Me, Myself, and Ice

Well, the New Year has certainly started off with a couple of bangs! The first two days back at work were some of the busiest days I have ever had because my co-worker took two days of vacation.

I was alone.

By myself.

Solo.

I knew it would be hectic, but I didn't think crazy hectic would come into play in the coldest month of the year. I came in on Monday already behind because of the orders placed last week that couldn't be processed because of suppliers being closed for the holiday. While trying to quickly handle them, new orders began pouring in and I was soon inundated with paper that weighed my inbox down. My boss (bless his heart!) kindly offered to take all the requests for freight, availability, and prices while I only concentrated on placing the orders. When I left Monday night, I had a stack of orders in my box that was over 1/2 inch thick. Tuesday morning started with a repeat of Monday and didn't let up until this morning. I can hardly wait until the busy season when it's fully expected that orders are coming in from every which way. (I really hope my loyal followers can pick up on the sarcasm that is heavily dripping from every word of that last sentence.)

The second big bang of the new year is the cold weather. Most of the nation is in a below normal winter weather pattern that has it's icy grip on everything. The Triangle has had daily highs below 40°F for the past week with most of those days not getting above 32°F. Lows have been in the low 20s or upper teens!! With so much constant cold temperatures, local ponds and lakes have started freezing over. The pond at work is almost a solid sheet of ice with little free water open for anything to swim. Granted, the ice layer isn't that deep, but it's still impressive for central North Carolina. It's been fun watching to geese react to the ice. Some just stand on it like it's dry land. Others slowly step, slide, step, slide their way across to more pleasant surroundings like the open water. Every now and then, one of them will make their way across a thinner patch of ice and break through with a splash. Watching them try to escape their icy trap was a highlight of lunch time for me. Today, wind-driven dry leaves imitated crabs at the beach as they skittered across the icy surface of the frozen pond while small balls of fluff made like tumbleweeds tumbling across the desert floor.

Hmmmm...did anyone notice how my analogies are from warmer climes???

I think I will rewrite Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"...

I'm dreaming of a hot July.
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the sunlight shines,
And children pine
To eat icy balls of snow.

I'm dreaming of a hot July
With every shiver that I form.
May your days be merry and warm.
And with heat, your Julys just swarm.