The law of unintended skating parties

It's deja eww, out there. Only a few weeks ago, I fell on my prat, due to the ice on the sidewalks. Today, I managed to slide to and from my car -- twice -- without grievous bodily harm
(Although the wind did sort of scoot me around a little. I'm not terribly aerodynamic).

The lights have been flickering since my arrival at the folks' house (maybe it did before, but they didn't notice. A lot gets past them, when they're playing on their computers -- and the nut don't fall far from the tree, here). Their place has a wood-burning back-up furnace and a fireplace, and they have an abundance of wood stored in their garage just in case. We're prepping for the likelihood we'll have company tonight (if the electricity is down), with Mom's best friend, plus husband, daughter, and grandkids coming to the warm house.

It'll be one big slumber party.

The forecast is for us to receive up to a half-inch of ice, followed by 2-3 inches of snow. And we're the lucky kids on the block. To the north of us, around the Iowa/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Illinois swath of border, they're talking about the possibility of a foot of snow on that same half-inch of ice. Plus even higher winds.


There are days to be thankful your little stretch of land is in the middle of a mild drought. This may be one of them.