Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Stay warm

We got just enough of a snow flurry in Austin today for a little to stick on the ground a couple of hours. Watching my dogs leaving tentative footprints and yellow trails in the snow before begging to be let back inside recalled a photo I noticed recently via the Texas State Troopers Association - a shot from Feb. 11 in Midlothian southwest of Dallas that reminded me, as if it were needed, that central Texas winters are ridiculously mild (the upside, I suppose, of living with 100 degree summer days and the semiannual threat of flash floods):


Brrrrr. Just looking at that photo makes me want to turn up the heat. Good camera shot by Trooper Rick Smith.

Stay warm, folks.
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3 comments:

  1. Don Dickson2/24/2010 06:27:00 AM

    LOL, thanks for sharing that great photo with your readers, Grits. I got a kick out of it when Rick sent it to me. I love that the only thing you can see on the vehicle are the words "Texas Highway Patrol."

    BTW, although it's sometimes easy to use the DPS as a punching bag, it's helpful and sobering to hear some "real stories of the Highway Patrol" and to bear in mind that the Department and the people of Texas are served by men and women like Rick Smith. Check this out:

    http://www.nrahq.org/law/year06.asp

    Practicing law is a lot more fun and more rewarding when your clients are people like Rick Smith.

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  2. Gritsforbreakfast2/24/2010 08:51:00 AM

    Wow, that is a great story, Don. And I agree, the THP barely visible under the snow is what makes that a great shot.

    Hopefully the training that allowed Trooper Smith to perform so well isn't part of the nine weeks they just cut from the academy! :o

    Just kidding - that kind of heroism likely can't be trained, and my guess is nobody really knows if they've got it in them until the moment comes.

    If you don't mind, however, I'll continue to use the Driver Responsibility Program as a "punching bag" ... a blogger's gotta keep in fighting shape. ;)

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  3. Don Dickson2/25/2010 07:31:00 PM

    Punch away, Grits...speaking only for myself, it kinda gives me the creeps that the state police agency has been turned into bill collectors. Isn't that how Papa Doc did things?

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