“Significant weather” is expected just an inch north of us. The small weather map on a website I checked also advertised a Jimmy Buffett tribute show. While $150 was never happening, even the actual $15 entry fee (I had to do a double take) wasn’t tempting enough for me to consider.
I’ve declared a timeout and huddled up with my plants to prepare for the twenty-something-degree nights ahead. Even the wheeled cart of outdoor herbs got a lift over the threshold, courtesy of Dave and me. Their new Christmas blanket from Grandma might look festive, but it probably wouldn’t provide the insulation they’d need to survive the cold.
I want snow. Even the lightest dusting would quiet the angsty little kid inside me—the one who looks like the boy from A Christmas Story in his puffy jacket, waddling around and whining, “Guys, hey guys,” when he falls and can’t get up.
But I digress.
The tale of a past snow “storm” that melted by noon and shut down schools for the day was shared with me as an inside joke from another Washington-to-Georgia transplant. Was she being dramatic? Maybe, maybe not. Looking at the news and its “Storm threatens! Looms!” headlines—and based on my own experience with Georgia winter weather’s general lack of excessiveness—I’m not particularly worried.
Then again, I wasn’t too worried when living in Washington state the night 12 inches of snow fell, and I probably should have been. That was the night Dave raced to meet me at our ocean cabin. I remember how surreal it was to see flurries falling on the sand for the first time.
I took a quick break from plant-prepping to pick up groceries at Sam’s Club. Yes, I parked in aisle 8, waited three minutes, and let a man shove a box of supplies into the trunk, which I opened and closed with the push of a button. Is it equally bad or endearing that I rolled down the window to ask if he was keeping warm out there—and then launched into a ramble about my plants braving the cold nights?
And now, the moment I’ve been waiting for: Dave and I are purchasing Wicked for $19.99 and settling in for movie night. I’ve rationalized spending a significant amount of cheddar in that I wanted to see it in the theatre. Should I go all out and make popcorn, too? Let’s go to the movies, let’s go see the stars! Do you know that song from Annie as well as I do?
Alrighty, stay warm out there! I’m off to the couch for a cozy night of major entertainment.
Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 