The World is Closed

Again, and no hope for the next two days! I don't much mind being here by myself, but I don't like the feeling that I can't jump in the car and go if I want to. I try, with medium success, to tell myself that what will be will be, and if you can't go out, you can't. I think the streets are clearing up, at least the major ones, and I would be comfortable driving, but I'm cautious about walking across my porch even to empty trash. Today I had a couple of catastrophes: my washing machine won't work, and I suspect the pipes are frozen. I called for a repair appointment, but I think I'll wait and try it Sunday night, hoping to cancel the appointment. The machine is in an add-on part of the house and not the regular, well-insulated brick portion. Then the dog ate the pie crust for the chocolate cookie pie crust I was planning to fill. I gave him stern lectures, to no avail--when allowed back in the kitchen, he busily searched for crumbs my sweeping had missed. I posted this incident on Facebook and got lots of suggestions on how to handle dogs who ate chocolate, toxic to them. But he shows no signs of distress. And he's a dog who shows distress easily when he feels it. I started from scratch and remade the pie, so the crust will be better than the one I bought.
Tonight my young neighbor next door called just to chat. Being home with a three-year-old, she had cabin fever and wondered if I did. She had gotten out with her husband and said even a ride around the neighborhood would make a difference. We had a good long visit about a lot of things, and she says they'll come for a visit tomorrow. I have invited them, with three other young couples (including Jordan and Christian), for supper Saturday night, and she says they'll take me to the grocery if need be. It's supposed to snow Friday--snow, not ice--and be middling-to-pleasant Saturday, really defrost by Sunday and SuperBowl. I do feel sorry for the merchants and people of downtown Fort Worth who worked so hard to prepare for this week--and now nobody can get out and enjoy the fun.
I've made good use of my housebound time: I finished critiquing a manuscript I was reading in the Guppies critique program, where authors are matched with others and reach each other's manuscripts.I really liked the one I read, but I had lots of comments and suggestions. Critiquing it was a learning experience for me and made me aware of things I need to correct in my writing.
I also posted a short story on Kindle--"The Art of Candle Dipping" should be up in a couple of days. It's a story that has always made me choke up the few times I've read it aloud. Based on a true account in the files of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village. I'm puzzled though as to how to price it at 99 cents--Amazon didn't seem inclined to let me price it below $2.99, which seems a bit high for one short story. I'll have to investigate that.