Weather Makes You Crazy

Or at least it does if you live in Austin, TX. Don't get me wrong, I have grown to love this city in the year we've lived here. But what is it with Austin and a little bit of foul weather? This week has been especially revealing as we watched a small ice storm practically shut down the city. My first hint of the panic was of course the reckless driving. Drivers here especially seem to get incredibly baffled at the slightest hint of precipitation. There wasn't even ice yet forming on the surface of the street and we had multi-car pileups on the freeways.

Then there was the stores... Most were closed - many a grocery store shelf was stripped bare. Now keep in mind, the weather man is reporting just 2-3 days of freezing rain. Turning on the news, or picking up a paper greeted your eyes with hailing of the ICE APOCALYPSE OF 2007 in the largest possible print.

Considering all the commotion about the storm, I expected to see the city out doing something about the ice, but driving or walking around the north west part of Austin not a single sand or salt truck was to be found. Heck, my mail has not even been delivered since last Saturday. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night..." Yeah, right. Not here.

To be fair, I did find over an inch of ice on various parts of my house and yard. Having spent several cold, cold winters in NYC though, weather stuff here often just leaves me shaking my head in amusement.

Here's some pictures of the what the storm left in my backyard. You can judge for yourself if the sky was falling...