Global warming my ass. I spent MLK day reading a Stephen King novel, the end by candle light, as the first major storm of the winter hit Saratoga Springs and the capital region. No snow, just ice. All of you out there complaining about the weather,or the lack of it, and you know who you are, I hope you are happy. Ice covering everything. Trees down. Power lines down. You can skate down the street. Happy now. I must admit i enjoy the way fresh snow looks on the trees and houses, but this ice is something else. There is a cruelty to it. The day after a snow storm, everything looks white and pure. Today everything looks cold and lifeless. A glass village for a glass menagerie. I woke around eight yesterday morning to find we had no power but by 8:30 the power was back. It was just a tease, 11:37 the lights flickered once then went out, and stayed out until today. I went to pick up the boys at their mothers house around 5 and the houses all looked empty. There were a few cars in and around the crest but the whole neighborhood had that war torn look and feel to it. Trees bent over and broken. Power lines laying across lawns of ice covered grass. There were cars on route 50 and the traffic light at 50 and Midline Rd was not working. Drivers were stopping at the intersection as if it were a four way stop sign so there was no back up. I think everyone was stopping because the Stewarts shop was lit up and open. I needed gas but I didn't think I was going that far and I would have enough to make it back here after I picked up the boys. I had my radio set to 87.7 so I could hear the channel six news. As I entered Ballston Spa I could see that the street lights on the other side of downtown were on. As I started up the hill, you would not have thought anything was wrong, but by the time I reached Route 67 the lights had stopped. I picked up the boys and we started to make our way back home. through the half lit city and out into darkness again. This time I stopped at Stewarts for gas. It seems that everyone out was stopping for gas. I guess that the generator they have only gave power to certain parts of the store. You could buy a lotto ticket but the coolers had no power. I really think that they should rethink this. I don't need a lotto ticket as much as cold milk ( you're right beer ). As we left the Stewarts, Liz Bishop on the news was saying, for a complete listing of all emergency shelters log on to our website. Someone should tell Liz that if I need a shelter because I'm without electricity, most computers won't work. I know all of you with battery powered lap tops or fancy cell phones don't see this as a problem but trust me for the rest of us it is. We made it home and lit a few candle, wrapped ourselves in blankets and made it through the night. As I went out today the landscape looks surreal. Everything looks like glass. I have this urge to try and break off the guardrail on the bridge like in the movies when something is frozen with liquid mercury. We will survive, we are the hardy people of the north. I keep telling myself that it is only 60 days till St. Patrick's Day, that will get me through the rest of the frozen winter.