Snow

I do not like snow.

Snow really screws up an 18 mile commute through several microclimates. When it became clear yesterday that it was going to keep coming down, I started to stress about today's drive. I would love to just call in to work and tell them not to expect me, but because of my many days of illness I am down to almost no PTO.

So in less than an hour, I am going to lace on my boots and head out to the car and see what happens. The traffic cams show the roads are clear and traffic light, so it should be okay getting there. I'm just not sure how good it's going to stay today.

Yesterday the Ex took the Daughter north to play in the snow at his sister's house, leaving uncrowned_king and I alone to enjoy the afternoon. We spent a few hours working on projects (he doing homework, me working on the project plan due for work today), then watched Constantine (which was okay, but not something I'd buy). After that, he oriented me to the game Mage: The Ascension while we did dishes. The snow was coming down hard by then and we didn't have much food in the house, so we decided to walk three blocks to IHOP. It was twilight, and it was almost surreal to walk in the dense snow. I was wearing the hiking boots I bought for my canyon adventure two summers ago (has it been that long??) and they worked great.

On the way home, uncrowned_king stopped to write "I love you" in big letters in the fresh snow, which warmed my heart. When we got home, the entire yard was blanketed by several inches, and he reached down and made a snowball.

I had three choices at this point: run for my door, glare and say "Don't you dare!" or launch a pre-emptive strike. I'm proud to say that I did the latter. And I took part in my first snowball fight in more years than I can remember, laughing the entire time. It was wonderful.

Inside again, we knocked off all the snow that had left us looking like flocked Christmas trees, then discussed which movie to watch next. I hadn't realized that while he's seen Serenity, he's never actually watched Firefly, so we watched "Serenity" (the pilot) and "The Train Job," and will continue from there as time allows.

I was in a lousy mood when I started this post, but writing about yesterday has put a smile on my face. The four-day holiday has really been wonderful, and I feel loved and blessed.

Changed the Gaming Icon

I've changed my icon for the Prometheus Shadow game.

It's the same girl in the icon, but she looks much younger and fresher in this one -- and after contemplating her life the universe and everything for a while, I realized that it's very important that I remain aware of the fact the Jehanne is very young: only 19, and only a few weeks from having left her home planet.

So when she ends up as "acting captain" of the cruise ship following the mutiny because she's the one who took decisive action and now everyone else is doing what she tells them, it's a pretty big thing.

This is what an adventurous spirit, high charisma, and an even higher hand-to-hand fighting ability will get you.

That, and a broken arm. But high tech medicine is A Good Thing.

One More New Icon

In contrast to my very young RPG character. . .

Twilight Zone Commute

The snow was gone this morning, the commute like any other day's.

Not this evening's.

When I left Factoria, it was cold but the clouds were white and the sky between them was blue.

On the way across the lake, I could see big, gray low-hanging clouds over the city.

As I crossed over onto the Northbound freeway, it got darker and darker the farther north I went.

Just onto the bridge, it started to hail and the clouds got thicker and darker, obscuring the sun.

Then came the snow. The worst snow around here in a very long time.

And then traffic slowed to a crawl and the snow got thicker and the sky got darker.

I was alone in my car in the far right lane, snow coming down thick and white, and I was not quite 'fighting panic' but my heartbeat was definitely elevated, and all my muscles were tense. The snow made me feel like it was hard to breathe. I had to keep reminding myself that I had my hiking boots and two sweaters plus my hooded jacket in the car, and the worst case scenario was that I would have to walk home -- but that was entirely within my capacity. Even in the snow. But I was frightened. I acknowledged it to myself, breathed through it, and reminded myself I was in no actual danger.

It took 45 minutes to get from 1/2 a mile south of my exit to the bottom of the exit at the light. Another 15 minutes to get through the two lights and onto the main drag near my house. Each time I got through a light, through an intersection, I breathed a little easier.

I drove past people putting on chains, abandoned cars, people stuck behind other people who had stalled, buses on the side of the road. I slid on fresh ice, but managed to maintain enough control to stay on the road and headed in the right direction. I almost didn't make it up the gentle hill near my house because there was nothing but ice and snow beneath me. Thank my guardian spirits and Les Schwab's All Weather tires, I got up the hill and into my own driveway.

I'm not going anywhere tomorrow unless the forecast gets a whole lot friendlier.

Cheshire Crossing, Issue 2

Several months ago, I discovered a web comic book called Cheshire Crossing, in which Alice Liddel (sometimes of Wonderland), Wendy Darling, and Dorothy Gale all are brought to the same 'school' to be studied. Their nanny is Mary Poppins.

Six months after the initial issue was posted, issue 2 is now available.

If you take any pleasure at all in alternate fairy tales, or just like a clever story, I highly recommend these:

http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/