Snowed in, pt. 2

A cat and four people, confined by the weather to a smallish house. Martin occasionally goes outside to shovel snow or to turn on the cars. (It keeps him sane.) Mary and I plant ourselves in front of the TV. Stephen pines for his gf.

I swallow pills of expectorant; for a spittoon, I use an old sour cream container. I sit on the couch, coughing and spitting, reading Zlatan’s autobiography. (The writing is incredible.)

Every day, M&M watch for school closings.

Monday night, we phone restaurants. Steak ’n Shake is open! We slowly drive up Grape Road … our spirits are refreshed.

Tuesday night, we watch Always Sunny (“The Gang Wrestles for the Troops”). Stephen traces Edoarda’s plane across his laptop screen. Georgia … Tennessee … Kentucky. When the plane approaches Indiana, M&M and I reach for our coats.

“Hey, what is this!” protests Stephen. “You’re not all taking me to the airport!”

Um, yeah, Stephen: The Gang Goes to the Airport.

“No! Not that! Not ‘The Gang’!”

Yes, The Gang.

Poor Stephen: how will he and his gf attain privacy?

At the airport, M&M and I allow Stephen to go in by himself. The young lovers are reunited. M&M and I sit in the car, listening to ’80s funk. The minutes tick away. It turns out, Edoarda’s luggage has gone missing; she and Stephen are taking this opportunity to get reacquainted near the conveyer belt. … Mary becomes tired of the ’80s funk and goes inside the airport. Martin and I remain in the car, grooving; we’ve (sort of) forgotten about Stephen and Edoarda.

By the time we all get home, we’ve spent two and a half hours in the car.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

This morning (Thursday), after three “snow” days, M&M resume their teaching. Tomorrow I’ll also return to work.

I’m coughing less and less …

ah, this is the life.