Please Stay Tuned

Today I am moving to Kansas. The God's in their mysterious godly ways have decided to throw a few hurdles in my way. Tests, I believe they're called in Greek Mythology or trials and trib-you-lations in the American Christian church-going vernacular.

So, today I was to visit a girl that I dated for about 5 months earlier this year. I was going to stay with her tonight in Buffalo then take a nice leisurely twelve-hour stroll out to Saint Louis to stay with other friends tomorrow night.

Well, The National Weather Service sent out this little warning this morning:

444 AM EDT FRI OCT 13 2006
Lake effect snow warning now in effect until 10 am EDT

This warning effects the counties of Niagara, Orleans, Northern Erie, Genesee including the cities of Niagara Falls, Medina, Buffalo, Batavia

The lake effect snow warning is now in effect until 10 am EDT this morning.

A band of heavy wet snow over northern Erie and Genesee counties will continue to lift to the north this morning. Additional accumulations of 2 to 5 inches are possible bringing general storm totals to 1 to 2 feet from metro Buffalo to western Genesee county. Total accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected across Niagara and Orleans counties.

The combination of heavy snow and widespread downed trees will make travel extremely difficult across metro buffalo this morning.

Remember, in lake effect snow the weather can vary from locally heavy snow in narrow bands to clear skies just a few miles away. If you will be traveling across the region this morning...be prepared for very difficult and slow driving conditions. Stay tuned to NOAA weather radio and other radio and TV stations for further details or updates.

My Buffalonian gal pal summed it up like this: "Holy shit. (Loud excited roommate screeching in background.) There is a state-of-emergency. Trees are down everywhere. The thruway is CLOSED all the way back to ROCHESTER. You probably won't be able to get in today. Come tomorrow. Holy shit. Look at that."

To which I said, "Oh man. I can't. I have to work on Monday."

To which she said, "Oh well," as if she had just found out the grocery store was out of her regular brand of bottled water which mattered little because she had just seen a new megahydrating-ultracool-electrolyte-replenishing super-water for half the price.

So, I am now plotting a different course to Saint Louis and eventually Kansas City instead of driving up to Buffalo in anticipation of warm mugs of hot cocoa and snow ball fights to be followed at some point by I-will-miss-you-s which I now realize would not have been entirely heart-felt. A small part of me, the simulated happiness part, is telling myself, "Ah well, better to not have wasted your time with something that you know isn't going to last or be truly deeply meaningful." But, another part of me, the part the craves real actual chemically tangible happiness, is saying, "Who cares about forever?! Go up there and battle the elements, take side roads, strap on some skis and get your snowday on." In an ironic bit of self-awareness it is this side of my brain, the real tangible side, that is urgently, persistently reminding me "Meaning and happiness are what you make of them."