Monday, March 3, 2014

March 3, 2014

Snow, Sleet, Freezing Rain, and Ice Pellets
In Texas in March???
March 3, 2014

Today's blog entry will cover yesterday and today.  Sunday morning when we got up, it was 30 degrees where we were staying at my sister's house north of Ft. Worth.  It was not the 55 degrees that the forecast had predicted.  We had checked the weather just before midnight and according to them, early morning would be 55 and by noon it would be 45, falling to 19 over night.  Wrong!  It was in the upper 20s and the car was already coated in ice.  My brother-in-law went out back and broke up the ice in the birdbath so the birds could get drinks. 
Ice on the hood of the car early Sunday morning.

We left their lovely home about 8:00 and headed to the church our son and his girlfriend are members of in Dallas for their 9:15 worship service.  We arrived around 9:00 and even in the underground parking garage, it was cold, but we were protected for the strong winds.  We again attended the Contemporary Worship Service.  The preacher is outstanding.  The music was not my first choice, and I could never catch the melody.  I did catch most of the words though.  I was again able to understand almost all that the preacher said in his sermon.

Following the service we attended a brunch and class with our son and his girlfriend, and her family.  The buffet was lovely and the class was excellently led by a wonderful couple.  An older couple who had worked with this particular ministry for almost 30 years spoke.  The woman is a gifted speaker using truth and humor to hold her audience spellbound.

It was almost 1:30 when we left the church to head home.  The temperature had dropped to 26 and the wind continued to blow fiercely.   I must admit, I was pretty "up tight."  I have very little experience driving in blowing snow, sleet, freezing rain, and on icy elevated roadways.  The precipitation was not heavy, but it was enough to accumulate on the roads and everyone (almost everyone) was being careful.  Texans don't know how to deal with icy roads for the most part. 
 
The sleet, snow, and ice pellets took turns pelting us as we headed south.  I was nervous to say the least.  My husband is an excellent driver, but that doesn't mean those around us are as skilled as he is.  I kept thinking of the conversation I shared a few weeks ago when I said to my oldest granddaughter, speaking about my husband, "I hope he knows what he's doing."  To which she quickly replied, "He does."  End of discussion.  Our GPS went crazy when it had gotten so cold overnight and so he was depending on me to help navigate.  I used to be a good navigator for him, but now I need my reading glasses to read the map and seem to never have them handy when he needs a quick answer.  

Ice pellets accumulating on the windshield wipers.

The wind was a factor in the difficult driving.  I did a lot of praying.  Around Waco it got worse, but it came in bands - it could be raining, 5 seconds later snowing, and 10 seconds later sleeting.  We passed many accidents with a lot of emergency personnel working in the miserable conditions.  


By the time we got to Round Rock, my husband was ready for a break, so we stopped for supper at our favorite spot, Pok-e-Joe.  We quickly ate wonderful brisket and got back on the road.  Not far from there we left the main north/south freeway and took the toll road that by-passes Austin and San Antonio.  It was so much easier.  
We were south of Karnes City before all the ice melted off the car.  We got ahead of the front about 25 miles from home and as we passed through the front, the car windows fogged up instantly!  It was a little after midnight when we arrived home and it was so good to be home safely.  It had been a very long day.
We worked together to unload the car and it was a while before we were unwound enough to relax and get some sleep.  

This morning we both managed to over sleep.  Ron got ready and went to the office.  It was after  10:00 before I got there.  We both worked on assorted paperwork for a while and after I had eaten my lunch, Ron left on some jobs.  I am doing pretty well with the customers as far as my hearing goes.  They do seem to have a knack of waiting until I turn on the machines to cut their keys and then they start talking.  I never know if it is just chit-chat, or if they are changing their order, so I have to turn off the machine and walk closer to them to see if what they are saying matters to their order.

It was the beginning of a new month, so I worked on closing the books on last month.  At the end of the day I took a deposit to the bank.  After work I went to get milk and bread and headed home.  Ron stayed late to work so I fixed my own supper and did a little work on the Winter Texan Banquet for our church.  I have centerpieces to prepare, as well as a long list of other activities on my "to do list".

It was good to have a break and be away, but we are glad to be home and we have a lot of "catching up" to do in the next few days. 

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