Everybody's freesin' !!!

Good morning!

My father spoke really good English even though it was his second language.  He hardly had any accent at all when he was younger and fresh out of the University of Texas, it seems, but as he grew older his Spanish accent, like other parts of his personality, inclined more back to the Mexican.  One thing he never quite seemed to master was the treacherous English "z".  He spoke it  like an "s" no matter how hard he may have been trying.  As far as I know, he never had to live through weather such as his beloved town of Brownsville, Texas, is sustaining now.

Perhaps the most southerly US point of all this cold that's sweeping the middle part of our country now, Brownsville is suffering hard.  I spoke to my sister on the phone this morning, about six my time, and she told me that every single plant and tree in her yard is gone.  Brownsville is semi-tropical in climate, and lots of beautiful big-leafed tropical plants and trees thrive there.  It is generally warm, and it rains a lot, and things grow wildly. Gardens are beautiful. But now, every single plant gone! That's heart-breaking.

Their power is still on so they are warm.  Their passion is birdwatching, watching the little and big birds that frequent their backyard feeders.  The birds are out there this morning, jumping around to keep warm.  Their water is frozen, of course. She is going to put some fresh water out there now. It probably won't freeze today,though she says they haven't seen the sun for days.  Oh--and dead sea turtles are washing up down at the Gulf....

My sister in San Antonio has sent us beautiful photos of Encanta St. in northeastern San Antonio, where it has been even colder. Everything is frozen there too and there is a beautiful light covering of snow all over.  Underneath that snow there's deadly ice, and the people of San Antonio are advised not to go to work until the ice has had a chance to melt off.

My sister in Tucson is the coldest of all. She and her husband went to bed with all their coats on last night because it was TEN DEGREES by their garden thermometer, and they have no heat. Right.  No heat. I asked why and she said that the city of Tucson ran out of gas. Instead of sharing the problem around, they just cut out a whole area, and Ventana Canyon got the ax.  Imagine!  Did they leave Glens Falls for this???  The city underestimated the amount of gas their inhabitants would be needing, and they didn't order enough...James Howard Kunstler would be pointing his finger and saying, AHA!  He knows it is going to be difficult when the petroleum products all go away.

My sister in North Carolina is still freesin', as she has been for some weeks now. She's more used to it, and has wood to burn, so she's more prepared than some. She wraps up and hunkers down by the fire and reads.  Hope the lights don't go out, my  sister.

Here in Chula Vista, it is as cold as heck, but we have a nice blowy gas furnace with plenty in supply still, it seems. The sky is clear and the sun will be out, but, Daddy, we're still freesin'!!!   YAZZYBEL