Texas Ice Storm and Other Updates
As most of you know, I’m from Texas. My family and I assumed that we lived far enough south that we wouldn’t really have to worry about snow and ice, or the yeti. Last week, two of those ravaged the state, and it wasn’t the abominable snowman.
My two sons were stoked at the prospect of possibly getting snow in the days leading up to the storm. They’d only seen it once in their lives, and after that winter when it happened several years ago, it took several plain and dry winters in a row to convince them that snow was a rare occurrence in south Texas.
The sad part about this Ice Storm 2021 is that we lost power for four days, but we didn’t get any of the benefits. Not a single snow flake fell in our area. We received plenty of freezing rain, and there were ten-inch icicles hanging from the roof, but no snow, which meant my boys were beyond disappointed. Their dread only mounted when the power went out Sunday night and they could no longer charge their iPads to watch their Youtube videos.
I still don’t quite understand how the entire state’s power grid can fail so completely. I hope some people’s heads at ERCOT roll, and I hope people lose their jobs over this. I hope they’re sued to high heaven. Honestly, this is a small price to pay for the lives lost in this freak event, which due to the growing concerns of climate change, might become more common. I mean, people died. I read about the 11-year old boy who died from hypothermia in his own bed, or the 77-year old man who froze to death in his own recliner, and my heart breaks. These were avoidable deaths.
And now, to pile on the tragedy, power companies are trying to pass the buck to consumers. I saw posts of outraged customers who saw their power bills sky-rocket to thousands of dollars; in one case, I saw a $17,000 dollar bill. Insane, and hopefully illegal. I hope the power companies have to pay for this price gouging too.
As for my family, we fared okay. The power was out for four days, and it was cold and dark, but we made it through. We don’t own a fireplace or wood-burning stove. Not many houses in south Texas feature them. We bundled up with extra blankets and layers of clothing to sleep. I’d never worn a hat to sleep before, but my brain kept reciting the line from “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” — “Mom in her kerchief and I in my cap/
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap.” I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be TOO long.
We played games as a family (especially UNO—geez, we played so much UNO). We woke up early with the sun, and we went to sleep at dark. It reminded me of days of working in my grandparent’s farm as a young boy, where we often went without more modern comforts like television or air conditioning in the swelter of a Texas summer.
To add to the stress, we also were stranded without gasoline for a bit one day, as fuel started becoming scarce as people scrambled to fill their vehicles or generators. Then the battery went out in my wife’s car because she was trying to charge her phone there without using gas, so I had to freeze my fingers off outside changing out the old one for a new one.
It was a difficult time, but I felt we bonded as a family, and it was nice to have the boys’ attention away from their Youtube overlords for a couple of days. Some friends whose power never went out let us come to their house on Wednesday and shower, and even though the water pressure was poor, it was one of the best showers of my life. The hot water was like a salve for my anxiety over all the tension building through the week.
Anyway, so I’ve been busy, and I haven’t been updating this page as often as I was, but know I’m well and I’m still working on my writing and art. I didn’t really comment on the election results or the insurrection at the capitol, but maybe staying busy kept me from becoming frustrated at that dark chapter of our history.
If you’re ever interested, stop by Twitter @FrankNix and give me a shout.
