Up Early with the Howling Snow

The familiar chiming ring from my son in law's cellphone alarm awakes me at 5:15 am. Outside the wind howls, and the snow has turned to driving little nails, spitting tiny frozen flakes. Francisco was smart to park his car at the end of the driveway, near the road, he's getting up to go to Yankee Candle for six am.

It's Saturday morning, and today I've got to open the cafe. I wonder if anyone will come in...the roads aren't plowed yet. At 5:20 am, my landline rings, and in his thick accent, Francisco answers. The caller hangs up. Seconds later my cell rings; it is Eliza, my cafe worker, who probably thought she woke up some Spanish guy with a wrong number.

"My driveway isn't plowed, and they haven't done the road yet," she said. "Don't worry, I'll get the cafe open, and I'll call you if we need you later," I tell her, knowing that we'll be totally dead and won't need her at all. "We probably won't," I told her. Now I am up and it's only six am. Another New England snow day.

I spent the first half hour of my day here on my little laptop, enjoying the new articles that Steve posted on GoNOMAD yesterday. First I read about Kent's newly rekindled Caribbean love for Nevis then I read Sony's article about Jamestown, and the voyage 400 years ago that opened up the New World, then I laughed reading her blog in which she goes into her accountant's office and gasp, Rush Limbaugh is playing on the radio, and she nearly gags when the secretary endorses the fat old jerk.

(Hee hee I listen to him all the time Sony, but don't agree most of the time!) But I can certainly relate, I've had Rush on in the car and had people lurch for the button to stop stop stop him from raving and I always oblige. I just laugh hard when I listen to Rush because, and liberals hate this, he's funnier than Al Franken and Jean Garafalo, and even though he sometimes is totally wrong, he's always entertaining.

Boy I can just imagine what I've done to my friend Sony with this revelation...I guess I'm redeemed because I just invited her to France for a GoNOMAD press trip!