You made it!

We made it!

If you can read this, you are alive, warm and vital, in spite of what friends may say about you.

There was so much snow, and record cold, that schools closed in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

We still have some winter ahead of us, but it could also be that we’ve either weathered the worst, or are tough enough now to handle anything Mother Nature throws at us. Bring on global warming. Quickly please!

Earlier this week we asked feds and friends how they coped. We heard from folks in Texas, Connecticut, Michigan, D.C. and Virginia. They shared what they did this week, whether they were working or told to stay home. Sometimes hard (relatively) times bring out the best in us. For example:

• “My toothpaste was frozen solid in the tube in the trunk coming back from the drugstore to buy it. Ornithologists have described the migration of Arctic terns to the East Coast to get out of the warm.” — Stan The Man
• “I grew up in Houston, Texas, and I’m not a wimp. Being that far south, we get ice storms, not snow, and we learned to drive in it. I have two problems with driving in bad weather in D.C. First are the idiots in four-wheel drive vehicles. These people have not gotten the basic message, “Four- wheel go does not equal four-wheel stop!”. My husband and I have both been the victims of accidents where someone with a four-wheel drive vehicle was going too fast for the conditions, thinking that they could stop on a dime because they had four-wheel drive. The second problem I have are the folks who are from areas where snow and ice are rare. These folks drive too fast for the conditions and think that “black ice” is a figment of someone’s imagination.” — Susan From Houston
• “Spent Monday working, which is fine. Get more done when no one is around :) and being mission essential I had no option! ” — Ron D
• I think you may be correct about memory playing tricks on us all. Especially when it concerns weather and our childhood. I grew up in Connecticut. They never, ever closed the schools because of cold or snow. I would have testified to it in court. Recently, we had a grade school (can you believe it?) reunion. In talking with old friends I learned that schools were closed — not a lot — but they were closed, from time to time. So much for my trudging eight miles through snowbanks storytelling days.” — Maureen of Groton.
• “My in-laws arrived Saturday. I knew it was going to be a long week. Then the heavens opened up, it snowed and I am essential. Had to show up. They were somewhat impressed. I was distressed. My wife, whatever…”

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

Compiled by Jack Moore

The phrase “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too,” was used as early as 1538 in a letter from the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard, to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII.

(Source: Today I Found Out)

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