I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas

In Houston? Weather service says it's possible. We came to Chicago expecting to see the white stuff but looks like it'll just be freezing cold.

I realize that most of the time I'm outside the mainstream. And, in fact, until today I've never heard of Morgan Spurlock. But you learn a lot when you read James Lileks. Like how Mr. Spurlock thinks that, because he produced a "documentary" about fat people and fast food, he can mock the world's Christians with the image on this page. I have no idea how much outcry from the Christian community this disgusting image has generated but there should be a roar.

What effect does Spurlock think something like this would have on Islam? Does he have the guts to produce a film that really means something as did Theo Van Gogh. I don't think so. Van Gogh paid for his work with his life. But I doubt that anyone from McDonald's or the Christian community is stalking Spurlock, ready to shoot and stab him to death.

One of the problems with living in a semi-tropical climate like Houston is cold weather--cold weather you don't expect and have a hard time dealing with like what we're going to get in a few days.

The same cold snap that's going to drive temperatures in Chicago, where we are now, into sub-zero regions is going to roar through Houston tonight and, over the next three days, bring temperatures down to well below freezing. So I'm stuck here and I've got no way to deal with cold weather there. No doubt that all our plants are going to freeze. I've nursed some of them for years but this will finish them off. I talked with Betty a little while ago and she's going to our house to raise the heat so the pipes won't freeze.

But the big problem is Nannie's place where everything will freeze solid including the water pump and storage tanks. That's a big deal because, if the pipes freeze and break then thaw, the pump will cut on and pump water for days. Someone has to go there and turn things off...hopefully Jacky or Rick can make it before things get bad.

Lately I've stopped most of what little political blogging I did but this is just too much to bear. Now they hate us because our men pee standing up! But I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Michael and Patricia made it home OK. I was beginning to worry because we heard nothing and when I called Michael's cell phone it said the number was no good. I always worry when someone from the family travels. Of course, the trip from home to the airport is the most dangerous part of the trip but my imagination always runs wild when the family travels. Finally got hold them at home and found that Michael's cell phone was inoperative.

Last day here for Michael, Patricia, and Walker. They go back to Houston this afternoon. We'll be here the rest of the week, leaving on the day after Christmas. Lots of snow predicted for later in the week so we might see something I've never seen in all my 63 years, a white Christmas. But I'm not looking forward to the -3 degree temps predicted for then.

Family dinner yesterday...ham, cornbread dressing, green beans, etc. It's good to have everyone together for a while but I've always thought relatives are like fish. After they lay around the house for 3 or 4 days, they both begin to smell bad.

Cold weather! It was 5 degrees when we got up this morning and hasn't risen above 10 degrees all day. But, in an amazing display of cold weather playing, the Texans beat the Bears 24 to 5. Five points seems like a strange number but it was generated by a field goal and a safety against the Texans. That was the sum total of points the Bears could manage today. By the time it was over, I was feeling sorry for the Bears quarterback because he had been so beaten up by the Texan defense. Texans now have their best win record ever--six games in one season.