The first snows of the season started
about an hour ago. I don’t know what it is about snowfall but it was as if
everyone has ground to a halt just to watch it snow. We have suspended operations
on retrofitting the buses and pulled everyone back inside along with all the
critical equipment. Still, a lot of the young kids have taken to the roof to
see and others have been peeking out of the pharmacy.
I will admit, there is something
tranquil about it.
So here is where we come to a real
decision. On one hand, the cold freezing the meat of the zombies leaves us with
a tremendous advantage. Now is the time for us to get out and move around. But
doing so, even with a 4x4 puts our people in jeopardy. No one wants to be out
and stranded after getting stuck in a ditch and forced to make the long march
back. Because if you thought people were cautious before about picking up
hitchhikers in the real world… Flat out, there would be no help coming. And
anyone that does pass by on some freakish lottery-winning-odds chance, they
aren’t stopping to help.
It gets me back to thinking about life
in America two hundred plus years ago. (Wait, have I already covered this?
Screw it, typing it anyway.) Don’t you think there were times in Colonial Florida
where people would look out at the ocean and say, “Storm is coming in.” And
they had no idea that Hurricane Sandy/Katrina was bearing down on them?
With no radar, we don’t know how deep
and how dangerous this is going to be. So we have all agreed to button up and
wait it out. Sure, we may partake of a communal snowball fight when it starts
to get deep but it will be within the safe confines of the bus-lined perimetered
parking lot.
Also, I listed this in an earlier
entry and it might need some qualification. My mom and dad took a turn working
in Salt Lake City for a few years. Now, when it snows there, the snow sticks
around. It doesn’t melt off and then more snow comes along and falls on top of
it. This doesn’t really happen in Oklahoma.
Snow is infrequent and temperatures
staying below freezing for long stretches are even rarer. So, the snow hits and
then it is gone in a few days, melting off during the day. Now, we have been
hit for cold temps for long stretches but as far as being “stranded,” it rarely
happens. And I have said it before and I will say it again, if you are going to
be stranded, this is a pretty darn good place to be holed up…
