May day, May day!

If phones were people, they would have been locked up in an asylum last week.  Why?  Because all of them were losing their collective minds trying to share everyone's plans to survive the winter storm that was coming our way, whipping the town into a frenzy in the process.  WhatsApp and text groups were blowing up with nail-biting information and cries for help.

"They are predicting 22 inches of snow this weekend and I cannot find bananas anywhere. If any of you see it in a store, let me know. Please help!"  And to this desperate pleas came the reply "Me neither and I have checked all grocery stores within a 10 mile radius. We will just have to ride out this storm without bananas. Let's all hang in there."  Huh? When did bananas get on the emergency supplies checklist?  If you can't stay regular for a day without a banana, why don't you consider switching to a different fiber for a week?  Am I wrong? Was this Mayday call really necessary?  

This was an incoming text to me 3 days ago when I was in one of my music classes.  "Mrs. S, I am at Costco stocking up and I have about 800 people standing in front of me in the line.  The sad news is I was able to fill only 2 and a half carts.(??)  Folks have picked the store clean and I still have things I need to buy to outlast this storm.  I might be slightly  (!)delayed in picking up my daughter from your class as I want to stop by 2 more stores to look for the missing items.  Please keep her in your class until I can come get her."  Of course!  I not only kept her safe inside but ended up feeding her a meal, giving her storybooks to read and a warm place to take a nap until the said parent came back.  I don't always brim with the milk of human kindness like this but these are extraordinary times. 

"Meena, do we need milk?" asked my husband the day before yesterday.  He must have felt left out of this 'It is time to stock up for Armageddon' game and decided to join the fun, albeit a bit late.  What for?  Did we not switch to black coffee a few years back and stopped drinking milk altogether?  'Just in case' he said with a sheepish smile.  That made sense.  Just in case, our friends decide to drop in for a cup of chai in the midst of a snowstorm, we would definitely need that milk.  It is so like him to think ahead and plan for contingencies like this.  31 years ago, I did make a good call to marry him.  I can't help being proud.  If only I didn't have bursitis in my shoulders, I would happily pat myself in the back for that. 

Children walking into my music classroom the last couple of days have been sporting big toothy smiles.  It is so unnatural that I ended up asking them about it.  "Meena aunty, the forecast is calling for 15 inches of snow and ice for us.  We won't have school for a week." beamed the children.  I was confused.  Wasn't it 22 inches till yesterday?  Apparently, it dwindled down to 15 inches overnight.  Anyway, forget about a week of school closing.  Our school district is famous for shutting down until further notice for a breezy dusting of powdery snow.  Anything past 10 inches, we are not likely to educate our children for the next several weeks.  I love watching the smiling faces of the children.  For their sake, I hoped the forecast was right. 

I read about the story of a Texas couple hitting the Indian grocery store to add to their stockpile for their upcoming 1 inch snowstorm and was inspired to head to our Indian grocery store to do my part in contributing to the local economy.  I wanted to be sensible about it this time though and not go overboard.  After all, how much can the two of us eat?  If I pick the store clean, what will others eat?  I thank my parents for giving me the good sense to think of other people in situations like this.  I didn't want to be that person that leaves nothing behind for others so I made sure to leave some yogurt boxes, frozen vegetables, and chapathis behind.  Not to mention a few packs of curry leaves as well.  That should be enough, right?  No one will go hungry because of me.  Yes, I emptied the samosa aisle but I will not apologize for it.  

I woke up this morning wondering how to find my white dog if she gets lost in the 2 feet of snow that was forecasted to fall overnight, when she goes to relieve herself this morning.  I was still gnawing on my lips coming down the stairs fretting about this when the scene outside my window caught my eyes.  I stood there looking out the window and felt the biggest laugh rising up in me.  After living through the nail-biting drama of preparing for the worst snowstorm ever, there was an inch of snow on our deck this morning.  Fate was definitely holding its jiggling tummy somewhere and laughing at all of us.  

Looking at our fully stocked refrigerator and freezer, I couldn't help but smile.  What is life without a bit of drama? 😀