Too Much

So we got hit with 3 feet of snow. Do you know what 3 feet mean? If a man's average height is less than 6 feet, then most of us will be submerged to our belly buttons or higher in that snow. Last few days, my feet are always cold, heart is barely ticking, and my car is slipping and sliding all over the road. I haven't seen the sidewalk in 4 days. Noone here dares to walk outside. Schools, government, Congress, airports, and some shops are still closed. I ventured out Saturday, the first day of the storm. Other than two other vehicles whose drivers were as crazy as I was, and a few snow plows, the streets were all clear. Layers upon layers of that thick white powder covered everything, streets, sidewalks, cars, houses, trees. All colors blened into black or white. It was like the earth was hit with a snow nuclear bomb, and only a few of us survived. Three or more lane highways and roads turned into a one lane alley narrower than the alleys of old Damascus. As if this all wasn't enough, it started snowing again tonight. We're expecting another foot of snow.

Last month I wrote a piece about snow and how wonderful and fun it can be. Here I am again getting tired of it. My theory always was that cold weather is easier to go through than hot simmering weather. You can always bundle up and dress warm for the cold weather. The heat can be unbearable when you have to venture out no matter how light you're dressed. This definitely is a different kind of cold. Blustery cold winds, freezing moisture, and confinement are ingredients of a lowsy atmosphere. Simply put, too much of a good thing, way too much.

I took some pictures while driving today. Enjoy.

I went out again this morning after the second storm hit us and took the pictures below.

Fear

I came home two nights ago to an empty fridge. Haven't gone grocery shopping in a while, I decided to head to the supermarket to get my meat, cheese, milk, fruits, and favorite Ciabatta bread. It took me a while to find a place to park as the place was packed with customers. It seemed odd as it's usually not that busy after 7 at night. I finally walked in to find the shelves almost empty. It looked like this nation was going to war the next day, and everyone is stocking up on food for weeks to come. I picked up some stuff and headed to the check out counter. While waiting in line I overheard customers talking about the upcoming snow storm we were supposed to get. Three feet of snow ( About 1 meter) are supposed to hit us Friday and Saturday. Ahhh, that explains it all. I haven't had a chance to watch any news last week, so I was glad I decided to stock up. Here I am, stuck in the house for 24 hours without being able to even move my car out of the garage. Looking outside my window, it seems that I'm stuck for at least two more days here. I decided to start writing and bore you with some thoughts.

Ask any macho man out there what he fears, and the answer would most likely be "nothing". If that person was religious, God will be his only exception. Most of us feel like they fear nothing and we cruise through life with that belief. Alas, fear controls our lives in more ways than we could ever imagine. Fear controls our world and our mindsets as humans. It is built into our brains. We live our lives fighting our fears. I, like many others, feared not making it in my homeland, so I decided to migrate to the U.S. The fear of running out of food drove out the masses to the supermarket before the storm. Wars, natural distasters, bad economies, and uncertainties drive prices up and cause all kinds of choas in our markets.

Any economist out there will tell you that fear is the biggest factor in world economy. Fear of war in the Arabic gulf or Iran would drive the price of oil way up, even though it may never happen. The price of gold has recently gone up because people and investors are uncertain about the stock markets, currencies, and realestate. Gold seemed the most guaranteed commodity to keep its value. Fear of this, fear of that, fear of unemployment, fear of death, fear of clowns.... and so forth. Life still goes on.

Franklin Roosevelt once said "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" How true? Fear can be healthy and can lead us to making the right decisions often, but controlling our fears is the key to living a happy life. " The key to change, is to let go of fear" Can we? We sure can let go of some fear, the bad and unreasonable kind, we sure can't let go of it all. Fear is here to stay, and our job is to control it and use it to our advantage.