Hand Wringing

I'm a worrier.  I obsess.  Within my social network I have been dubbed the Official Hand Wringer.  I'm the one in the background wringing her hands and muttering to herself that such and such is bad, this or that is going to happen, and on and on.

You could tell me I inherited a billion dollars from a long-lost relative and I would find something to worry about.  Taxes! Litigation from bitter would-be heirs!  I'll end up like all those lottery winners you read about, drunk and destitute in five years!

See?

Tuesday snow started falling again.  It was pretty, and I truly enjoyed it, but I knew we were in for worse things like the ice storm bearing down upon us.  I did a quick evaluation since I knew I was stocked in regards to consumables and whatnot, and realized that I was missing some very key essentials like water, batteries, and candles.  I just haven't purchased any emergency candles since I moved into this house, no specific reason why no besides the fact that the weather has been very mild the past two years.  As for the batteries, well I blame the children for eating them or something.  The water was easy to explain, the local utility company has been working on the system a street away and last week they dropped something on the water main causing the water to slow to a trickle and then run cloudy for several days.  I burned through all my water supplies since the water tasted awful and looked awful.

I took my very reluctant chihuahuas out for a walk and there were just a few flakes drifting down peacefully.  After they finally did their thing I took them back in and headed to the local WalMart for the few things I needed.  By the time I'd driven two miles to the main road I could no longer see the lines in the road.  By the time I left the store (it took over an hour thanks to only six open check out lines) there were about two inches of snow on my car and the ground.

What is a ten-minute drive on a bad traffic day took me over thirty minutes because the roads were so bad.  Adding fuel to that fire was the fact that few people can drive in this, and there were all sorts of foolishness on the roads.  One person was driving 15 mph in the middle of the road and causing back ups.  Other people were driving on the shoulder (and going all over the place), tailgating, and just driving like total jackanapes.  It was terrifying.

But in that moment, I felt no fear.  No nervousness.  I kept myself gathered and calm, kept both hands on the wheel in the 10 and 2 o'clock positions, and I drove cautiously and carefully.  Even when my car skidded off the road I just went with it, let the car do its thing, and then gradually pulled back onto the pavement.  I made it home in one piece and didn't even feel a slight shaking of my nerves.

Of course once I got home I obsessed over weather reports and started wringing my hands because we're at a high risk for power outages.  Instead of sitting there making myself go into a worry death spiral I got the Man dressed and out the door to bring wood from the shed, feed the chickens, and secure the house as best we could.  Then I got into the kitchen and started cooking and preparing food in case we lose power.  I have a grill and I'm as prepared as can be, but I wanted to have food in case it was too bad to grill outside.

Man got on the phone and started calling friends in the area to make sure they were all ready and surprisingly no one had done much of anything.  A short while later, notifications started popping up on facebook as friend after friend we'd contacted started to brag about their storm preparedness.

So I guess my hand wringing isn't all for naught, there is a need for a worry wart in everyone's lives.  I guess I'm The Robot to all my friends but I don't do the arm waving or holler "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!"  I sit in the background whimpering and muttering while wringing my hands until someone notices and listens, then shares what I've said.