Peace to the world

It's a quiet, peaceful night in my little world. Jacob is watching TV and when I suggested we do something, anything, he protested, "I'm happy." So I've let him be. Scooby is happily in his bed, and Wywy sitting on my desk, a sure sign he wants more food.
Our snow has melted except one stubborn patch on the sidewalk leading up to my north-facing house. At one point in the late morning I swear the thermometer in my car told me it was 64, but I can hardly believe that. The other stubborn patch of snow, about three feet just before the garage door, is gone. But if it isn't one thing it's another. We lost water for about three hours this afternoon--a water main broke near the hospital district (which isn't far from our neighborhood)--I wondered and worried if the hospitals also lost water.. And what provisions do they have for that contingency. It's fixed tonight, and all is well. When much of Texas had rolling blackouts, we were spared and I wondered if it was due to our proximity to the hospitals.
As I sit in my own quiet world, I think of the unrest spreading across Arabic countries (and others where dictators rule). Apparently dictators round the world are getting nervous--a good sign. It was wonderful today to see on TV that a peaceful revolution had ousted Mubarak--it was peaceful on the part of the protestors, who only fought when attacked by what seem to have been hired goons. One can't help think of Gandhi and Martin Luther King--peaceful means triumph again. Prayers for those who were killed or injured, but still it was a remarkable show of peaceful protest. Now of course the long road--what will happen to Egypt? And how will this affect the entire Arab world? We live in interesting times, and we have just seen history made.
Texas, as always, provides an ironic contrast: it seems some of the parents of the Mansfield ISD object to a Bush-era plan to teach Arabic culture and language to students. Their timing is impeccable--and so wrong. Mansfield is also the district that had a notable protest against integration of schools in in the late '60s. I guess some people never learn, and as someone pointed out to me preaching--or even rational explanation--does no good because their minds are made up and closed. What scares me is that they are passing that attitude along to their children. One parent wrote indignantly that parents know what's best for their chldren to learn, which makes about as much sense as our Texas Board of Education, which is appointed and includes not one professional educator. I love Texas, but sometimes I really really want to leave.
A funny note: my friend Jeannie Chaffee is working endlessly on her family geneaology and announced today that she had traced one side of her family back to Robert the Bruce of Scotland. I told her that makes us cousins--I'm pretty sure that in my reading about Scottish history and the MacBain clan that we have a connection to Robert the Bruce (what a wonderful name!). Jeannie wonders if she'll soon start talking with a brogue--I told her she could do worse.

Day Three of the Ice Siege

Day three--and it seems to get worse. I definitely have cabin fever, and I notice some anxiety, that old friend of mine. I'm working hard on it, trying to remain positive, but I really want to get in my car and go to the grocery store. The general consensus among those who care about me is that I should not do that even tomorrow, so Christian is going to get what I need to cook for company on Saturday night (the company includes him). They don't seem to realize that I grew up in Chicago and lived in northeast Missouri, the "icebox" corner of the state, for several years. I can drive on ice, even if I'm leery of walking on it. And I'm sure the handicapped spots at the grocery are ice-free. But no one else believes that, and I am left to savor the feeling that they care about me. It's not worth a battle.
My neighbor, Meredith, came over for an hour this morning, with her three-year-old daughter, Abby. She too is feeling housebound. Abby likes to play with the toys at my house because they're different from her own, but her attention span is short and she tires of them quickly, so she went through all I had to offer in a half hour. Another neighbor, Linda, was going to go to the new Sprouts grocery this afternoon and asked if I'd like to go, which I jumped at. But she went out on another errand and lost her nerve. Then Meredith, who is very pregnant, was going to Target when Abby woke from her nap. But by then it was almost 5 and I declined, much as I want those blasted groceries.
For one thing I wanted to watch the national news at 5:30 to see what's going on in Egypt. I'm  devotee of Channel 5, so I feel like Brian Williams and Lester Holt and others are friends, and when I heard they were beating and/or detaining foreign journalists I was concerned. I can't understand why we don't just pull our journalists out of there--and the story of the 76-year-old woman who is stranded in an apartment in central Cairo is horrifying. We're watching significant history, as uprisings spring up all across that region, like a contagion. Meanwhile, if you watch the local news you'd think nothing is going on in the world except the SuperBowl.
To make the day longer, I had no email. A pipe burst in the basement of the building where tech services is housed, and the server was down all day. When I finally got into it about 8:30 tonight, I had 105 emails. Fortunately, it didn't take me long to go through them--most needed no attention or response. But I have a stack of papers to take care of by email--tomorrow.
My big accomplishment today: I followed Smashwords directions carefully and created a Table of Contents with links to the short stories in my collection, Sue Ellen Learns to Dance. Tedious work, but the instructions are clear and I am really proud that I got it done. I'll post it on Smashwords in place of the version that's now up.
Ho hum. Another day at home tomorrow. I don't know that Scooby and I can either one stand being inside that long. He loves being out but I'm afraid to leave him for very long. I've noticed that he doesn't go in his house these days as he does in the rain--he lies in the snow and looks around alertly. He seems to really enjoy it. Wish I did.