Snowmageddon
This was not supposed to be the fifth installment for this season. I, in fact, have already written the installment that is now the sixth and already told the subject of that installment that it is the fifth (sorry, Nicole), but last week was too weird not to write about! On Saturday, January 24th, 2026, I picked up Noah at his apartment, and we went to a nearby Starbucks. We had been trying to hang out since Christmas, and with the blizzard expected to hit that night, we weren't sure when we'd see each other next.
“So do you think you're going to work Monday?” Noah asked.
“I think we'll get Monday off,” I said, “but I think anything else might be a bit of a stretch.”
At 4:00, I went with Paige, and my parents went to Mass at OLP. There were two reasons for this. 1. Obviously, because of the snowstorm, Paige and I were a little worried that we were not going to be able to get to our church the next day. 2. That weekend, Our Lady of Peace celebrated their 80th anniversary, and so the Bishop was the celebrant for the Mass. It was kind of weird for me because I was struggling to wrap my head around the fact that my entire time as a student and an educator there happened so early in the parish's history. Like, there's an argument to be made that in 200 years, my time at OLP could be considered part of “the early years.”
When Mass ended, Paige and I drove back to our apartment, and I put my windshield wipers up. We spent the night watching TV and keeping watch out the window, waiting for the first snowflakes to fall. Now Paige and my apartment complex, Summit Crest Apartments, is huge, but it's kind of tucked away. I've driven/ridden my bike past it since I was a teenager (though probably before that), but I didn’t know it was there until Paige and I signed our first lease. Honestly, I wouldn't even call it Columbus, it's kind of like its own little pocket Universe.
Anywho, because it's so blocked off, we have a private snowplow operator. On Monday, the 26th, not sure if I had to go to work the next day, I went out to see if my car could actually get out, and it had been completely boxed in by the snowplow. Mom and Dad came to help me out just in case, and I was really thankful for that. I did not have to go to school the next day. In fact, I did not have to go to school until February 2. Because of this, while I know other things that happened during this week, I have no sense of when they happened.
One day, Paige wasn't feeling too good, so I had to trudge through this shin-deep snow to get her some Pedialyte from a nearby store. On another day, we met up with Nicole at Roosters to talk about wedding stuff (which, honestly, is a good lead-in to next week's installment; I'm kind of glad it happened this way now that I think about it). Paige and I also figured out how many invitations we need to send out for the wedding, and I did a ton of writing. I worked on upcoming projects, talked to Kid about the cover for Greattastic Adventures 3, wrote the first six installments for this season, and recorded the first three. Also, this isn't important at all, but I kind of want to vent. I had no idea that you could schedule podcast posts until I released For Papa. Like, oh my gosh, that's going to make posting days so much easier now, cuz I can just upload the podcast beforehand, but I'm just really upset that I'm figuring this out 9 seasons in!
When I was a kid, after a shower I would turn the water off, grab a towel, cover myself in it like a blanket, lay on floor and take like a 10 minute power nap, much to the dismay of my father (I don't think he knew what I was doing), and then I would continue with my day as if nothing happened. A few months ago, Paige asked me, “Why do you always take so long in the car?” What I'll do is park, and she will get out of the car, and I will scroll on social media for anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes before she calls me and asks what's going on. The answer to both of these situations is that transitioning is hard for autistic people. The transition from warm (the shower) to being naked and cold is… I don't know… scary feels like a dramatic word, but I can't think of another one right now. And when I sit in the car, it's not that I don't want to get out; it just takes me a bit to actually do it. While transitions are a pretty big problem, I think there's another issue, too.
Time is a social construct. Yes, for astrological purposes, there are mornings, noons, and nights; throughout the year, the seasons change, and cause and effect are real things, but the fact that I am writing this sentence at 11:37 on a Thursday in January of 2026 is genuinely nonsense. It doesn't mean anything. Time exists to keep society moving, and while that is necessary, it is not something that autistic people innately understand. We feel like we get it when our schedules are running normally, but as soon as snowmageddon hits, we lose all sense of time. Or at the very least, I did.
Have a Greattastic day and be safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT
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