Chain reaction

We just got a dusting of snow Sunday evening, right as the Oscars were finishing up. I was thinking that it might make the roads treacherous in the morning, but it didn't. The roads were 100% clear in town on Monday morning. What little snow we got was gone by noon.

Not so west Texas. What we got was a bit of wrap around snow, while west Texas around Amarillo was pounded by a major blizzard. The interstate was shut down; as a precaution, I-40 was shut down at Louisiana Blvd here to try to divert truckers to the fairgrounds to park and wait it out. No one got the word, so eastbound I-40 has been an absolute zoo. Later, I understand the city moved the closure to the more logical Tramway Blvd, the easternmost exit on the freeway in ABQland before I-40 enters the canyon.

Two days later, the interstate is STILL closed, which must confuse a lot of people since it's blue skies and dry roads here. The Schooltime performances at the theatre today are cancelled, since the guy can't get his van west of Amarillo. He's absolutely stuck. I don't know the details, but it was a nailbiter until the last minute. MAYBE the 250 mile section of the freeway that's closed will reopen sometime this morning, but won't do us much good. Our marketing/education team is having to contact all the teachers, APS drivers and homeschoolers to somehow keep them from showing up at the theatre, all 4000 of them. Yikes!

All that said, the cold weather appears to be going away. Heading for the 60s all next week (while Danny is in Palm Springs!)

It's quite understandable, really

Apparently, several Wilde Bunchers are going to the Tucson flyin this coming weekend. No one has talked about it at all, possibly because they know I'm calling for Austin's first flyin (along with Sandie Bryant) this same weekend.

Tucson is just a 7+ hour drive from us, making it a doable event both coming and going, for most people. Also, with carpooling and hosting, it's definitely cheap.

What dancers don't know is the behind the scenes on this. Austin made a concerted effort about 18 months ago to find a weekend when no one else was having a flyin. They knew that Austin is a bit out of the way for many people, and with airfare escalating, a bit of a stretch to the travel dollar. I think it's at least 12 hours from here, not a fun one-day drive. The organizers have done as much promotion for the event as they know how, and were dismayed when they found Tucson had booked the same weekend.

Out of the blue, Tucson decided to book the same weekend about six months ago. Members of the IAGSDC board even tried to get them to move their date, being as they had normally had the event sometime in February, and as with Phoenix, even January. They wouldn't budge.

I've never seen any promotion at all for the Tucson flyin. The time I called it a few years ago, they had booked FOUR callers and only had 40 dancers show up, if that. We were split into duets in two different halls in an elementary school, competing to get one square at a time. If we had two squares at once, whee!

I'm taking the high road on this. Dancers can do whatever they like, but from what I understand no one from Albuquerque is going to Austin to help support their first flyin.

That makes me sad.