AS I age I’ve become aware that I’m in danger of becoming one of those old-timers who go “Well, now, back in my day….” while the eyes of people trapped anywhere in the vicinity glaze the fuck over. I’ve always been especially and unfortunately fond of saying to my young trapped students, “You think it’s cold now? Ha! It snowed TWICE in Austin in 1985!”
But! Now it’s gone and snowed twice in College Station in 2021, so I have something more contemporary to bore people with.
The first snow was on January 10 and it was fun! It was slushy and soft, perfect for snowballs or snowpeople. I went for a couple of very pleasant walks.
But! Now it’s gone and snowed twice in College Station in 2021, so I have something more contemporary to bore people with.
The first snow was on January 10 and it was fun! It was slushy and soft, perfect for snowballs or snowpeople. I went for a couple of very pleasant walks.
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(Found this on twitter. Don't know who made it, but I approve).
The second snow, just this last week, pretty much sucked. I just saw a blog post that said the storm was unexpected. Maybe—if you weren’t paying fucking attention. The weather models were showing something big two weeks out and they weren’t wrong. When the storm arrived Sunday night, it got cold first and then windy and then the snow came. I went for a quick walk just after midnight—the snow was dry and hard and gritty. Too cold to fluff up. Pretty as it blew swirling past the streetlights, but unlovable.
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About 230am Monday, the power went out. This was also not unexpected, and I was ready with battery lamps and extra device chargers and pre-cooked food. The indoor temp by morning was down to the low-50s, but I could dress warm—and cold is a state of mind, anyway. (That’s an ancient Bud Grant reference).
By midday, the power came on and then started to cycle in and out, half-hour on, half-hour off, and stayed cycling that way throughout the week. On Wednesday a second wave of weather brought an ice storm, which I was too wise to venture out into (I’m still pissed at fucking Pittsburg State for not clearing ice off the goddamn sidewalks fuck you) but from my doorway looked grim and bleak. (Perhaps I was projecting my emotions onto the innocent ice). So I stayed inside and I did stuff in my power half-hours, ate and charged devices and whatnot, and then I could contentedly sit in the dark and read on my tablet.
So I had it pretty easy! The power situation was annoying but endurable. But the suffering elsewhere in the state is immense and ongoing. It's a Texas Chernobyl. The snow and the cold and the mid-week ice storm were natural events. But the power situation (and water situation, and sewage situation) are man-made, the result of crazy-ass libertarian anti-government sentiments that have dominated Texas since forever through gerrymandering and voter suppression and general fucked-upedness and ignorance. These people (I use that term loosely) don’t think there is any role for government in American society. This shit has got to stop.
Don’t mourn—thaw out and organize.
What would Lyndon Johnson do?
By midday, the power came on and then started to cycle in and out, half-hour on, half-hour off, and stayed cycling that way throughout the week. On Wednesday a second wave of weather brought an ice storm, which I was too wise to venture out into (I’m still pissed at fucking Pittsburg State for not clearing ice off the goddamn sidewalks fuck you) but from my doorway looked grim and bleak. (Perhaps I was projecting my emotions onto the innocent ice). So I stayed inside and I did stuff in my power half-hours, ate and charged devices and whatnot, and then I could contentedly sit in the dark and read on my tablet.
So I had it pretty easy! The power situation was annoying but endurable. But the suffering elsewhere in the state is immense and ongoing. It's a Texas Chernobyl. The snow and the cold and the mid-week ice storm were natural events. But the power situation (and water situation, and sewage situation) are man-made, the result of crazy-ass libertarian anti-government sentiments that have dominated Texas since forever through gerrymandering and voter suppression and general fucked-upedness and ignorance. These people (I use that term loosely) don’t think there is any role for government in American society. This shit has got to stop.
Don’t mourn—thaw out and organize.
What would Lyndon Johnson do?
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