Normally, pink is pretty.

But in the winter in Oklahoma, it’s the last thing you want to see on a weather map. Unless, of course, you’re a school age kid – then it depends on just how much pink you see.

On a weather map, pink means ice.

Pink is good because schools tend to close when the map turns pink like tonight’s has. Here at our house, the deck in the back has been iced over since mid-morning. The trees are absolutely beautiful in their crystal coats, and the yard is crunchy.

That’s about where the good stops and the bad starts, though. The streets, as of 11pm, are still just wet, but our city’s network of expressways are already reporting accidents on bridges and overpasses. Just north of the city is not fairing as well and thousands of people out in mostly rural areas are without power already. The forecast for the city: it’s going to get worse before it gets better. More freezing rain overnight with temperatures as low as 27. What are now puddles will be sheets of ice and by morning you’ll be safer on ice skates than in a car.

Not good.

Just a little while ago, I took the dog out. I was standing on the porch while she was deliberating as to whether she REALLY had to go bad enough to get her paws cold and wet and I saw a blue flash over the rooftops across the street. Part of my neighborhood is now without power.

Lovely.

If we wake up to no power, the upside is I’ll be able to take back all the cussing I did about switching from an electric stove to a gas stove this past summer. I won’t be whining about how hot the dang thing makes the house when I use the oven. In fact, we’ll probably entertain ourselves by baking cookies. And I’ll be celebrating another change I made when we moved back home: I switched from cable internet and phone to a regular land line and DSL. No more being stuck without a phone because the cable modem doesn’t have any juice.

So, I’m headed to bed, hoping I’ll be online tomorrow. But if not, I’ll be huddled under the covers with Prima Donna Daughter on one side and Second Son on the other and we’ll all be reading books.