Flying in for a Snow Storm

Last week Lexi, Nate and I were in Tampa, Florida. Tampa as in the place of gators, lots and lots of tourists, and warmer weather. Anyhow, as we were waiting in the airport for the flight back, we met a nice couple who was heading to NY to stay in their Keuka Lake cottage on purpose to watch the snow. See, all week we had been hearing about this HUGE snow fall we were going to get over the weekend with inches and inches of snow. So, these people decided to go to their cabin and watch it fall on purpose. They were previously NY peeps until they became snowbirds and then must have missed snow?

I won't miss snow. Pretty sure of it. Talking about it later, THE MAN shook his head and said freaking old people. He had visions of plowing for hours in the cold and a much less romantic view of being snowed in.

Currently as I write this we're waiting for it to end. There is a fair amount outside, but there really isn't any point of breaking out the tractor to clean it all up until it stops falling. The dogs both peed as close as possible to the house and dove back in with snow flying all over. Duncan hates to get wet. The highway that I can see from my window is empty. We were told to stay home and for once it looks like everyone listened.

The little old lady I sat next to on the plane had needed some help to get her phone in airplane mode. Thinking about the snow storm we were heading back to, I very uncharacteristically struck up a conversation. I asked if she was coming for the storm. Her face twisted and she started crying. She was coming back for her 44 year old daughter's funeral. I thought a whole lot of words in my head (most of them rhyming with the word duck) and gave her a huge hug. She said that her daughter died very unexpectedly and they were awaiting an autopsy for cause of death. I'm not a hugger either, so all of this was a bit out of my comfort zone.

I watched as she tried to read her book and offered to turn on the overhead light for her.

She said that focusing on anything wasn't working as her mind kept whirling.

I decided to keep her company for the two hour plus flight. We talked about gators, dogs, houses, and anything else I could think of to keep her distracted. Her daughters were waiting for her to land and I figured she had a pretty long road ahead of her get through the funeral & hopefully getting some answers, the least of her worries being the snow. I watched as she met up with them by baggage and wished I had something profound to say to all of them. They hugged and headed out into the cold. I hope that they can find comfort in each other and some peace.

We headed to the parking lot and Lexi's car battery wasn't pleased about being left in the cold for a week. Needless to say the car wasn't starting. THE MAN who had gotten us thus far started to melt down a little. He was trying to find a taxi so we could ride home and grab another vehicle to jump the car. I asked at the rental car counter and found out that the booth attendant had a booster. In about ten minutes we were on our way. We were thankful that our local folks are used to dead batteries!

Today I'm thankful for my people and they are all home with me. There is a lot of laundry to do, dogs to play with, and home made meals to cook. There is satisfaction in coming home after adventures. Even if that coming home has it's own adventures.