Things are very slowly improving down here and by next week it is supposed to be back in the 80s. One more really cold night as they are predicting a hard freeze tonight and maybe a light frost tomorrow night, and then again, maybe not. This whole week has been pretty unbelievable. One week ago today on Thursday when we got up the temperature was 71 and by late afternoon it was 40 and it never did warm up much above that. Then Monday things really got bad when the power went off and at least here, stayed off until tonight at 7:00 when it came back on. Some areas have had sporadic power for the last several days, on and then off which is what a rolling blackout is supposed to be. Over in this area, it didn't roll, it just stayed off for a total of 83 hours which is a heck of a long time without lights or heat which is the situation most people found themselves in.
We met Shirley Meirhofer in the neighborhood Walmart this morning and she told me George had fallen and was in the hospital. I'm not quite sure when he will be coming home. Speaking of Walmart the shelves are pretty bare but I think that will be remedied soon. It is similar to how it was when people started hoarding all kinds of things - remember the toilet paper shortage last spring. The lines to get into fast food places are L O N G as are the lines to get into gas stations. As I said on my Facebook page we found propane, yes, another tank, over at the place not far from Magnolia, paid through the nose but at least we found some and we got gas to run the generator down on 281 again at the same place we did yesterday. No lines at either place. Hopefully we won't need the gas for the generator and we will just dump it in the Johnson's car as by the time we leave it will be old and Jim likes "fresh" gas for the generator. This whole situation has taught us that we will never leave home without the generator. We had talked about leaving it home because some times we never Walmart camp on the way down or home as we've taken to staying more and more in RV parks and then a generator is not needed. Thank goodness we have it, as it was a lifesaver to say the least.
There are still people at motels but I suspect everyone will return tomorrow and try to get back to normal. The park shut the water off one night which I think was a good thing as it kept everything from freezing. The Weslaco water supply has not been compromised but it has in other places, just one more misery for people to endure.
Dollar General across the road is all lit up but still closed. I imagine they are disposing of spoiled food in their freezer and refrigerator cases or perhaps they donated it to some of the shelters that abound down here.
This whole situation has affected the vaccinations being given but I believe that will also get back on schedule shortly. We are scheduled for our second Pfizer shot on March 2. Hope the weather is behaving by then.
We have all complained and whined a whole lot this past week but actually, most of us are pretty fortunate compared to the people living in some of the colonias that are all around down here where there is sometimes neither lights nor running water.
Stay warm, stay safe and let's think SPRING!
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