Blogging From The In-Laws: Day 3 (recap)

Entry Pertaining to December 22nd
Yesterday dawned bright, cloudy and cold, at least in Texas terms. I was reminded several times throughout the morning that it was, in fact, colder in Dallas than in Philadelphia, a fact that, while interesting, doesn’t exactly stoke this old Midwesterner’s soul.
However, about mid-morning, large snowflakes began to slowly fall. General excitement and astonishment was expressed by all as we pressed our faces to the glass and watched the flakes’ descents. We puttered about the house for a while longer and then decided to head out to see The Incredibles.
My wife and I had already seen the movie (The Short, Short Review: Excellent film – incredible [haw!] animation, great story, great artwork, oozing with style. Part James Bond, part Mystery Men with a dash of Nietzsche and Ayn Rand-esque philosophy set to a swingin’ soundtrack. I loved it.), so I was primarily looking forward to getting my in-laws’ reactions to it, as well as a second chance to take in the visuals. Alas and alack (and, as a credit to Pixar’s storytelling abilities) I forgot those twin purposes within minutes of sitting down in the theater and was again engrossed in the details of the story.
As we exited the theater, the snow continued to fall but the winds picked up dramatically, gusting well into the 40mph range. It reminded me of Minnesota – I loved it, every minute of it. I’ve now been twice blessed this year with snow prior to Christmas, a condition that I often require in order for it to truly “feel” like Christmas (the others being: viewing It’s A Wonderful Life at least once, drinking eggnog and eating “Wienie Boats” made from cocktail sausages and Pillsbury crescent rolls, “Monkey Bread” on Christmas morning, and a whole host of other traditions that would fill a post or two. Brad and his commenters have helpfully started us off in the right direction) and so we left the theater with me in good spirits and all but my brother-in-law shivering to beat the band.
It’s then that I discovered that, at the merest hint of snow, the portion of Texans’ brains devoted to driving in a rational fashion either freezes entirely or jellifies and runs out of their ears. My mother-in-law handled her car with aplomb, but I can’t begin to count the number of cars, trucks and SUVs I witnessed on the drive home or on the evening news skidding from side to side, smacking into guardrails and, in general, behaving like those totally unaccustomed to this whole “driving” thing. Maybe wishing for a white Christmas in Texas isn’t such a hot notion after all…
Tune in tomorrow to hear about all of the lovely pictures of Texas you won’t be seeing as I slipped and broke my fargin’ new digital camera and have been silently cursing and spitting at my sheer ineptitude all day long, as well as painting cookies and Master and Commander.