The Southern states got hit hard with an ice storm this past week. Several of the states hit were ill-equipped to handle this kind of weather as we don't normally see ice and snow. We were fortunate enough to be able to look at it as an adventure. Unfortunately, for so many others it was a tragedy. Our prayers go out to those that suffered tragedy during this frigid weather.
As I looked out from my front porch this week, I was met with this beautiful sight, but this was just the beginning.
As I admired the cold beauty that nature was laying out before me, it was not without worry. My husband still had to drive about 40 miles after dark to get home and my ex-husband and one of my sons had to get to work and home the next day.
I spent the day with the power flickering off and on most of the day. I decided to venture up to the market before the roads ended up frozen and in hopes of getting a few things before the power decided not to come back on.
The power went off at about 4:30 p.m. and didn't come back on until around 2:00 p.m. the next day. Without power, the house was eerily quiet. I started to hear branches crackling and falling all around. The occasional thud on the roof from branches hitting it would give me a start. I spent the week in constant worry and prayer for my family, neighbors, and anyone that was still required to drive in these conditions to get to work. I knew that so many without power also were without heat and a means to cook. I have never been so thankful for having gas heat and a gas stove.
The freezing rain turned to snow late Tuesday and into Wednesday. My husband informed me when he got home Monday that there was a tree limb that fell on my truck. I took a walk over to the property that my truck was parked on Tuesday to see how bad it was but due to a branch hanging on the power line, I didn't try to get any closer than looking at it from the road.
That tree limb eventually took down the power line. The hubby and I went back down to the market after they restored power because it went out when I had gone Monday. Perry just wrote down my total on Monday and told me I could pay him when the power was back on. This is one of the reasons I prefer to shop locally. You build a relationship with the local markets and in doing so you build trust that can come in handy in a crisis.
I snapped some photos while we were out and about.
It finally stopped snowing but the temps stayed way down in the twenties so we still had trees bowing and breaking from the ice.
Saturday we began to thaw. It sounded like the sky was falling as everything was pelted with chunks of ice falling off the trees. It made a beautiful sight as the sun shined through the ice on the trees.
I thought we were past things falling other than melting ice, but I was wrong. My old portable carport gave it up during the thaw. It was a challenge trying to get my car free by myself but I managed to extricate it. It suffered a couple of dents but otherwise survived.
I count my blessings daily that we were still warm and didn't suffer any major damage to any of the cars or buildings. I count them even more that everyone got safely to and from work that still had to go.
I'm a little behind on a couple of orders but I am also blessed to have understanding customers.