February, 2003 -- The Big Snow Cone Storm in Dallas, Texas

It was not snow--but sleet, sleet, and more sleet mixed with freezing rain. There was 2 to 3 inches of the stuff on the ground. It was not soft and powdery--but gritty and hard. The white landscape looked nice, but that was about it. Naturally, it shut the city of Dallas down. Texans do not know how to drive in the snow, sleet or anything that is remotely frozen.

That included me, of course.

The only problem I had was on the second night when I took Augie der beagle weiner out at 2:00 a.m. for a nightly run. The top of the sleet had glazed over, and it felt as if I were walking two inches above the ground, which was not easy, because the dog kept dragging me all over the yard. As long as I stepped hard (breaking the ice) and tried to stay on the outlines of old footprints, I was okay – until we were ready to go in--

And

I fell. It didn't hurt, but I could not find a toe hold or anything to grab onto to stand up. I was stuck in the snow cone! I tried calling for Ed but he was out cold, meanwhile Augie kept trying to drag me up to the porch.

So I had to literally crawl on my hands and knees to the first step where there was no ice in order to stand up. Did anyone say it was cold?

Other than that, it was just another day in our household.