2024, Family, home, Nature, Seasons, TV

Freak Out!

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I spent a week with Nonny in St. Louis the second week of January.  While I was there, they had some bad weather.  First there was “wintery mix” the night before I arrived which necessitated my brother-in-law picking me up from the airport instead of Nonny.  As far as I could tell, the wintery mix was a dusting of snow.  But a dusting of snow in St. Louis is a much bigger deal than it here.

Then as we headed into the weekend, the forecast was for “bitterly cold” temperatures – in the single digits with some below zero wind chills.  Again, for St. Louis this is out of the ordinary and very alarming.  St. Louis was freaking out.  On Friday night, Nonny had the tv set to local news for about 90 minutes and at least 60 of those minutes were spent on the weather.  What the temperature had been, what temperatures were predicted, instructions to stay in, recommendations for how to be prepared if you need to go out. 

As a Minnesotan of 45 years standing, it struck me as funny although I kept my mouth shut.  If we’d had weather in the Twin Cities the last few days like Renee experienced last week, we’d be freaked out too.  It’s all about what you’re used to. 

My sister, who has appointed herself the arbiter of what Nonny should and shouldn’t be doing, made sure to give me advice about keeping Nonny inside and making sure Nonny had enough food “stocked up”.  This was even funnier; if you know Nonny then you’d know that even at the age of 91, nobody gets to be Nonny’s arbiter except Nonny.  In fact, when I did a quick run out to the hardware store for some magnetic catches (fixing her bathroom cabinet doors), she insisted on coming with me.  So then we went to the grocery store as well.  The roads were pretty well deserted, even at noon.  St. Louis was indeed staying inside!

Caroline sent me this picture that day – what a great laugh since I was actually in St. Louis.    Of course it’s photo-shopped.  While ice does form on the Arch (and is actually a danger as it sheets off – they sometimes close the area underneath the Arch because of this), it never looks like this.  Too bad, it’s pretty this way!

Anybody remember who said “if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”?  How do you keep calm when everyone else is freaking out?

24 thoughts on “Freak Out!”

  1. I believe that line can be found in a poem by an early 20th century imperialist poet from Britain.

    Nonetheless, like some objectionable phrases from the Bible, I find it useful at times.

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    1. Don’t talk to me about being phlegmatc. I am as phlegmatc as can be and I am staying home again from work because I am coughing my fool head off!

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  5. All the usual things that I have been trained to do. Breathe – become centered and present. Inhale. Be aware of the situation at hand while conscious of my inner strength and my abilities. Exhale. Decide what to do and follow through.

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  6. I’m often the calm one, and have been told that it will sometimes help others who have a tendency to freak out. I do have my panicky moments, however, and I guess a few deep breaths is what I do.
    If I’m dreading something a lot, I’ll remind myself that by such and such a date, this will all be over.

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  7. was it marie antoinette?

    when others freak out that’s my cue to become the outside observer
    most often it doesn’t matter one way or the other but the freak out says more about the person freaking than the situation
    if there’s an outcome affected that i care about i may chime in but most often i’ll watch

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  9. My job (NICU nurse) also required me to remain calm in life threatening or bad news situations. Even though my insides might be roiling, I needed to outwardly project calmness and efficiency. That has stuck with me throughout my personal life. There’s not much that would freak me out anymore.

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  10. I had a mild panic last night when I realized I forgot to put in a 30 minute rise just before baking for the Cowboy Cafe caramel rolls recipe. Daughter’s friend who made the rolls as soon as she got my rendition of the recipe said they turned out exactly as she remembered them even without the final rise.

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  13. The quote about “If you can keep your head…” resonates with me; I think it’s because there was an excahnge between Harriet and Ole Golly in Harriet the Spy involving the quote.

    I don’t know how to keep calm in turbulent times. I just fall apart.

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    1. I know this is not a competition, and we’re probably not supposed to have favorites, but I confess, Linda is among my most favorite people in the universe.

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