Payment now due

In the last installment of our November Texas trip I noted a winter storm was headed for our part of Kansas, which contributed to my decision to make the journey home on Black Friday.  

The forecast was accurate.  On Sunday, November 25, our town, along with much of Kansas and the Midwest in general, got hit with a whole lot of white stuff.  The holiday weekend was extended a little further as schools and many businesses were closed the following day.  

But the storm passed and life returned to normal.  Temps began to warm and the thaw was on.  

That led into a mild December.  

We didn't have a white Christmas which was OK by me.  Still, I kept thinking that eventually the pleasant temperatures would go bye-bye and we'd return to the sometimes-brutal Kansas winter.  

Sure enough.  January 10 was a sunny day and nearly a shirt-sleeve climate.  Then Friday the 11th the clouds moved in and stayed.  And stayed.  

They didn't decide to do anything until the following Friday (January 18).  Rain started in the late morning and morphed into snow by quitting time.  My commute home was a bit longer than usual.  The next day Geoana and I were out with the shovels, clearing our driveway and front walk.  

About half the snow was gone by Monday evening thanks to bright sunlight and temperatures above freezing.  The forecast for yesterday indicated rain in the early to middle of the day followed by snow later.  

Well, it was mostly true.  What we didn't count on was the rain arriving earlier than expected and the temperatures plummeting which turned the standing water into ice.  Even though I prepared for the conditions yesterday morning when parking my vehicle (which means I lifted my wipers up from the windshield) I still was dismayed to see a nice sheet of ice on the whole front of my vehicle necessitating warming up the engine and cranking the defroster.  Soon after I (and the rest of the people in the building) learned the sidewalks, parking lot, and streets were now a big ol' ice-skating rink.  

My drive home yesterday was even worse than last Friday.  Then to top it off, more snow to go on top of the ice.  

So yes, now winter has a great grip on all of us in this locale.  And we're not even into February yet, which last winter saw the schools close on account of it being too cold.  

Ever the optimist, ain't I?