When we got six inches of snow in Athens GA mine were the only kids who owned mittens. You didn’t really need a winter coat there, generally. The city did not own a plow, and nobody had a shovel or salt; stores didn’t carry them. Apparently Atlanta (pop. 4 million) owned two plows.

Yeah, I am about three steps past over all of these cute jokes about leaving Texas without federal assistance because of politics or threat of secession or whatever. All of my coworkers that were in a team meeting this morning had frozen pipes somewhere in the house. It's going to be a disaster when stuff finally thaws. Even more of a disaster than it is now.

Yes it is a mess and super dangerous. I know people that have been 16 hours without electricity.

That's so scary.

I saw a picture on Twitter of icicles hanging from a fan inside an apartment building, and it was clear there was a water leak in the floors above. There is a hella lot of damage that is going to show up as the temperature warms.

I honestly don't know what I would do if the power went out for days, even here. I mean, I guess I would be okay, but it would be a major drag and eventually my kindle would run out of power...

I would need to find someone with a wood burning fireplace post haste.

When the ice storm knocked out my parents' power for most of a week years back, I took them every candle I had. It wasn't possible to bring them to my place because of the stairs, so we were just about ready to drive them to a relative's the next state over when the power came back on.

Every few years, someone new to our city council proposes banning wood-burning stoves in new builds, and half the island turns up to yell at them.

I don't think there's going to be a need for as much yelling this year.

Delightful afternoon and evening in the cabin, but we are going home this evening instead of tomorrow morning because of the impending storm. Which is actually not all that disappointing, because... unsure? Maybe because what we'll mostly just be missing a night's sleep and leisurely breakfast in a cabin before going home? One night of a hot tub under the stars was worth it, I tell you what.

I'll walk around a little in nature today... in small bursts, maybe. It's cold. But then, I'm good. It has been restorative, and I'm grateful.

Not grateful for the snowy non-power-having mess so many people are struggling through, however. That can stop right now. Though, as noted, the aftermath won't be good either.

There is a story from when my sister and BiL moved from Buffalo to Richmond. During the first winter, snow started to fall sometime in the late afternoon, and my BiL's work allowed people to leave early if they wanted. He went home, got up the next morning and scraped off the 1 inch of snow, admired the few flakes coming down, and drove to work . . . where he found several people there who had spent the night because they were scared of the storm. They told him if he could "get through" the snow, he should get home while he could.

Friends in Dallas are doing okay. Everyone stay safe!