sad and beautiful world

so i'm back from houston. when i left denver, it was snowing and below 20 degrees. my normal commute to work took an hour and a half. i drove 10 miles an hour the whole way there. i had to shovel the driveway twice to get the car out to get to the airport. but, we made it.

i get to houston and i'm sweating very heavily because i'm wearing two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, three shirts, a jacket and a wool hat. but the sweating didn't last long. it soon got very cold. so cold in fact, there were rolling blackouts across the state. rolling blackouts? hasn't it been this cold before? isn't it hot during the summer? don't we all work our A/C's like crazy in the heat? i didn't understand the rolling blackouts and i wonder what the real story is behind that. remember enron anyone? manipulating energy prices? who knows.

but the cold and blackouts did in fact inhibit my grandmother's funeral. the pipes burst at the funeral home the night before the funeral. we had no toilets, no water. only coffee. but the more coffee i drank, the more i wished the pipes were working. so i stopped. the lights went out ten minutes before the funeral started. so we started the funeral in the dark. it was actually somewhat serene. it was quiet. it was dark. there was only candlelight. it was very peaceful. the lights did come back on though. we didn't go long without them, probably 15 minutes.

the gravesite was brutal. it was freezing cold. and that was it. my grandmother was buried and we left. actually we left before that. my flight back home to denver was one of only three flights from houston that got out to denver that day. flights were cancelled before and after mine. my flight was coming from amsterdam, so they didn't have any problems getting to houston before the freeze. and i have to say, it was pretty funny to watch the city basically stop because it was going to freeze and possibly, not probably, but possibly snow. as i am typing, there is half a foot of snow outside right now. after i took my FAR test today, i drove home in the pouring snow. it was coming down so hard, i couldn't see my lane. but i made it home. and the city kept going. it's what you're used to. and i'm getting used to the snow.

so i'm back in denver after my three day trip to houston. i don't miss houston. i miss the people. but i don't miss the city. i'll probably never move back to texas. i love it. and i'll always cherish it. i'm a texan. i was born a texan. but i'll never move back.

it was a tough january. i won't lie. we lost bear. we lost my grandmother. the strong, tough older women that i've known all my life are finally leaving to join their men. i hope they're all together. i hope they're all in peace.

as far as tomorrow, go packers. my preseason pick. make me a genius.