First, a very narrow snow band blowing off the lake has created a blizzard right through Buffalo, Cheektowaga and West Seneca. It trapped thousands of vehicles on the thruway and caused a massive pileup involving over twenty cars. Unfortunately, one person was killed, and several were seriously injured.
Elementary students were kept in their schools because conditions were too severe to send them home. Imagine. A long vacation and on the first day back, the kids and teachers have to spend the night at school. More extreme cold is coming later in the week.
The intense cold has caused 40% of Lake Erie to freeze and a good part of Niagara Falls. In winter the Falls are spectacular and the spray coats the trees with ice that glimmers in the sunlight. Our friend Mark Thomas who is director the western division of NYS was interviewed!
Of course, the big news from Buffalo this weekend was the Bills victory and the end of the 17 year playoff drought that came about because the Cincinnati Bengals also won. That was spectacular, but even better was the fans' response to the Bengal's quarterback. They have sent over $170,000 , mostly in $17 increments, to his foundation that supports needy children. As he said, he's the hottest thing in Buffalo right now.
DT went back to work today, along with millions of other people around the country. Poor baby has to take a break from his daily golf games. He began his work week with a stream of nonsensical tweets. In response to Kim Jong Un: "I too have a nuclear button and it's bigger..." Protests in Iran spurred by years of unemployment and economic distress have exploded across the country and jerk face taunted the Iranian government which will only hurt the protesters. He took credit for having no fatal commercial airline accidents, even though there haven't been any fatal domestic accidents since 2009. Such ego! His ignorance knows no bounds. The damage to our nation and world is immeasurable.
This weekend, three of the Democratic candidates for Congress will be in town and several will speak to our group, CC WAG. Very soon, the county Democratic Party will make an endorsement so this is a great opportunity. I've met all of the major candidates and currently favor Tracy Mitrano. She is one of the top three thus far as evidenced by several straws polls and fund raising efforts. It will be very tough to beat Reed, but it's essential as one step to flipping the House to a Democratic majority.
All through the years of working on the book, I kept lists, lots and lots of lists. Things to do, people to interview, chapters to revise, research topics. We use lists to organize Quest, too. So much to remember to do. Now, I'm making different lists, this time of household tasks, places to go, people to call, trips to plan. Not very exciting, but absolutely necessary to maximize outcome and not waste the many hours I've freed up each day.
We spent a few hours researching companies to support our hike in Scotland. We'll be hiking 95 miles from Glasgow to Fort William on the northwest coast. It's a heavily trafficked trail that is rugged, but well maintained. All along the way, we'll experience the spectacular scenery of the lochs and rocky hills. It won't be true backpacking because we'll be staying in the towns each night and eating in a pub. We're planning to hire a service that will make the reservations for accommodations and transport our luggage. We will still take a backpack but will carry only daily essentials like rain gear, water, lunch, first aid supplies and my camera.
This morning we distributed the Quest DVDs at school during their lunch periods. It's quite astonishing how much the boys grow from May to January. Some were hardly recognizable. One boy told me he had purchased the book and was enjoying it very much. It was an opportunity, too, to check the references of a couple applicants for student leader. Very soon, we have to make those decisions.
Our home on Christmas Eve.
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