Tuesday, December 19, 2006

The Perfect Storm

Ah, the Perfect Storm is brewing.

And it's All Joel's Fault.

My brother Joel, city boy, New Yorker, and magnet for drama (he IS an actor, but we're not just talking about that kind of drama) called me in October or so to let me know he'd bought tickets to come to Denver to visit us for Christmas as we had planned.

Joel mentioned, ever so casually, that he was concerned about flying into Denver and how the weather would be in December.

I, of course, having lived here for 5 years and have yet to see a White Christmas, said what all Denverites would say to family coming for the holidays.

"Oh, it's no biggie. It'll be 50 and sunny more than likely," I said, not knowing that in a few months, a liar would be made out of me.

To which Joel responded "Yeah, but I'm coming."

We all know Joel to attract bad weather, bad karma, bad salespeople & bad food poisoning as if her were a literal magnet for trouble.

Somehow, he's able to avoid absolute calamity, but by the end of it, everyone's fine, and there's a damn good story to tell. Joel's counterbalance of good luck with getting out of the worst jams he gets himself into is why we haven't excommunicated him from the family.

So what happened tonight? This is what I saw on the National Weather Service's website for Denver:


Hazardous Weather OutlookWinter Storm Warning
WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 5 PM MST THURSDAY


If you click on the title of this post, you'll see the full report, but the short version is that we're expecting up to 18 inches of snow.

Now, I'm hoping that because it's ending at 5 p.m., and Joel flies in at 7:45 p.m., that all will be well by the time he arrives. DIA will have exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes to clear the runway in time for Joel to arrive as hero of the day, having braved the Blizzard of '06.

I guess if I'd wanted a White Christmas sooner, I should have just invited brother Joel out for Christmas earlier.

Yeah, Joel and The Perfect Storm.

It's like peanut butter & chocolate, Santa & the elves, wine and cheese.

It all just goes together.

4 comments:

Shannon said...

As I sit here looking out on another oddly warm day in New England (we haven't had any snow other than the speckling I posted on my blog) I can't help but marvel at my home state's weather. It never ceases to surprise... I hope Joel misses the storm and arrives uneventfully. My folks are flying back from Mexico today, however. I sure hope they make it in one piece and that my brother can fight his way out to DIA to retrieve them. Looks like a White Christmas in CO, though. That is a rare and special treat, so once the traveling is through it will be wonderful to snuggle up with a hot toddy and family around the Christmas tree :) Have a fabulous holiday~ Shannon

Tammy said...

Ahhhh... hope he makes it safely!!!! It's beginning to look a lot like CHristmas!!!

Anonymous said...

HEY!! I know nothing of what Julie speaks! I'm the innocent bystander of it all. I swear!! Everyone has things that just happen to them through no fault of their own...right? After all, the vacuum cleaner salesmen came to MY door not the other way around. The venti coffee that spilled all over me just before my audition was set in my way by someone ELSE. It wasn't MY fault that the flight I missed a couple of Christmases ago took off from a completely different airport! Blame Expedia.com for that one!

As for this current development, do I control the weather?? I think not! The fact that its happening to blizzard there at the exact time that I am scheduled to arrive...well that surely has NOTHING to do with me.

The real truth is this: All of these sorts of things happen to occur when I'm around simply because without me, who would make you laugh so hard you wet yourself when the call comes in with the latest installment of "You'll never guess what just happened." Who else do you know can make you laugh rather than panic when you hear the phrase, "Are you sitting down?" Exactly. No one but me. ;-)

That said, stay tuned and I'm sure you'll hear either from Jules or myself just what adventures transpired as I made my way to spend the holiday with my beloved and nutty sister. I'm just dying to see what happens to me...not. Ha.

Anonymous said...

That is so awesome that Joel is making it out for Christmas. Please say hi to him from us. We have a Christmas card, letter, & a couple of pics of us for you guys, though it will be arriving closer to New Year's. We are having a cold front right now in AZ. The high is supposed to be 55 today though when I left home this morning it was 35 degrees. Now I know what most of you are thinking but I couldn't ask for a better winter day like today. There was a slight breeze, a little sunshine, just enough nip in the air to put me in a great Christmas mood. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all!!
Love you guys!
Mindi & Schane'

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