Losing Power and Other Solstice Adventures

Yup, we lost power last night.  An ice storm hit my part of the world, and the power lines came down.  A few hours ago we decided to relocate to a hotel.  By the sound of it from the news there are about 41,000 people without power. 

Last night as the lights went out and my UPS cranked up I said my chat goodbyes before the finally beep shut down my connection to the Internet. A sure silence came over the house.  It was a peaceful silence as all the electronics, except for my laptop, went dead.  In the soft glow of screen saver, I checked out the back door to see what the damage was in our quiet little valley.  Except for the most distant hills everything was dark.  There was little noise, but from the huge fur tree in the front yard whose branches creaked and snapped under the weight of the snow and ice.  CRACK, another large branch, the size of a small tree fell a long way before hitting the snow covered ground.  This morning I saw the evidence of the noise on the ground.

I wish I would have taken some pictures.  It was a winter wonderland.  Every thing covered in ice. My car in a covering of ice, that only a hammer could get the ice off the door handle.  Icecicles  everywhere.  There was even a spider web on the front porch  thickened and coated by it. Each tree branch covered in at least an inch of ice, and each of those trees groaned and bent down almost to the ground under the weight. 

The day was quiet as I cleaned up some of the homestead, excitement only when more large cracks erupted from the trees around the house. Then finally a snow plow.  The snow plow was a wonderful surprise. Out in the boonies where I live, we rarely get a snow plow, but without it, I would be scared for the others in my neighborhood who were also without power. 

So the day came and went, and still no power.  About five o’clock we decided it would be better for us to boogie on out to a hotel when the getting was good.  Both of us have been fighting colds, and if there was a chance of us getting to work in the morning it would be much greater if we relocated to somewhere closer to town. 

So here I am, after some awful fast food in a hotel with the heater on max, Warming my bones and writing up my post for the Winter Solstice.   I should sleep well tonight.

Happy Winter Solstice, hope your toes are warm and nose not froze…

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