Icy Taste of Winter!!!

We haven’t had winter for the past few years. And certainly not a cold spell that has lasted this long and slated to continue into the first weeks of February. Today, I de-iced the front steps with boiling water and spread some kitty litter on them. There is a thick patch of ice on the sidewalk that the sun has not melted enough for me to remove. And I’ve not been on my daily walk since this past weekend. I’ve been walking since September, so maybe it’s a habit and when it’s safe to walk outside, I won’t hesitate or make excuses.

Went for a walk on the road in front of my house–the section the sun had cleared of ice. This is Friday. The City does not provide any service regarding ice clearance on the neighborhood roads. This is what the road looks like to my house– There are patches where the sun has melted the ice. Got some mail and deliveries yesterday and today. I went out yesterday with a cigarette lighter and melted a bit of ice to get the mailbox open. I don’t recommend doing that because of wind blowing the flame, tiny as it is, where it shouldn’t be. But the tiny flame loosened the ice enough for me to chip away the ice that kept the mailbox from opening.

One thing that might come out of these freezing temperatures is fewer insects in the summer. Remember the Post Office slogan–Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Notice it doesn’t mention ice. Ice stops everyone!

In the past, I had not noticed that the winter storms had names. I googled it and the Weather Channel has been naming winter storms in a manner like hurricanes since 2012, even though weather persons have been informally and sporadically naming winter storms since the 1970s. Fern is the name of last week’s winter storm and the upcoming storm’s name is Gianna.

The few stories told by persons who knew my paternal grandfather who died years before I was born led me to believe that he was not quite sane. Especially his habit of speaking his piece in the town square of a racist southern town. However, I’m reassessing that conclusion because after reading two dystopian novels and their sequels and watching Sinners, I had a thought. He had something to say and he wanted to be heard. What better place than the town square? Sometimes one wants a conversation with someone, anyone about whatever. Maybe, that’s all he wanted was to have a conversation with someone who wanted to converse with him about whatever was on his mind.

I’ve wondered why he was allowed to do it. Maybe the whites thought he was crazy or maybe they knew the rapist who contributed to his existence and that was some small measure of protection? I wonder if he was ever graced with the substantive conversation he obviously hungered for?

Preparedness for Disaster in Tennessee–Damned if you do and damned if you don’t–Forecasts for bad weather in Tennessee have, in the past, been notoriously unreliable. Maybe, in the past it was geography, but now, add climate change and the weather is even more unpredictable and the forecasts are sometimes laughable. I remember a storm that impacted middle Tennessee, the governor shut down the entire state, and the people in East Tennessee were scratching their heads. Like yeah, I’ll take the day off, but why? Where’s the snow, where’s the frigid temperatures or whatever was going on at the time. And the time in Nashville when a storm was supposed to arrive at a certain time and roared through hours earlier than expected. That storm stranded children and workers on snow covered streets. I remember the voters voted out the school board for that decision to open schools. But if the schools were closed because of the forecasted storm, the parents would have complained because that morning there was no sign of a storm. Now, the schools close at the merest hint of bad weather. This is to say that if the City prepares and nothing happens, then people complain about the waste of money. If the city doesn’t prepare or adequately prepare for a forecasted spell of bad weather, people complain. Can’t please everybody.

Stochastic terrorism–isn’t this just the person who yells fire in a crowded theater on steroids? The instigator has no idea who in the theater will start the stampede for the exits. The stochastic terrorist has no idea which of their listeners will act on their words. Both the person who yells fire in a crowded theater and the stochastic terrorist intend harm–one to the people in the theater and the other to a particular person or group–based on no or spurious evidence. Both do it to stoke fear from which they derive pleasure. The law holds the person who yells fire in the crowded theater accountable as that person is directly and proximately responsible for the harm caused by their lie. Seems like the law should hold the stochastic terrorist liable pursuant to the same logic.

“We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I’ve come to believe we’re integrating into a burning house.

I’m afraid that America may be losing what moral vision she may have had …. And I’m afraid that even as we integrate, we are walking into a place that does not understand that this nation needs to be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit ourselves to ensuring that the underclass is given justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tears at the soul of this nation.” MLK (1968)

Why do we Black people, a vilified group in this United States, believe in inclusivity. In what exactly do we want to be included? Why do our books, movies, speeches, have to say in so many words “not all of them”? Why don’t we have our own without regard to them? Why should we include what has never included us? Why don’t we see that having our own makes us stronger, provides a negotiating base, provides a fall-back when violence meets our other cheek? Some of us know that we should not invite them to the barbecue, some of us know that silence is a strength when the people who are listening use your words to harm you financially, physically, psychically. When will we stop giving them free ammunition to use against u?. Why can we not accept non-inclusion? Why have we not realized that inclusion on our terms or even negotiated favorable terms is what we require, but not inclusion on their terms. Why have we not learned that what they give can be swiftly taken away at their convenience? Inclusion of those who vilify us only highlights our sycophantic neediness. And that sycophantic neediness will always be used to our detriment.

Bottom line–one cannot deal with the devil. Unfortunately, we have not learned that basic fact. (Neither have the Democrats in Congress.) The devil has no morals and lies with impunity.

“More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will.” MLK Excerpt from Letter From Birmingham Jail (1963) That is certainly true. Evil plays the long game while good rests on its laurels. Look at where the United States is today. Evil is loud in its boasts about its planning for this time. And Good’s supposed allies cowardly shrink into the background of do-nothing.

_________________________________________________

The most dangerous person in the room is the person who has survived the impossible. Excerpt from 12 KKK Members Hunted Bass Reeves In The Dark—By Morning, They Feared His Name Forever…  Black Legends of the West You Tube

Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.