Heavy snows and power outages isolated ranches and communities throughout the central plains for days at a time. Pipes burst, properly antifreezed eng...nes cracked, water wells and pumps in heated basements froze. Cattle froze to death standing. Cars had to be started hourly or they didn’t start until March. My Dodge was so tall off the ground that I could sit up under it ... the snows covered it over completely. The Vega and jeep were sheltered in the garage and wouldn’t start until I started a. It's a long story."Carol looked at the girl with new interest. "I'm sure it is!" she said. "Stay for supper. Earl will be back soon, and you can tell us both your long story at the same time." Uh, Carol, do you suppose you might have -- y'know -- a couple of outfits Margarita might borrow? Maybe some old jeans? A pullover shirt or something? Maybe some underwear?"Margarita wasn't picking up on too much of what was being said, but she seemed a little nervous at the looks she was getting from. Toshima was trying on the socks and panties to test the fit and if the elastic on the socks was of good quality when she noticed the panties all had lace frills on the edges and she knew that was not official for school use. When she opened the curtain slightly to signal her mother, she noted that she was missing and had probably gone to the wash room to attend to her female needs. The young man was attentively watching from behind the counter and immediately came over to see what she. "I guess I can help out. I know I really shouldn't be nice to you but Idon't want to ruin your day. I'll cook and help you serve everything." Oh honey, that's so sweet of you to help out your brother. You reallyare a very special girl. We can go shopping tonight to pick up all thestuff you'll need for tomorrow. I'll write down the recipes for youtonight too."I was pretty busy the next morning. The pizza was pretty easy toprepare but the meatballs required a lot more time plus mom suggested.