Crowned heads of the Carolinas

Joel and Allissa before the ceremony

January has been jarring, so far.

After Henry's short illness, culminating in his homegoing, and our Melanie's illness -- which is ongoing -- we've craved some good news.

And late last week, some happy happenings occurred.

It's uncharacteristic for our area to be threatened with a winter storm of any magnitude, and yet that's the reality that greeted us in the early part of the week.

Ember and Guy enjoyed some snowfall in East Tennessee

In fact, the predictions were so dire that we were convinced we'd be under a nine-inch layer of ice by Saturday afternoon. Power out for days, if not weeks. Freezing to death. Eating our pets before it was all over.

TG will openly make fun of me if I buy into any part of the panic, so the only thing I asked of him was to make sure we had enough propane to cook on the gas grill, should the projected power outages take place.

He smirked but did take the tank to be refilled -- if that's indeed what one does; I really do not know -- only to return home with his smirk wiped off his face because there was no propane to be found within fifty miles.

Joel and Stephanie gave Allissa a corsage

Seems others had the same idea as me. (I never claimed to be a beacon of original thought. It just made sense to me that if the power winked out, I would need my grill in order to boil water for coffee or heat up a can of soup.)

(By the way, the power stayed on throughout our tenth-of-an-inch ice event. We had stocked up on storm snacks. The pets were safe.)

(Yes, the sidewalks and decks and perhaps even some streets, were slick on Sunday. Church services were canceled and we did not attempt to go anywhere and as I said, the lights stayed on so we were warm and happy.)

(The kids sent pictures of their kids enjoying what wintry precipitation they received on Sunday. Dagny's photo looks like something out of a Stephen King novel.)

This was me on Sunday

But, not being able to accurately predict the weather, we did not know any of that last Friday, when out of an abundance of caution, we decided to celebrate TG's Sunday birthday two days early.

It was arranged that we -- TG, me, the Chericas, and the Maudags, party of nine -- would meet at El Jimador for dinner at about six thirty.

We'd never, any of us, been to El Jimador before. I chose the venue and I freely admit that I was hoping to recreate the smash-hit Mexican feast we enjoyed in Greenville on January 14th, the night before Henry's funeral.

TG was surprised by all the attention, but rolled with it

(It almost did not happen on that night in Greenville; we originally chose Red Robin, where you get a gourmet burger and bottomless fries.)

(Like any of us over the age of eleven need to be consuming endless amounts of fries.)

But it was a bust. After allowing us to wait for over twenty minutes, the "hostess" admitted that our chances of getting a table for seven and being served sometime before midnight, were on a par with the likelihood of me prancing around the restaurant waving the Jolly Roger while chanting six seven.

Allissa is known for her semi-regal poise

Which, I assure you, will happen when they are serving icy-cold, refreshing beverages in the bad place.

At any rate, we quickly regrouped and ended up at La Parrilla, where we were treated to ambiance, food, and service which was just about as excellent as those three desirable dining-out possibilities could ever hope to be, all at the same time.

(Trust me: if you are ever in Greenville, South Carolina, at mealtime and you like Mexican? Go straight to La Parrilla. It's not a bad drive for us; maybe an hour and fifteen minutes. We may go there again just because we can.)

Dagny got in on the hat-wearing fun

So yes, choosing El Jimador for TG's birthday party was my idea because I was hoping to approximate that experience.

And El Jimador was good. Not great -- not La Parrilla -- but good. The ambience and service were eight out of ten; the food, seven out of ten. Not a lineup of tens, but no one was complaining. And we were together.

I'd brought the balloons without which we do not consider it a birthday party, so the servers knew that there was a birthday person present, and I'd told them it was the elder statesman at our table.

We ate and we watched and celebrated

And so it was that after the chips and salsa and enchiladas and nachos grande and chimichangas and quesadillas had been consumed, we were surrounded by clapping, cheering staff members who lustily sang Happy Birthday to Señor Weber.

This was after someone had clapped a small sombrero on his head, which he wore throughout the serenading process, before Dagny modeled it.

Then they served him a plate of luxurious whipped cream-topped and cinnamon-dusted sopapillas, which he shared with the grandkids.

TG's balloons floated above the festivities

Erica had made brownies and we were headed to our house next to enjoy those with ice cream and coffee and watching TG open his presents, so we had the dessert thing covered.

And so it was that we settled up and drove the ten minutes to our abode, where the gifts were arrayed and the brownies and ice cream served and eaten with abandon.

Then there was the equally exciting part of the evening.

Allissa posed with her little brother Andrew

Our Allissa -- second grandchild, about to turn eighteen in April -- was up for Homecoming Queen at her school.

Lissy is a senior at Tabernacle Christian School in Hickory, North Carolina.

Normally TG and I would have made an attempt to be present on such an important occasion, but it is a nearly three-hour drive, and the whole thing would not be over until after nine o'clock, and then would have been the drive home, and we're getting too old to contemplate three-hour drives getting us home later than midnight.

He was such a good sport

It's convenient that if you go to YouTube and search for Tabernacle Christian School, you can watch as events unfold.

So we propped my Macbook high on a box atop the table, and all watched from South Carolina while the ceremony was taking place in North Carolina.

Eventually Allissa was indeed crowned Homecoming Queen 2026, and she looked so beautiful and we were thrilled. Stephanie began sending pictures to my phone.

Congratulations to Lissy on her coronation

When we see them again in person, TG can share with Allissa what it was like to be fêted by all and adorned with festive head coverings on a cold January night in the Carolinas. The señor and the senior.

I communicated with Allissa the next day, to congratulate her and assure her that we had all been there in spirit, to share in her achievement. She is truly a lovely young woman, and a leader.

The pirate has never been crowned anything -- you? If so, tell me about it in the comments.

Dagny lurked on her ice-slicked street on Sunday

And that is all for now except to add, we are once again under a Winter Storm Watch for this weekend.

This time, the breathless prediction is for several INCHES -- INCHES, I tell you! --  of snow, accompanied by bitterly plummeting temperatures.

Ah. We shall see, and we shall be prepared with propane. 

Warm-and-safe wishes to you wherever you are, from the pirate, until the day break, and the shadows flee away.

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Happy Thursday