I love when big storms are
coming because people lose their frigging minds. Take today, for example. The stores are mobbed. I don’t even have to venture far to know
this; I know how people are.
Being a veteran of the
Blizzard of ’78, and also living through an ice storm that left us without
electricity and heat for a week, I know the importance of having food in the
house. But, people, if you lose
electricity, that food suddenly becomes a huge liability. In short, it will suck to be you. (Unless you have locking-top garbage cans, in
which case you can load food into those outside and pack them with snow. I know this because we survived a week this
way.)
Today after digging out
from the last three or so inches of snow that fell after I had shoveled six
inches of white crap and braved the rain on top of it all yesterday, I decide to
run to the store. I don’t really need
anything, but my daughter will probably be staying with me for one night, maybe
two weather depending, and I want to make sure she has something to eat other
than crackers.
This is where I am
smart. Number 1, I start out relatively
early while others are still shoveling or attending church. Number 2, I stay the hell away from the large
grocery stores. There is a teeny tiny
little Stop and Shop down the street from my house. I decide to shop for anything I might need up
through Friday because the weather people are talking more snow for the end of
the week, and I don’t want to go through this all again on Thursday. This means I will spend about $8-$12 more
than I would at the big grocery store.
Is my time and sanity
worth $8-$12? According to the frantic
Facebook posts of my pals who are fighting angry mobs at Market Basket and
Wegmans, I’d say I make the correct decision.
I am in and out of the store in no time – zero line at the deli, zero
line at the check-outs. Score. For once, the sign on my back should say, “Yes,
stand behind me! I AM in the right line!” I am home and unpacked by 11:00 a.m.
Unfortunately, it is about
an hour later that I realize I am out of white wine. I have plenty of red wine, but I am anxious
for some whites. I can’t think about the
possibility of being without white wine during the long storm in case I decide
I want some. I can head back down the street
to the liquor store next to Stop and Shop, or I can swing up town to the small
packy. This is when I get in touch with
my friend across town. She is making
squash bisque and needs white wine.
That’s it. Road trip!
We decide to go to the
small packy near her house. I pick her
up, and we’re off for an adventure. The
only problem is that we are on autopilot and miss the packy completely. We are heading right straight for Market
Basket and the packed mall in Tewskbury.
Oh. My. God. What the hell
have we done?
We decide that the worst
thing that happens is we pass the place and turn around. We can see from the street that people are
parked in snow banks because there are no spaces left for anyone trying to
grocery shop. A quick peripheral
reconnaissance mission reveals that half the mall lot is empty (over by Dress
Barn), and the other half is loaded with people trying to kill each other for a
space.
I park my car by Dress
Barn (I do like Dress Barn), and we walk the few yards into the liquor store,
totally avoiding the frenzied maniacs next door who are fist-fighting for the
last carton of milk. There are very few people
inside the packy, which I find surprising.
If I were fighting all those crazy idiots in the grocery store, I would
definitely need a liquor store run right away.
We peruse the near-empty aisles and each pick out some wine. I decide on a sauvignon blanc and a pinot
grigio. My eye is also caught by a white
zinfandel-moscato blend. It’s cheap
money, so I grab that, too. Adding this
to the four bottles of red I already have at home, I should think I am in
decent shape.
After our painless
shopping experience, and because we know the entire world is grocery shopping,
we hit the nearby Orange Leaf and have some frozen yogurt. Just to let everyone know, pineapple and
strawberry frozen yogurt together = very tasty; the white chocolate frozen yogurt
didn’t impress me; as always, wedding cake and brownie batter hit the mark.
I am now officially
prepared for the storm. My car and my
son’s car, which is parked in my driveway while he finishes his senior year of
college, are both full of gas. The
laundry is caught up except for what I am currently wearing. I have food to cook in the oven, food for on
top of the gas burners if the power fails, and an extra canister of gas for the
grill if needed. I have blankets and
warm gear ready. I have shovels and ice
melt and jackets and boots and heavy socks and I can even rustle up some
goggles. All those games and decks of cards
that I rescued from the basement are at the ready, as well. Flashlights are restocked with batteries, and
candles are handy.
And I have wine. Man oh man, do I have wine. If anyone gets lost in the blizzard, have
your St. Bernard drag you to my house.
We’ll party it up until spring comes along.
