My
sister-in-law called to tell me that it was
snowing
up in Dogpatch, so my
carpool buddy and I took off from
the
Sacramento River Valley and headed north. We were
very close to home and had almost climbed to 1700 feet
but the roads were still clear and dry.
Then, suddenly, a line of cars ahead, a policeman: it was
a
chain check. But only for cars going higher, to
Wiffle Valley. To us he only said, "
Be careful."
Well, a few miles from home and still no sign of snow,
when suddenly the rain turned to these strings of white
yarn. The wind must have been blowing pretty well,
because they were falling almost horizontally. Still,
it wasn't sticking.
Then, within a mile of home, it got deep and heavy.
Within a few feet of home, it got dark. I thought it
was our old friend The California Power Crisis, but
instead it was a good old fashion tree falling on a
power line somewhere down below.
No power for three hours. Then it came on for a half
hour and was off again. A friend came by and dropped
off some firewood, so we had heat. We sat in the
firelight with the neighbors, my daughter crying to
see Scooby Doo and to turn on the light, so
the neighbors went home and we went to bed.
The power kept going on and off all night. When it
goes off our thermostat makes some weird chirps; when
it comes on the answering machine and VCR clear their
throats and the refrigerator kicks in. So I was waking
up and down all night.
By morning it was all melting.