For the past few weeks I keep finding reasons to wonder why everything has to be so stinking difficult, so it's a bit of a relief when the situation moved from merely difficult to utterly impossible. While getting to campus has been a hassle recently thanks to snow and car problems, last night's ice storm has made it impossible to even try to get out of my driveway, so here I sit drinking tea and prepping classes instead of venturing out into the frozen tundra.
I realize that we've been relatively fortunate--others have had it much worse. Friends to the west are lacking power this morning, and Athens County roads are closed to all except emergency vehicles. I've seen a salt truck and some cars moving on my road this morning, but the only vehicle that would make meaningful progress on my driveway would be a luge.
Tiny icicles hang from the eaves and the trees and the back deck rails, creating a sparkling world that would merit a closer look if it weren't bitterly cold and windy outside. I stepped out just for a few minutes and found a slick, slippery world that crunches with every step. Excellent excuse to stay indoors! Things could get dicey if we lose power, but for the moment we're doing fine.
The temperature is supposed to drop into the single digits tonight so I don't see much hope for relief from the ice before tomorrow morning, when I will need to get to campus again. Today, though, I don't have classes and I don't expect any great demand for office hours so I'm happy to stay home and watch the ice from a distance, calmly accepting the impossibility of doing otherwise.
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