Today was one of those days that was not exactly perfect.

The best thing about it may be that I had nice nightmares last night. I knew I was going to have nightmares before I went to bed, so I was able to set up my weapons and ammo caches as I fell asleep and I knew that i would be able to handle anything that happened in the nightmare.

This means that I woke rested, alert, and just twitchy enough to really be the Weasel.

This is good. It means that when the weird happened, I had my paranoia up and running at full RMP.

It was raining. I passed a UPS truck. Just as I passed it it went from the right lane to the left shoulder. Then it went from the left shoulder to the right shoulder. Then it disappeared.

My first thought was to slow down. Then my food pressed down harder on the accelerator. When in the potential path of a moving object, one must not be tempted to pause and attempt to estimate the vector of that moving object.

I had passed another UPS truck a few moments before the disappearing one, and all of the traffic behind me seemed to slow and stop when the truck went away. I hope that the driver is safe and not in too much trouble. I do not feel that I could have added help to the situation greater than the risk I would have taken by slowing down in the path of an out of control vehicle.

The rest of the drive out was fairly tame, given the rain and the wind. The ride back home was more exciting. A few more accidents, interesting airborne debris. Rapidly moving bands of severe weather alternating with beautiful blue sky and sunlight. The weather is quite nasty out. Power is out in parts of the city. I'm going to stay home and stay inside.

I don't think I ever want to be brave. It is good to be a coward and to be peaceful in fearful situations. The answer to the frightening is not, "I'm not scared!" it is, "Goodness, yes, I'm terrified, but I can take this one step at a time, stay relaxed, and probably survive it."

I will not lift my head up when the bullets are flying. I will not rush when calm slowness is safer. I will not take shortcuts or make assumptions. I will read the directions, follow tested steps, and always take time to be sure before taking a risk. I will hug the mud and stick with the dirt. I will never let pride push me into foolishness.

And when I get home, I will indulge in a half hour hiding in a corner, shivering and crying.

And tomorrow, I will get up and go out and face whatever is there again.