advice?

 Sometimes I hear my parents, and myself, talking

    It may be an expression I use, or something I say. 

    Today I heard both all of us on the radio.

    No, I am not  hallucinating.  It was us.

    OK, maybe not our voices, but our words for sure.

    As I often do in the morning, I had the weather radio on so I could hear the forecast for the day.

    (In case you missed it, cold.  Followed by colder.  Followed by so cold snot freezes as it drips from your nose.)

    The recorded message said the same thing my mother said to me, and I said to my kids.

    If you are goin out, make sure you wear a hat, gloves, a scarf and a winter coat.

    We have all said that, I am sure.

    When talking about driving conditions, my dad said (disguised as the weather channel people).

    If you have to drive, make sure you have a flashlight, bottled water, and an extra blanket.

    I used to pack a winter survival kit in my car.  I might have even given Julia and Emily kits, but I don't know.

    I would take an empty coffee can, put in a candy bar, hot chocolate mix, a plumbers candle, matches, and an empty soup can.  I would make sure I had a working flashlight and at least one extra blanket in the car.  Sometimes I would put a sleeping bag in the car too.

    My thought was if I got stranded, I could light the candle, heat water in the soup can, make hot chocolate, bundle up and wait to be rescued.

    Unfortunately I always ate the candy bar ahead of time. 

    Thank heavens I never had to rely on a kit to survive.

    Now days I don't drive farther than 7 miles most days, and I would never drive if the roads were bad, as they are tonight in Ogle County.

    At 6 p.m. the sheriff's department said many secondary roads were impassable and plows had been pulled until tomorrow morning.  Blowing and drifting snow and the extremely cold temperatures are the reasons why.

    Currently the temp is about 4 with the windchill at  -12.  And tonight is the warmer of the next three nights!

    So, if you are going out make sure you wear a hat, scarf, gloves and a winter coat.  And if you must drive, be sure to take a flashlight, blanket, your cell phone, a candy bar, coffee can, soup can and matches.  

    Be safe.  Be smart.  Stay home.

    You might even turn on a football game and think, "What the hell are those people doing outside?"

    That's what I'll be saying, anyway.  

Peace and Love