I always find it interesting how everything feels like such a novelty for a few days after you’ve returned home. Even the most ordinary and mundane—the stuff you take for granted 99% of the time.
Sunday, I found myself gazing so intently at the remote control in my hand you’d think I’d just unearthed some archaeological wonder from ancient Babylon rather than a clicker that lets you change channels and adjust the volume.
I’ll put it this way: we found a turkey loaf buried in the back of the freezer the other day and got so excited over the idea of cooking it in the oven, we practically raced each other to the kitchen.
Weirdest of all was going back to work on Monday morning. After having 10 days off to explore exotic locales such as Mansfield, Ohio and the Iowa prairie, settling back into the 8 to 5 routine (Dolly Parton was off by an hour) was challenging. And I love my job! Can’t imagine how depressed I would have felt if I didn’t. Fortunately, I’ve had a three-day online Rural Broadband Association Marketing & Sales Conference to distract me.
You know you’re jealous.
The conference was originally scheduled to be held in sunny Fort Lauderdale. Every single reference to Fort Lauderdale by the conference organizers, by the way, is preceded by the adjective “sunny.” Having never been to Florida I can’t attest to the accuracy of that descriptor, but it is the Sunshine State, right?
(I just pulled up the current weather conditions in Fort Lauderdale. Sunny, my ass! It’s partly cloudy right now, which means, THEY LIED.)
Instead of Florida, I’m holed up in my office in Rapid City, South Dakota, watching an endless parade of Zoom video presentations at my desk. Would I prefer to have soft sand between my toes and a tropical drink in my hand? Well, duh. But then I remind myself, if I were in partly cloudy Fort Lauderdale, I’d be stuck inside a stuffy hotel ballroom for hours on end. Knowing the beach was a few dozen yards away rather than 2,143 miles would be far more painful. And it’s not like I’d be sipping a Pina Colada while listening to a speaker drone on about “Real Estate and Broadband a Match Made in Flyover Territory” (an actual topic today). Don’t worry, it wasn’t as dry as it sounds.
It was drier.
Plus, while I love a good vacation getaway, business trips are another story. They’re too structured and I’ve never been the networking type. You know how introverts secretly embraced the COVID silver lining of not having to deal with people face-to-face so often?
I get that.
I mean, Florida seems like a fine enough destination if you’re there for pleasure, but you’re going to be so busy working and mingling, you might as well hold a business trip in Fargo as far as I’m concerned.
Making matters worse this afternoon? The darkening skies and thunder & lightning. It’s hard to focus on the economic stimulators for rural development in Wisconsin when Mother Nature is putting on a show outside your window. God, I love spring storm season.
Although, I have to admit, I started to get a little worried about hail. The Black Hills are notorious for damaging hail storms. A few weeks after we moved out here, my Mazda got pummeled by hail. But the hailstones that caused so much damage to my car that day were downright cute compared to the ones that fell last summer. South Dakota hail ain’t no joke, folks.
Hoping to prevent damage to my Kona, I invested in a heavy-duty car cover before we left on our road trip. I’d intended to bring it along just in case, but realized an hour east of home that I’d forgotten it. Then, I’d planned on putting it in my trunk when we got back, because you never can be sure exactly when it’s going to hail around here. Only, ahem, it was still sitting in the basement this afternoon, as that very ominous-looking storm was approaching. Luckily, it never did hail. THIS TIME.
The cover is finally in my car now.
And with showers/thunderstorms in the forecast the next seven days, that’s probably a good thing.
Mark My Words 
Holy crap! That’s some serious hail. But please explain why you were excited to excavate a turkey loaf… it doesn’t sound appetizing, and all I can think of is Tofurky. * shudders *
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Only because we’d been grabbing our meals from restaurants, bars, and drive-throughs for over a week. The thought of cooking something—anything, apparently—sounded irresistible!
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Anything besides meat that ends in loaf…. I avoid.
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The husband sometimes watches a show called “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” I’ve never been to Pennsylvania, much less Philly, but I’m guessing that’s a lie, too.
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I will never forget my car being pummeled so badly by hail in Denver on a road trip that it literally looked like it had been shot up. Had to drive back across the country before getting it repaired. So many people took photos. Folks back East could not even imagine hailstones that big.
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We get that kind of hail out here every year. On my original road trip 10 years ago, my old Hyundai was battered by hail in Rapid City, too. It’s unavoidable. This is why there are dozens of auto body shops advertising “hail repair” throughout the spring and summer months. My car cover isn’t going to protect against giant hail stones like those pictured above, but hopefully, it’ll help mitigate the damage (and at least prevent a busted windshield, which happens a lot out here, too).
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Um that pic of Ft Lauderdale looks sunny as anything sir. It’s actually blinding! Not a hint of a cloud shadow over the city.
Out over the water, yes… probably miles out to sea.
Miles away is also a good location for hail. Not close up! Wow… glad you got the cover somewhere it’ll be in easy reach!
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I know…that was my point. It didn’t look like that yesterday!
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My husband always claims that business trips and conferences are not fun, but I always think he’s trying to protect my feelings of being left out.
We got a lovely slushy snow on Mother’s Day. Hopefully, that’s the tail end of winter.
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I actually think your husband might be telling the truth! Unless his business trip experiences have been different than mine.
You guys had snow last weekend?! Wow. We haven’t even seen any in May this year…which marks the first time May has been snow-free since we moved here.
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Test comment
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Hail is sneaky stuff. Will ruin the roof on your house, but barely dent a car OR vice versa. I’ve been to FL often enough to know that the weather is never what the city guides tell you it’ll be. Also sneaky stuff.
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We were worried, the way those giant hailstones were pounding our roof. Fortunately, there was no damage. But the conference room windows here at CenturyCo were broken during that storm. This was before my time, but they just barely got all the blinds replaced.
Oh, and then a few days later, we had more hail the same size fall.
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When it rains in South Florida it seems the sky is so gray/black the end of the world has come. If lightening hits close by, you jump 2 feet off the floor in an involuntary reaction. A dozen storn funnels across the horizon are terrifying. Lot different here in North Carolina now. A BIG, BIG, REALLY BIG STORM last 15 minutes at best and is fairly tame consideridering sunny Florida.
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Our storms out here tend to pass quickly, too. When I took that pic, I was sure all hell was going to break loose…but the worst of it passed to the south, and within half an hour, the sun was shining brightly.
Unlike in Fort Lauderdale.
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That conference sounds hellish. I’d def be looking out my window, too. Nice hail balls. (I edited how I’d first written that.)
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Haha! Dare I ask?!
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I’m sure you can use your imagination.
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Haha! Yes…indeed, I can.
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I’m laughing about the Turkey Loaf and your excitement. It’s the little things!
Florida is sunny. And hot. Like super hot. And humid. Like super humid. And it also rains almost every afternoon in the summer, but only for an hour or two.
That hail, well that hail ain’t playing. OMG. I thought they were heads of garlic. 😦
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