el nino showed up and showed up in spades, about ten inches of snow, closing roads all through west texas including very major arteries like interstates 27, 40, and 20. they never did plow 23rd street that i know of, and some people in lubbock were mad, apparently, that it took them so long to do what they did. i wasn't mad though. it took me all day to shovel 1/3 of my driveway, and i figure if i was running the snow plow it would be even worse and i would leave some ice behind to boot. that's what always made me mad about the plows; sure they'd remove a foot of snow, but they'd leave an inch of ice, and you'd always wonder if you were even better off.

some neighbor tried to pull his truck out of his driveway, and my iowa experience showed me what was wrong. a lot of times, these guys have big trucks, but they have wide wheels without much traction, so they have a lot of weight on a really wide smooth surface, and they end up spinning their wheels. you think, because you have a big truck, you're better off, but no, really you're better off if you have a volkswagen, so little you can pick it up and just move it off the ice. this truck, we could hardly get it off its ice and down the road. but the neighbors were friendly; it was my first chance to meet them.

the sky was blue, the air fresh while i was out there shoveling. the reason i don't have a genuine snow shovel is, once i bought one, and it broke immediately, and i've never bought another one. i do all my shoveling with a dirt shovel, hard, steel, strong. and it's less efficient, but it cuts the ice. it's odd, i seem to enjoy it. it's not hard to balance as a true snow shovel is. and, of course, you can use it for other stuff.

waiting, because we're going to kansas in two days, and we're hoping the roads are ok. our plan is to go up in time for the new year, and come back soon after. i shouldn't say this in public, but i'm saying it on a weblog where, basically, you have to read four paragraphs before you even get to it, and nobody actually reads any more, i'm pretty sure, except maybe a few of my closest relatives. a few people actually come to this page, and that's because it's been around forever, and refers to all kinds of things, and has lots of useful links. but nobody actually reads it, i'm pretty sure. so you're welcome to the knowledge. it's really no secret.

lots of reorganization, of pictures, and of webpages, and of information. i'm going to tesol again this year, baltimore. looking forward to it. taking my fiddle. i'll see how that works out!