Weather and Other Oddities

Everyday -- often several times a day -- I check the weather here in Brookings, in Eugene and in Cedartown.  Mostly I'm just interested in Brookings, but they all show up on one page so I see them all.

Here in Brookings, waaaaaayyy up north, we are in a warm spell.  Wet, but warm.  In Cedartown, waaaaayyyy down south, they've been in the teens for days now.  Eugene is almost always colder than Brookings, a fact explained by our proximity to the (relatively) warm Pacific Ocean.  Right now, it's 54 here, 39 in Eugene, and 18 in Cedartown, where it's already afternoon.  I expect they had at least a dusting of snow overnight, too.  Brrrrr.  Glad I'm still here in Brookings!

I guess that's the best thing about delaying my move.  The longer I delay, the warmer it's likely to be down in the deep south.  I remember from my 10 years in Atlanta that January is always a pits of a month.  Cold, windy, icy.  Yuk.  After that, it tends to warm up a bit although there is always the chance of another cold snap.  A few years before I left Atlanta we had a huge snowstorm blow through in March that literally shut the city down for several days.  Thankfully, the weather gods had the kindness to bring it on a Friday night rather than during the work week.

The weather reports had been saying the snow was coming for days, but most people seemed to ignore that.  I opted to listen, then went to the video store for a good supply of entertainment and to the grocery store for a good supply of food, so whatever outings I took were for pleasure, not necessity.

I walked out of my apartment complex the next morning just to have a look, found people walking to and from our end of a dead-end street to the nearest supermarket, mostly seeming to be carrying home good supplies of beer.  A young woman in a cloth dress coat and cloth sneakers, nothing on her head, was walking in that direction.  Not good attire for the cold and snow!  As a hiker/backpacker, I had my good hiking boots and the right clothes to protect myself against hypothermia!  Our road ran alongside an interstate and I walked down to the crossroads a block or two away to have a look from the overpass: nothing but a big blanket of snow as far as the eye could see.  Maybe one fool out there creeping along in a car, or stuck on the side, I don't remember which.

As I was walking back home, I heard a large 'crack' that could only mean one thing and I took off running.  A huge pine tree came down right about where I'd been walking.  Whew!  That was a little too close for comfort.  The following day I walked to the video store to return my rentals.  Fortunately, the power stayed on all weekend so I was warm, entertained and well-fed.

Monday morning, I donned my hiking boots and slogged through snow and lots of snow/ice masses piled up alongside the streets and made it to work, after an hour or so of walking.  I knew somebody would be needed to answer the phones, and I was right.  My little Ranger pickup did not do snow and ice, and neither did its owner.  I got a ride home with one of the partners, in a 4WD truck.

No, there has been no word yet on the loan.  You'll hear it here one way or another and, oddly enough, I am quite content to accept either eventuality.  That's my Buddhist training and, indeed, a big part of the overall goal of Buddhist practice, so I'm really happy that I'm in that place.