No. 2 A Rough Start

 but I finally made it up to our place in Litchfield ,CT.  As mentioned in my previous post, my flight out of DFW was scheduled to leave at 7 AM this morning , but when  on Monday night the weather sites started to warn of some severe storms rolling through the area around 4 AM  Tuesday, I started to get nervous. When my neighbor Charles picked me up at 4:45 AM it was a balmy 68 with just a little bit of rain - I crossed my fingers and hoped the weather forecasters were wrong. Well, about 15 minutes into our trip, all hell broke loose - heavy winds, downpours, and tornado warnings chirping on our phones. Fortunately Charles drives one of those big Ford 150 type trucks and in spite of the driving rain and winds, with cars either pulled off to the side of the road or driving slowly with their blinkers on, Charles continued to drive at a reasonable speed and soon we were approaching DFW with the rain starting to let up. I figured I was home free. Well, after checking in and sailing through security, I was sitting down at the United Club and starting to enjoy  a coffee and roll when the  terminal tornado sirens start screaming and the women running the United Club came and told everyone  that there was a tornado warning and because all of the windows in the club, we  would have to leave and stand in the hallways. I never made it back to the club and fortunately the tornados never came , but the flight was delayed almost an hour, and for the first 30 minutes into the flight  it was like riding a bucking bronco. The rest of the flight to Newark and drive to Litchfield were pretty standard stuff, but  by the time I got to Litchfield I was too tired to go out and find a local restaurant celebrating Mardi Gras. In spite of a rough start, I was very happy to make it up to Litchfield without any other excitement. 

Interesting Note: The term Mardi Gras actually means “Fat Tuesday” in French as people would stuff themselves with food before Lent and the traditional fasting started the next day. Before 1966, Catholics would not eat meat on Friday throughout the year ( fish sticks and mac&cheese were the standard Friday night dinner after having it for lunch at school that day) and we’re not supposed to eat meat at all during Lent, although everyone had an excuse why they didn’t strictly obey the rules. 

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