Come Rain or Come Shine

I am going to Little Rock to work for a few days. Usually I'm pretty psyched about having a hotel room to myself for 3 whole nights. But for some reason I can't get excited. Maybe it's because I know there is the possiblity of ice on Thursday and that casts a worry over traveling home. But why would I let that ruin my whole trip?

When I was a kid--who am I kidding?--my whole life, my mother has been a weather worrier. She had a little map of Oklahoma by her chair and when the tornado alerts would come on, she would track the storm. If I ever I was traveling she made sure to tell me what the weather would be doing and where/when to be extra careful. If it is raining, she and my dad won't venture far from home, and then only when absolutely necessary.
She instilled in me a healthy (or not so healthy) fear of tornados. I can remember being awakened in the night and sent to a closet for shelter. As I became an adult, I tried to resist the weather worry gene. As storm clouds gathered, I would pretend they weren't and I would do everything in my power to avoid turning on the television to see if there was a warning.

I have the gene. When we moved to Arkansas, I was appalled to learn my city was not equipped with a warning system. When we first moved, before the cable was installed, I asked a neighbor to call me if anything developed. How weird is that? No wonder they moved.

As I'm sitting at my desk, I can see snowflakes occasionally blowing past my window and I am dreading the drive to Little Rock against this gusty wind. I can almost hear my mother worrying about my drive and I should probably call her when I arrive safely to ease her mind.

I think every woman has a list of attributes she hopes she inherits from her mother and a list of things she prays she won't. At least I don't WATCH the weather channel.