This winter has been, thus far anyway, one ofthe coldest I can remember. Ah, what happened to those glorious days of 60 degrees and sun.

Before I continue though, I should acknowledge the wildfires in Los Angeles that are happening as I write this. I’m sure I know people who are out there, and I can only hope and pray that they and everyone else are all right. The loss has already been incalculable, unfortunately including some lives. I hope some kind of rain or cold will come soon to help put the fires out.

Here in North Carolina, we had our first brush with measurable snow since January 29th, 2022. Of course the drumbeat starts days before its arrival: excitable news reporters whipping themselves and in turn the public to a frenzy. “If it shifts a little south…” “will likely start around 4 PM on Friday…” “dangerous ice mixed in…”

As the appointed time arrived, my wife lined up with all the other Southerners to acqure the essentials: bread, milk, and toilet paper. Our Northern immigrants (yes y’all, we are our own country here,) shook their heads, bemused. They know they’re still cold though, they just don’t wanna admit it. And we don’t have the requisite equipment to continue normal functioning when a couple inches of “the white stuff” sweeps through town. I still do pick on our silliness, even if I understand it.

As I grudgingly rolled out of the blankets on Friday at 5 AM, I scraped the networks for answers as to whether I should venture out to work. These late-arriving storms are the hardest to predict, but since nothing I saw indicated that it would start prior to my 4 PM quitting time and 5 PM return home I decided I should go in. Once, back in 2014, I got stuck on a Durham city bus as over six inches of snow fell in a half hour while trying to return from work early. If not for a kind passenger ensuring I got home and more importantly to my door that could have ended badly. So I do not make this decision lightly.

Work was work, I spent this past week taking a new trainee on a crash course through JAWS to help prepare her for a position. It’s rewarding work, but let’s just say it also led to some good sleep.

As I stepped from the building, I was dismayed but not entirely surprised to feel drops of freezing rain hitting my hands. I was just hoping the GoTriangle paratransit vehicle I would be on would ferry me safely home, and then get the driver safely back to wherever they put them. I think I did feel us slide a little bit, but otherwise all was well and I got home quickly for a Friday. I suppose enough people heeded the warnings “WRAL Weather Alert Day!” our main local news channel intoned, to keep traffic fairrly light.

And now on Sunday, a little bit of that cabin fever is starting to set in. The good thing, I guess, is I can sit in my room and absorb lots of sunshine from my window. How many days till Spring?