Okay...so it wasn't this bad. But we did have snow yesterday in upstate New York! Brrrrr.
Have you ever had one of those events that you really want to get to, but somehow all the forces seem to be against you? (You may already be surmising how the snow is going to play into all this.) Not something you just felt you should go to--like a class or a business meeting. But something you were looking forward to, more like a birthday party when you were a kid. That's the way it was for me last night. It was to be the first meeting of a newly-organized writer's group, and I was excited and anxious to meet with these women and learn all about their writing and goals. To say that I'm rather isolated, writing full time from my home office, is an understatement. I'm the one responsible for keeping the FedEx guy from timely completion of his route because I insist on chatting with him about the weather, finding out about his family, and if I didn't think it would look really suspicious I'd probably invite him in for coffee.
The group was supposed to meet at a local bread cafe at 6:30pm. The first glitch was that my husband needed the car to go to a meeting, and he had to be there an hour earlier. So I arranged to get a ride from my kind-hearted mother-in-law. At this point it's raining and frigid, with little flecks of white trying to make their way into the mix. About half way there, we hear a horrible grinding, only to discover that we have a flat tire. Well, it's dark, freezing rain out, and although we both knew the basic procedure for changing a tire, neither one of us felt we had the strength to crank off those nuts and secure the spare. So we called AAA, and awaited their arrival.
About this time I get a call from my husband, who says it's snowing a blizzard where he's located, and he was traveling in white-out conditions. Then some of the members call my cell phone and say they can't make it due to the weather either. One member, who was coming from the farthest away, however, was still able to make it, although she was lost in a strip mall.
In the end, it all worked out. The tire got changed, and we made it to the cafe. The other member waited, warming herself with a cup of hot chocolate, and we had a great opportunity for a one-on-one visit. My husband made it home safely, and my mother-in-law got a new tire the next day. Just one of life's little detours.
I look forward to meeting the rest of the group next month. Let's just hope mother nature is kind.
Tail's End: If you can't change the circumstances, you can at least change your attitude toward them.
