Cabin Fever

Three days at home with the kids can test your patience and sanity.

For the second time in three weeks the Wake County Public Schools have been closed for three and a half days due to weather.  Snow, and it's evil cousin, ice. 

This week the first patch of bad weather started on Tuesday afternoon with a strong snow storm that hit Ft Bragg and forced me to hit the road by noon.  We all knew that this was Round 1 of a three part storm.

On Wednesday, Round 2 hit harder than the first day.  In our little town the roads were covered with white chaos within 20 minutes.  In the time it took us to get extra provisions from the store our car was covered in snow.  It took my neighbor 90 minutes to go from the store to our subdivision - a trip of three miles. 

When the weather turns bad here the only option is to go home and stay there until you think the main roads are passable.  Lacking any serious snow moving equipment, the towns and counties in North Carolina rely on Mother Nature to remove the snow for them.  This means it was 29* yesterday and it was 55* degrees today.  Yesterday the roads had snow on them and today the snow melted.   Since we average one significant snow storm here a year - One Per Year - it makes no sense to invest in plows. 

When the weather turns bad here life pauses.  Businesses close up.  Grocery stores shutter.  People seem to disappear altogether.  There are no adventurers out there.  Unless, of course, you waited too long at work and got caught on a major highway.  In that case, you were screwed.  People abandoned cars rather than wait for a rescue that may or may not have come.

When the weather turns bad here you are trapped inside with your family for the duration.  We were lucky and kept electricity throughout.  TJ and Grant played together and one their own without any issues and we managed to get over to grandma's a couple of times to let TJ have a change of scenery.  TJ and I even had a "camping" night as Round 3 - the ice storm - rolled through during the night of Wednesday to Thursday morning and we slept down stairs while the gas fireplace stayed on. 

By Thursday afternoon the roads were clearly passable but the neighborhood roads were a mess and with the drop in temperature into the twenties again, school was cancelled for Friday too.  Ugh.  Lisa and I both brought home our work computers so we were able to get some work done even though both Ft Bragg and the ARC were closed.  But, eventually, you run out of things to do.

All those little chores you have been putting off?  They finally get done.  Tupperware drawers get organized, clothes get folded and put away, the fridge gets cleaned.  And that's just the first two hours...

I am reminded that I do not miss the northern weather.  I feel for those people who stay there for one reason or another and have endured one of the worst winters in recent memory.  My heart goes out to them as one storm after another pounded them this year. 

All storms pass and we were greeted with sunny skies and warm temperatures today.  All in all - we made it.  The kids were good and our cabin fever didn't turn out to be that bad.  

The forecast next week calls for 78* and thunder storms.  Helloooo spring.