THE "BIG" STORM

All the talk from last Thursday through yesterday (Sunday) was that of the BIG STORM.

Now, I'm not sure what most people constitute as a big storm, but where I'm from, it pretty much means that you will be getting a foot or more of snow, so you'd better double check your snow shovel handle to make sure it isn't loose.

Down here, the BIG STORM meant 2 inches of snow. Alone, this prospect was slightly laughable. However, they were also threatening freezing rain and ice, and, again, where I'm from, you take that seriously. It means frozen limbs crashing to the ground all around you, and the potential of freezing to death wrapped up in your favorite quilt by a tiny burning candle.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with blue skies, nary a cloud to be seen. The calm before the storm? I decided to get up early and head to Kroger as I needed a few items (mainly fruit), and the rumor is that when there is a threat of BIG STORMS, the grocery stores are mobbed with people stocking up on gallons and gallons of milk and loaves and loaves of bread. I wanted to miss the mobs.

So there I was, standing in front of the oranges at Kroger. The produce guy was busily stocking fruit at a nearby bin ... like his life depended on it. A gentleman, with his cart loaded, came up to him. They greeted each other -- obviously, the two knew each other. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, the produce guy got really serious and said, "so, are you stocking up for the Big Storm?"

"Yes," nodded the other man somberly.

I almost fell over into the display of oranges. I looked into my cart ... meager bags of apples and oranges, and then compared it with the BIG STORM cart. Clearly, I was not going to be prepared for Frankfort's BIG STORM. I left Kroger with a "I think I'll chance it" attitude.

I woke up yesterday morning glad for my gamble. Yes, there was ice everywhere, but within four hours, it was all melted, and life moved forward. BIG STORM disaster averted.

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