It's been a cruel day

Mother nature dropped some old-school cruelty on my little corner of the world today. The news reports have been calling it crippling, with local governments pulling mass transit off-line. Apparently this is the view from space.

I call it 17 inches of snow, but whatever, right?

I must admit that it's been interesting to watch. First, before the snow came, all the stores were ransacked by locals in anticipation. Then everyone went home to wait. Parking lots emptied; the streets were silent and the only sound to be heard was the wind picking up its pace.

Then, around midnight, it started. Light at first, it was quite pretty. Reflecting off the street light on the corner, it almost looked like meteor shower. Unlike a meteor shower, though, this event didn't end. It's been nearly 24 hours now and it's still coming down.

The last report I heard was that the cities and counties around here were even pulling their plows off the roads because they can't keep up with the weather. Once again, mother nature shows us that no matter how far humans have advanced from the cave and the first fire, we are still these small, fragile creatures who only get by through what can best be described as unbalanced luck.

Maybe that's why I love big weather?

Once, when I was about 18 my father and I went on a whitewater trip in Utah. Due to a confluence of weather-related events the river was running bigger and faster than it had in nearly a century. We were told that the canyon would be closed to rafters within the hour, so we had a choice: go home or get in the water. We knew that once we pushed off, there was no going back and the only way was 50 miles down-river.

My father and I took the ride of a life. But I digress. That's a story for another day.

In the meantime I leave you with this: a reason to hate stupid people.