random truths – Day 1,011 (Friday)– blustery

Rain on Merrimack.

The cold weather being endured by much of the country is barreling into New England. Thursday and Friday while friends in Tennessee and the middle chunk of the country were enduring sub-zero temperatures, it was 50 degrees in Lowell. The wind was in full force and blustery and rain whipped about from every direction. 

The parking garage, while covered, nearly always has a surprisingly crazy amount of water pooled on the floors and pouring from the seams in the concrete levels. Today it was extra puddly and drippy.

The walk from the garage to the office, which is usually not too horrible, felt extra long and miserable. The wind seemed strong enough to launch a Mary Poppins flight pattern, which was both exhilarating and terrifying. Had I only known that the folks on our team with assigned parking spots in the lot immediately outside the building were working remotely, I could have been spared the brutal quarter-mile footrace against the elements and parked several blocks closer. But hey, arriving to work soaked and windblown is good for building character. Or something.

There was a quick stop at the coffee shop on the way into the office, knowing full well there would be no interest in going back out with the weather. The clerk failed to put a sleeve on the cup, and about ten steps beyond the door, while wrestling with the umbrella in the wind tunnel between two of our buildings, my hand was burning. So now it was wind, rain, a scalded palm and fingers, and an umbrella threatening to either turn inside out or be wrested from my grasp and blown away.

At the door to the building, the degrees of difficulty were mounting. There was the extra challenge of grabbing the security card hanging from my neck to tap the access pad and unlock the door, then open the door while still juggling the umbrella and the hot coffee that was now squirting out of the sip hole in the cup lid and pouring all over my hand.  Scalding coffee is a great reminder that one is still alive. Good times.

There were two of us on the entire floor of the building for the day. For the next eight hours the weather was enjoyed from the safety of the dry office. The rain blew sideways and slammed against the skylights and the windows. There was a brief break in the clouds in the afternoon before they regathered and the rain resumed again. Close to quitting time, the lights flickered. 

Fortunately, the rain stopped long enough for the walk to the garage, where the lights were out. Thank goodness for the flashlight feature on cell phones. I picked My way up the dark staircase by cell phone light, and then entered the abyss of the parking levels where not a single spot of light could be seen beyond the small ray emitted by the phone. At least the traffic lights outside were operating and many of the buildings near the garage were still illuminated.

At home, the wind had knocked over the neighbor’s basketball hoop where it blocked part of the street and blown off yet another one of my fence post caps. It was nice to be safely ensconced in the house and begin the official “family is coming over tomorrow” holiday stress level. There was vacuuming, hot soup, and then a near complete abandonment of all other preparations. Tomorrow morning will likely be frantic and powered by extra doses of coffee. And fully powered by electricity, fingers crossed.