets.  Yesterday the prediction expanded to include middle Georgia--less than one inch of snow, possibly mixed with rain, sleet or freezing rain.  Today the hype built and built until school was cancelled, every college and public building is closed tomorrow, and the grocery store is completely emptied of bread, milk and eggs.  I mean, it probably is.  Last night I got a bag of cat food on the way home so I wouldn't have to go to the store today.  It's not about the weather--I grew up in Michigan, for pete's sake; we used to do donuts in the icy parking lot after marching band practice in OCTOBER.  Sometimes.  No, I stock up before a storm because I know all the snowfearing citizens of middle GA will raid the stores and there won't BE any food for a few days.  And you know what?  Now that I've been here for 12 years, I think most everyone is doing it for the same reason I am.  We create this crisis.

My kitchen is stocked well enough, anyway.  I have oatmeal, and apples, strawberries and dried fruit to mix in it.  I have eggs, bread, almond milk and peanut butter.  I just bought two packages of whole wheat pasta, on sale, and I even still have sauce to put on it.  Edamame, spinach, peas and corn in the freezer.  I even have 8 or 10 clementines, non-dairy ice cream (So Delicious Neapolitan), and black licorice.  All this on top of the usual canned goods, rice, lentils, dried beans, pickles and cornbread mixes that live in my cabinets...hell, it'd be great to get a nice big storm so I don't have the temptation to go out.  I'm trying to use this stuff up before I move, later this year. 

It is getting damn cold, I admit.  I try to keep the heat at 60 most of the time, but if it gets too cold in here, I turn it up to 65.  Last night I wore light pajamas and woke up cold a few times.  Tonight I'll wear warmer ones.  I put two heating pads under the blankets before I brush my teeth, so it's usually warm and cozy when I crawl in bed.  I came out of the bathroom last night and my heating pads were in place, but there was a fat cat planted on each one.  Those bastards wouldn't move, either.  I had to squeeze in and nudge them around till I could get my feet on a warm place.

Know what?  About five minutes ago I heard a big whoosh of wind outside, and now it's sleeting.  It's such a spooky sound.  Like plastic silverware rattling in the tree branches.