All Sixes Sevens And Nines

Part I.

Continuing: Part II.
The more you think about it, the more it becomes clear that sometimes in an emergency you're going to be on your own or with one other person. Pete and I have lived where we do nearly our whole lives, so we're not surprised when the river rises over the small bridges or when low roads become fast-moving creeks. It happens now and then that I'm at work when the river comes up. I don't hang around and wait for the inevitable four-hour crush to drive two miles. I stupidly did that once in snow: lesson learned! When the weather map says it's going to snow for a whole day and the clouds deliver I'll be at my house.

You'd be surprised how many people think this is dumb. I bet they're out of milk and bread.

Listen, I try to be ready for predictable things, but I get caught flat-footed all the time. Yesterday, we drove down to Delaware to see Pete's elderly aunt and uncle. We thought we were having lunch, then heading home, but when we got there, no trace of lunch could be found. We'd had breakfast, but that was hours before. By the time dinner was ready, Pete and I were ravenous. I wanted to pick up the bowl of meatballs and pour them into my mouth, and it was really hard to not imagine us making growling sounds when someone else reached for the plate of sausages. We were unprepared for this situation despite the facts that we are hypoglycemic and this has happened with our retired relatives twice before. You know: we could've had a V8, but we didn't. Oops?

What if I can't get to my house, which I love love love and want to be in? The river between my office and my house sometimes floods four out of five nearby river crossings, and getting to that fifth bridge can serve as an IQ test, and this can happen when our skies are clear but North Jersey has had rain for two days or a sudden thaw. Surprise! A flood! But that's not part of our game. What is? Here in Central New Jersey, people get in cars and panic with the fall of the first flakes. If you drive, take cabs or buses, your job is to get off the road before people with their hair standing on end drive their giant SUVs into a ditch, tying up traffic, emergency personnel and tow truck drivers past your bedtime. If you take trains, keep in mind the Long Island Railroad, for instance, goes haywire when the tracks get wet. No, I don't understand that. Yes, I think we should all be able to take trains, but what the hell? Anyhoo: my mother's house is on the other side of the river and about two miles from my office. If I couldn't cross the river I still have places on higher ground I could retreat to. Bonus: mom's house has a wine rack I could find in the dark.

If I couldn't get home, I could still win the Snow Day game by retreating to a backup shelter I know stocks a pantry, a wine rack and warm clothes - but only if Pete is at home with the cats, and they are wearing little sombreros and eating meaty treats.

Part III.