A Cold Winter's Day

Being the new kid in town makes me ever so grateful when an invitation comes around. Yesterday, in front of the storm, Cindy invited me to lunch. Even with the promised frigid temps, I wasn't turning this down. We both rushed to the grocery store for last-minute provisions (she insisted I do this and told me I wouldn't be sorry--I wasn't. There were two gallons of milk left at Walmart 10 a.m.), ran home to put away our milk and eggs (they would have froze in the car) and then met at the pizza place for a quick bite. 

I met Cindy through the Coronas. Right after Thanksgiving, she needed outpatient surgery and I offered to drive her to Sulphur Springs--70 miles away. At the time, I thought nothing of the act, as I had way too much time and four walls that were closing in on me, but Cindy (as well as several of the Coronas who reached out after), have expressed a heartfelt gratitude. 

Actually, the gratitude is mine. It is nice to meet new people and have genuine conversations. I never felt lonely in Arizona, even as an introvert. My first nine months in Texarkana I was spiraling into the loneliness abyss. 

But I digress. 

Cindy lives on a farm with three horses, a donkey and three goats. At lunch she was working out the logistics and trying to figure out if they could all get along in her garage for the night with a space heater. I haven't heard how that worked out just yet. But she didn't think the horses would make it otherwise. This is what people in a small town with a weather anomaly talk about.  

Anyway, after our lunch, the temperature had dropped from 34 degrees to 27. I had grabbed a pizza for the family for dinner. Then I stopped by Petsmart and bought one of the few remaining packages of puppy pads, figuring Luna might not want to go outside in the middle of the night. It turns out my idea wasn't that unique. That's usually what dog owners do when there's a cold spell. Incidentally, the puppy pads were a waste of money. Luna went outside in 7 degrees and then promptly came back in and burrowed under the blankets. I think Luna has the right idea for today.