Winter?

I have been such a slacker, not writing for almost a month. Since the last posting I have been fortunate enough to spend about five nights in my own bed. It has been interesting traveling to Knoxville through the winter, especially having just completed the novel 'Flesh and Bone' by Jefferson Bass that is set in Knoxville with a plot around the infamous Body Farm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Farm). You can read more here: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/10/31/body.farm/index.html.

This evening it would be a little eery to go searching for the exact location as it is snowing a heavy wet snow. The news channels are all lit up with the snowstorm news, many school districts are announcing closures for tomorrow, reporters are interviewing
third shift' workers wondering how they will drive home in the white stuff, and there were several large planes grounded at the airport-rerouted from Atlanta and full of people sitting on the tarmac. The city of Knoxville has been "pre" spraying the roads with a wet salt mixture for three days now just to prepare for this storm.

I can hardly wait for morning to see the carnage that everyone seems to be expecting. It is almost like the frenzy that would come with huricane preparations but its barely 32 degrees and the snow is melting as it lands. The weather guy just told school administrators to wait until the morning before deciding on closures... good advice I would say.

Earlier this week I was in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the presidential primary day. Apparently John McCain had visited Kalamazoo on the same day but none of the others did. With all of the media frenzy on this topic you would think that everyone in Michigan would be talking about it. I never heard one person mention it although I wondered if McCain was staying at the same hotel. Back to the winter topic, it was cold and snowing there with several inches of accumulation during the day. No one even gave it a second mention but that is understandable, it was a minor storm compared to the several others I've witnessed there this winter already.

Back in New Jersey it has not snowed enough to matter although jackets are required most days. Over the last month I have seen 78 degrees for a high and 11 degrees for a low here in Knoxville. The San Francisco Bay Area was in the 60's, with palm trees and other blooming plants giving no indication that it was the last week of December.

Wherever you might be, be warm, be safe, and keep the rubber side down!