The Laughing Wolf

The Madness Begins

It never fails. They have mentioned the dreaded “S” word. The word is out, and the panic has begun.

The weather teams have mentioned the word snow. Never mind that they have said that any snow/sleet/other will be light and probably won’t stick, they have said the S-word. The stores are already starting to get shoppers in who are stocking up for a blizzard. Being out of eggs and wanting to make some beef stroganoff, I had to go and am glad I went early. Staff at the stores are already taking bets on how long displays of toilet tissue, milk, bread, and such will last.

People here panic at the S-word. It is as if they think that they will be cut off from the stores for weeks. Yet, over the 10-15 years I have lived here off-and-on, I have never seen things bogged down for more than 2 days, with it usually being a matter of hours. The largest problem we face is that most people don’t know how to drive, much less drive in snow. Of course, snow is rarely what we have to deal with, but ice. The people who do know how to drive in snow get fooled, and the fools try to drive like bats-out-of-hell and both are the true hazard on the road.

I have a simple rule if out and it starts to snow. Find a coffee shop or diner, pull in, and wait a few hours. This lets everyone either get home or firmly in a ditch, then it is safe to get out and get home. Being the boy sprout, I do have chains for the car, chains and a come-along for accidents, candles and lamps for light, and a chef’s stove and camping stoves for cooking and heating. I can and will get by, and simply don’t want the water to go out as I like to flush the toilet. Yes, I can take care of that too, but don’t like the work. If it is that bad, that is the time to be curled up with a good book, not doing manual labor.

No chance of that today, and whatever comes is likely not to stick. Yet people are leaving work early and the stores are bracing for impact. I really do hope I don’t have to leave the lair again today…

LW