Snow Days

Yesterday was an unusual day here in Alabama. Northern AL escaped the snow but southern AL got the most. Our granddaughter lives in Birmingham and she had a fun snow day! Our "great grandson" Charlie had a ball playing in the snow. In case you don't know, Charlie is Ashley's sweet little dog. I was at work and was concerned about traveling home. I finally made the decision around noon to close the clinic about 2 o'clock. I decided that I had 4 patients I really needed to see starting at 1 p.m. Only one came, the others stayed home due to the snow I'm sure. So I got home by 3 o'clock. Here in Priceville, we had no snow. I was actually glad. I'm not very excited about snow in my older years. I guess I had enough living outside Chicago for 30 years that I don't need the hassle anymore. The BIG difference here in the south is everything shuts down with ice and snow. You just can't drive and keep going like people do in the north. My ex husband and his family (John, Deb, and Kelsey) live outside Baltimore, MD. Boy have they been hit! I talked to Deb on Wednesday. They had 28 inches of snow last week and Tuesday night it started again and they were expecting about another 15 inches. The pictures of people using sleds and snow skis walking down the center of highways in Washington D.C. was exactly what happened in 1967 in Chicago. We had about 38 inches in 2 days. Of course, I was 17 years old and had a ball! Actually, I'm soooo ready for spring!

Another tragedy happened here yesterday. If you haven't heard, there was another senseless shooting. This time at the UAHuntsville (my Alma Mater) that left 3 faculty members dead, 2 in critical condition, and 1 who is serious but stable in Huntsville Hospital. The news broke in around 4 p.m. Honestly, I had a deep sickening reaction. I felt like someone had hit me in my chest! Our other sweet grand daughter, Emily, dates a wonderful young man,Wes, who attends UAH. I was so scared until I managed to find out he was fine. I know people always say they can't believe something like that happened here. I think this is the first stage of grief: Denial. Many in our society seem plagued with frustration, stress, and a seething anger that is like the proverbial pot set simmering on the stove. I see this in the status of my patients all the time. Many people are "living on the edge" it seems. How sad. It is a very complex problem and without adequate skills for problem solving and the availability of handguns (I don't even want to get started about this!) I am sure we will continue to watch these tragic events continue. Here in Huntsville, they buried a middle school student yesterday. He was murdered at his school just last week by another student. My heart goes out to everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. All of our loved ones are safe but I still feel grief about this. I wish I could hug everyone I care about right now! To all of our family and friends who read this, consider yourself hugged and we love you all. You are all so precious to us.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend. Keith is here and he's going to help me clean up the house and then we will probably head to Costco. (Keith loves Costco!)

Happy Valentine's everyone!