## Saddle Up Yourself! The conditions for driving were extreme – by nine in the evening, it was completely dark, and Bauska was completely cut off. Streetlights, traffic lights, and windows in houses were not lit. Perhaps all the road police of Zemgale were lined up at the squares and intersections of the transit highway E67, which runs through the entire region, shining their headlights? Not a chance, they’ll manage on their own. Similarly, no one was directing traffic near the fallen trees that lay across the highway. Here, the drivers of trucks, buses, and cars showed remarkable self-organization and resourcefulness. They used their high beams to signal about obstacles on the road, honked, and let each other pass. A wizard with a glowing wand would have been quite handy here – but, alas, where there’s no way to squeeze money from the drivers, you won’t see him. Especially since it was drizzling with a breeze. ## We Fly, Limping, in the Darkness Unfortunately, all of the above applies to border guards, municipal police, firefighters, and zemessargi as well. They apparently prepared so well for their 35th anniversary that they fell asleep at nine in the evening when the storm was at its peak. And in the morning, they rubbed their eyes, wondering – what happened here? Some branches, and look, a streetlight has fallen. In any case, during the two and a half hours we crawled through the darkness, we encountered not a single sign of emergency services. There were trucks and car drivers stranded on the roadside here and there. We only saw, once, in the headlights, some guys busily dismantling another fallen tree with chainsaws. Judging by their green uniforms, they were foresters. Yes, and we received no signals on our mobile phones either. Perhaps because we were in the territory of the brotherly republics? But, as far as I remember from a couple of years ago, in Poland, the warning system sent out information about the blizzard to cell phones. ## Other Priorities? There can be no talk of any suddenness of the meteorological phenomenon – the meteorologists' forecast was initially bleak. However, there has long been an action plan in the country for emergencies, detailing the responsibilities of all law enforcement agencies. In particular, the police are supposed to be present, as they say, on the ground – whether it’s in the case of a meteorite fall or the arrival of aliens. There is only one explainable version – the law enforcement agencies were so distracted by the search for violators of our inviolable Eastern Border that they simply had no strength left for anything else. In any case, I would like to award an honorary badge of the Master of Underwater-Night Driving with Fallen Trees for safe driving in such conditions. And to those who are supposed to maintain order in the republic, I wish – may your strongest test be only such a synoptic disaster…