January 29, 2014…

badge created with Peppermint Mocha by A-Manda Creation

I’m wishing me a Happy Half-Birthday today! I’m officially 47-1/2 years old. As I was telling a cousin this morning my birthday is in July; I’ve never been cold on my birthday and I’ve seldom even seen rain. 6 months later it’s not the comfy day I love! This year in Toledo it is bright and sunny, wonderful to look out and see, but that sunny comes at a price! It’s noon and 14 degrees! That’s what happens when there are no clouds to hold any tiny bits of heat close to the earth; we get bright sun and bitter cold! It’s over a month since the beauty and festivity of the holidays and it’s still over 2 months before Opening Day! It’s cold and there is snow and ice everywhere. I celebrate my half-birthday to make me smile at a time of year that is unquestionably void of cheer and Nani-happiness! Do please, find a smile with me today thinking about July and that it was just 6 months ago that I asked you to have some ice cream to celebrate with me and know that on a warm day just 6 months from now, I’ll encourage you to do the same! But for the half-birthday, join me in a cup of hot cocoa!

I’ve seen photos and read news stories about the devastation this insane winter has brought to the south! It’s so sad to see the craziness and the traffic tie-ups yesterday and now. I saw photos of people sleeping on the floor at CVS using maxi pad packages for pillows because they just couldn’t get home last night! In their defense to any of us up north who say they “should have known better,” how? For many of them, including city and state officials, this is possibly the most snow they’ve ever seen at once and they’ve certainly never seen that much snow and ice on their homes and workplaces. In a discussion about the 4” in Atlanta this morning I brought up and imagined what I’d be like driving in bumper to bumper traffic after being evaluated for a hurricane. I’d be scared, confused and making bad choices because I’d simply never been in anything like it before. I’d have known ahead of time, but I wouldn’t be able to fathom how bad it could really be until I was faced with fleeing from my home. The difference in places like Atlanta is that they are trying to flee TO their homes and can’t. As one who has always lived in areas that get several inches of snow and below freezing temperatures in the winter I cut them a little slack. This isn’t just another half foot on top of the half foot they usually get or below zero instead of the 20s. It’s 8 times the snow they get every few years all at once in a part of the country that’s seldom cold enough for the snow to stick when it does flurry. It’s a totally different experience; it’s got to be pretty surreal.

To everyone dealing with the crazy weather, bless you and be safe!