Monday, February 18, 2013

Snow and walking dead

The snow day didn't just come, it brought all the snow in the world with it at once. Thursday afternoon schools were canceling Friday classes. Over two feet of snow and gusting winds were promised. And so the snow started. it snowed from 9 am till the next morning.

I love just watching the snow.

Snow to me tastes like hot cocoa. So on Thrusday I made sure I told my husband to stop at the grocery store and grab a few grocery items that we were out of PLUS some chocolate bars for hot cocoa.

Big mistake. Remember, NEVER walk into a grocery store right before an apocalyptical storm. The whole world is there, the shelves are empty and people are eating each other's brains. Oh, wait, no. this in The Walking Dead.

On my way home, I figured I'd stop at a gas station and top if off, since I was already 1/4 down. But ALREADY turned into ONLY when I saw the lines.

Later that evening, we went out for sushi. Dean suggested that we stopped for gas on the way home just in case we needed to go anywhere during the storm. Guess what- there wasn't any gas left anywhere!

Welcome to TEOTWAWKI.

But, hey, even if we wanted to have gone anywhere in that crazy storm, we would not be able to - because the governor of our state decided to put anyone who dared venture out of of the house in jail for a year.

Jail? A year? Yes. Again, welcome to TEOTWAWKI. Empty shelves, no gas to found, and dictatorship... And that's just with one blizzard.

So Friday came. The snow came. I melted some chocolate bars and drank away... enjoying my day off from work.


Then Saturday came. the roofs of the houses were not really covered in snow. but the ground was. And - omg - talk about a few feet of snow.

Powdery snow, but about 2'4" of it. Higher in some places because of the drifting.

At around 10am my husband and his brother decided it was time to shovel.

I had suggested that they waited till the afternoon, when ( I had read) the wind would subdue. But hey, when was the last time you heard of husbands actually listening to wives good sense?

They were out there, fighting the wind, for about 3.5hours! Good for them! If their intelligence wasn't that of cat, they would have learned it and next time they'd hear me. But I'm beginning to think men come with cat brains. Which means learning is impossible.

We went for a walk that afternoon. I wanted to take pictures. Bad idea. It was bitter cold and every time the wind blew, the powder flew into my eyes. Besides, the sidewalks were not clean all the way. In some spots we walked on the snowy roads. In other spots we just crossed the snow on the sidewalks with snow to my waist.



By the time Walking Dead was on my TV set on Sunday, I already knew that there would be no school again on Monday.

Why? Because the snow wasn't completely cleared off most side roads and most sidewalks!

Meanwhile I did what I like to do - planned my trip and revised my book. Drank hot cocoa and played with my new Walking Dead app in which I can zombify myself.

February 14 would come on that same week and I would learn to never go shopping the night before Valentine's day either! Live and Learn!


Saturday, February 02, 2013

Santa Maria - reflections

Remember when you used to come home at 3 am and find your mom sitting down on the living room couch waiting - worried sick about you? Remember how ridiculous you thought she was - bc you were just out partying with some friends? She doesn't seem so ridiculous today, does she? Now fall on your knees and thank God for having spared your mom the same pain so many moms are going through right now. Maybe they were sitting on a couch - worried sick about their babies - who will never come home again.
 
Mothers (parents and tb) are a special type of humans.

Moreover, after the bad happens we want to point fingers. And the bouncers who barred people from leaving are now crucified - people with no heart. But the work of the bouncer was not letting out deadbeats who wanted to leave without paying. Had they known there was a fire, would they have barred people? When they saw the smoke, didn't their attitude change - they opened the doors! Does that look like heartless people to you? First of, they themselves didn't want to die!

But we turn tragedies turned into witch hunts.

The governor of Rio Grande do Sul and President Dilma (as much as I have my problems with her) has my admiration. Limited themselves to providing solidarity, and not to turning a tragedy into another step to their political agenda. Unlike my dear president, self-titled african american (actually mixed), who took advantage of the tragedy of Sandy Hook to start a witch hunt - or rather a hunt after the citizen's right to bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment the constitution.


What about this Alexandre Garcia's suggestion to the claims that we need more laws and regulations to avoid tragedies: "Single Article - It's mandatory to obey the law in Brazil. And the authorities are mandated to see that the people obey the law." Revolutionary!