so it ends

The temperature today was 40 degrees Fahrenheit colder than on yesterday. The Winter Storm warning began at 6 p.m., as a huge swath of freezing rain made its way east from west Texas.
While the Texas panhandle got 5 inches of snow, we are predicted to get a half inch of ice.
My Saturday travel plans appear unlikely to come to fruition.

My sister and I exchanged facebook messages about my father, who is very ill. At lunch, I read a magazine about the Ubuntu operating system, and then drove to the park to watch the kestrels. Two pairs of kestrels live in or near this park. I liked the way one male kestrel stood on a fence, looking west, daring the weather.

When I left work today, my windshield was covered with ice. It defrosted quickly. I stayed off the freeway to avoid the traffic. I put gas in my car on the way home. When I arrived home, a gentle sleet fell. Things hit me, a bit, on the drive home. Also, today Nelson Mandela died.