Down the Rabbit Hole

Freezing Rain and Angela Lansbury

My morning commute was once again cut short. After watching yet another car slide off the roadway in front on me, I turned my car around and headed home to dial into the office from there. The house is eerily quiet now save for the ancient furnance rumbling to life every so often in the belly of the basement and the snoring dogs that have burrowed beneath the blankets at my feet. The freezing rain is pelting the upstairs windows and there is a distance wail of sirens, no doubt responding to more unfortunate motorists. The baby has decided she can sleep no other place than curled up against my thigh and I've managed to get most of my paperwork done while she has dreamed and smiled and giggled in her sleep. The work phones have been quiet, only one call in nearly five hours. The business is struggling with the season more than ever before and I worry constantly about my father, how tired he must be of holding it all together by the tattered seams. I keep thinking, if the weather would hold, if one deal with solidify, I could give him good news for once. I would love to call him with good news, he needs to hear it almost as much as I need to say it. For now, I plug away at what I can feeling as useless and ineffectual as possible and hope things get better soon. I hope along with the rest of the world as the atmosphere drums up another crippling winter mix. I try to find the positive; at least I'm not out wrecking my car in a slippery crash... I'm planning to make some killer steak tips for dinner...I have wine in the fridge...I snagged a copy of Bedknobs and Broomsticks from the library...these are all lovely, positive thoughts. While the winter storm rages on outside, tonight I will have my family around me, a tasty meal, a warm home (at least while we can afford to heat it), a glass of wine (or two) and one of my most favorite flicks to enjoy. The only tricky part will be trying to convince my husband he wants to watch a Disney musical from the 1970's featuring Angela Lansbury and a host of animated characters and special effects that by today's standards would be considered pedestrian and laughable. Perhaps he will be persuaded when I tell him I can sing along to the soundtrack, that I know all the songs by heart? Well, at least my Jadybug may enjoy it. For now though, its back to work before my little one wakes up.