This is about the challenge of getting to a snowstorm.
But first, indulge me, and hear a little confession from a 46-year-old man: Just about every morning, when I can manage it, I call my mother. I tell her where I am going.
This time, I said, first I thought I was going back to the Chicago bureau. That got changed to an assignment near Texarkana. That got changed to a story in Amarillo. Then to Dallas. Finally to Denver.
She's incredulous. "Your job is nuts!" she tells me.
I didn't argue with my mother.
The truth is -- my job at CNN is to be flexible, to move with the news as it changes, and most importantly, to get there. As Woody Allen is reputed to have once said, 90 percent of life is just showing up.
Sometimes, that ain't easy.
Currently, a powerful storm system is about to blanket the nation's mid-section with rain, ice and snow. We've got crews coming together from at least four different cities. We're coordinating with our travel department so we can all meet up and get to the story. Everybody is Blackberrying everybody. We've got a plan. We're on the move - at least in theory.
I had been stuck in the airport all morning, but as I text message this blog, the pilot tells me we are about to take off ... got to go.
3:41 p.m. update: Now in Dallas. The commercial flight we booked to fly to Denver got cancelled due to bad weather.
The latest plan is to hop on a charter with four co-workers. But first, I need clothes. My team makes a mad dash to a Bass Pro Shop near the airport. I pick up a fleece jacket, thermal underwear, waterproof gloves. The things I just didn't bring to Texas.
Now a Blackberry message arrives from one of our West Coast crews. They're heading to the storm, too. The producer who writes the e-mail issues a challenge: Which team will get there first?
My mother continues to be accurate.
