“I wonder why they’re wasting so much heat in a stairwell,” I muttered as I rounded the first-floor landing. I paused, tucked my cane under my arm, pulled off my gloves, and unzipped my coat before continuing the climb.

Okay, I guess the coat will need to come completely off, I thought as I rounded the second-floor landing. So I propped the cane between my legs, shrugged off the heavy backpack, dropped it to the floor, and took off my coat. Hoisting the backpack into place again and draping the coat over my arm I continued huffing up to Room 320 hoping I wouldn’t be soaked in sweat by the time I got there.

It’s strange that I only get these power surges in this one stairwell Continue reading Power Surges →

I stood in what seemed like a hurricane-force rain storm peering into sheets of water that made my limited vision even blurrier. “Yeah, that surely is the white minivan,” I thought as I gripped my umbrella even tighter, struggling to keep it from turning itself inside out and in place over me and my big backpack. “Come on, come on, what are you waiting for?” I mumbled.

The shape wasn’t changing so I knew it wasn’t moving. Was the person in the traffic kiosk giving my daughter a rough time? Or wasn’t it actually the vehicle I was waiting for? It certainly wasn’t the kind of day for a friendly chat so what was taking so long?

After what seemed like hours, the white minivan moved toward me, then quickly turned the corner, and stopped. I opened the side door to toss in the dripping umbrella and heard my daughter’s panicked voice yelling, “Quick, Mom, GET IN!” Continue reading Quick, Get In! →