- What are you avoiding?
"The Blizzard of 2011," a.k.a. "Snowpocalypse", a.k.a. "Snowmageddon". After literally praying for snow for a week, now I've got it in spades and it's freakin' me the Hell out. This is (I hope it's obvious) the biggest storm I've ever seen, how ever you want to quantify it. I came home at 2:30 this afternoon--the place of work remained open until 5--both because it was a convenient time to stop working, work-wise, and because I thought it was insane to conceptualize what I do as "essential." Just walking across the street to the parking lot was brutal, and the short drive home was treacherous. Once I got here, I knew I wouldn't be leaving until this mess is well over. What I hadn't anticipated was how...isolating...it would feel. It's like being on another planet, particularly since I got the text letting me know that there's no work tomorrow. I said goodbye to a couple of people before I left work; I probably won't talk again until Thursday morning. How weird is that? I've been reading, watched NCIS, ate dinner, and otherwise am just sort of pacing. I feel like a cat before an earthquake. Don't like it! - When was the last time you were at a bus station?
I distinctly recall sitting in the bus/train station in Ann Arbor for a disturbingly long time, waiting for...someone. Someone came to visit me & the former spouse, by train, I think, but I've no clue who it was. We didn't get a whole lot of visitors when we were there, so it was a big deal. (Like it wouldn't be a big deal here? Don't get me started.) It was my first time in a "real" bus/train station (i.e. not the airport variety) and I probably looked like a slack-jawed yokel with my inability to hold back my fascination. - Describe your next-door neighbor (no names!).
Roughly five feet tall, 10.7 stones, 55 years of age. Former Texan of Mexican descent, Roman Catholic. Divorced, one daughter, one son, one granddaughter (by the daughter). Two sisters and one brother. Mother still living. Drives a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo without excessive skill. Watches television (in English and Spanish interchangeably) for company. Has a chronic cough, a very small efficiency apartment, and a new boyfriend with whom she is extremely sexually active. - Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.
Public Domain Photo
The private university in my hometown has a cardinal for a mascot. One of my friends has likely taken several hundred, if not thousand, photographs of cardinals in various incarnations (oy, no pun intended). And this particular one (an excellent photo) reminds me of blue jays, which are quite noisy and unpleasant to wake up near, pretty as they may be.
[from The Cat, coincidentally enough, who got it here; title quotation by Willa Cather, from The Song of the Lark]
That *does* look like a jay! How odd.
ReplyDeleteCan you see out your windows? We can only see thru the unscreened portions...see my Facebook. I think part of the isolation is that we really CAN'T leave, which is different from choosing to stay home. My room was shaking in the wind--like a ship.
And Sparky is feeling crappy.
There was a drift in front of the apt. this morning roughly the size/shape of a UPS truck. Landlord is systematically dismantling it with the plow now, but it's slow going and seriously, where's he going to put it? Every so often there's a gust that makes it impossible to see my car, or the gas price sign at BP, or even the lighted sign in front of SWC.
ReplyDeleteI heard people walking home from the bar last night. That was the worst. You're drunk, it's midnight (or whatever time they closed), and you're in the middle of a fookin' blizzard - and you're walking. Clearly better than driving, but holy crap, your stupid drunk body will be found when the snow melts!
Sending healthy vibes to Sparky, particularly this week. Bummer timing.