The Main Snow Event of 2026

It's only been about 4 days, but it seems like it's been forever that I have been stuck in the house with Rick.  We didn't get much snow, maybe about an inch or two initially and another inch or two later.  We first got ice, but not enough to break down any trees or power lines. 

Mainly what concerns us is the frigid cold temperatures in the single digits and below zero.  The windchill is definitely below zero at night and today the temperature feels like 7 degrees F. outside. 

Besides being very cold outside, it is slippery. It's too cold for the ice on the salted roads to melt and when it does melt just a tiny bit the roads become more slippery.  I'm not going outside just to take a chance on slipping on the ice and breaking a hip or something and neither is Rick.  Also I don't want to take a chance on damaging any of my vehicles. It's not worth it especially when we have everything we need right here at home and besides that, our State Governor told us all to stay home unless we absolutely have to get out to go to work or in an emergency. 

Years and years ago we installed a natural gas fireplace to help heat the house in the Winter, so that when the electricity went out for any reason we would have heat.  It has not disappointed us.  There have been many Winters when we lost electric power, but we stayed warm.  It beats using kerosene  or butane heaters that require you to keep enough fuel for the affected time.  If you run out of fuel then you have to get in your car and go buy more, and during a storm good luck with that.  I remember hauling family to surrounding cities in search of kerosene.  There was a time when we had a heating unit that was fueled by kerosene, but we had a large tank that fueled it, and when the tank was full it lasted for two Winter seasons.  In those days it was very economical to heat with it, but when that heater finally died we installed the natural gas heat.  We never had to spend a night or day cold, huddled under blankets with three layers of clothes on.  Natural gas is very dependable because it's underground.

I'm feeling much better now.  Almost a whole hour has passed by, and only 12 more hours til bedtime.   

THE WEATHER.....nothing much else is new

We've just had three of the prettiest and warmest days on record for February.  On Tuesday we hit the 80 degree mark, which was great.  The only thing that I can see that happened in these last 3 days is that some of the daffodils bloomed out.  Maybe they were supposed to, because I do seem to recall them poking their blooms up through the snow sometimes.

Today it's back to cold again, and the A/C got turned off yesterday afternoon and this morning the heat got turned back on.  It's 48 and raining right now and my cat Jybow tried to sneak in the house.  I accidentally left the front door ajar and she worked at it and made it into the house.  I guess she thinks that it's too cold out, but she was outside with all of the other cats when the temps were down in the zero and below zero range, and she did fine.  Normally I would think that 48 degrees was warm for a winter day, but I'm cold too this morning.

It's going on 9:00 a.m. now and Rick is still in bed.  I stayed up all night, part of the time watching the 2018 Winter Olympics and the rest of the night watching Netflix movies and then the early morning news.  Rick is just my friend and nothing more.  That's the way he wanted it, so that's the way it is.  I personally wanted a man in my life, someone to love, but it is what it is.....just a friendship with no benefits.  I don't even have anyone to snuggle with on cold winter nights, and sometimes it gets to me, but most times I'm satisfied with this arrangement.  

Jybow has now settled down in her cat bed on the front porch with a young tomcat to keep her warm.  She's a lucky cat, but she doesn't think so.

The goose has been honking loudly all morning.  He started before daybreak before it got light.  He wants his mate and can't seem to find her.  Maybe he doesn't realize that she might be nesting, and that he needs to go to her.  Or maybe he just is yelling in the hopes that some neighbor might give him some bread to shut him up.  Rick won't let me give the goose anymore bread, so I give him a cup of cracked corn to supplement his diet....the goose, not Rick.    He seems to eat it as long as it is not all piled up in a mound.  He likes it scattered in the grass so that he can pick it up one piece at a time.  I guess we all have our habits and like things a certain way too.

Lilly, the neighbors dog hasn't escaped her fence in the last 3-4 days.  She used to hang out with my little tomcat and they would play, but one day she decided she liked the goose better and started following him everywhere, even across my very busy road.  Her owners must have got wind about that and reinforced her enclosure much better.

So that's my life.  It's okay and I'm okay.

Cozy and Warm

Stayed home and made a pot of homemade chili while waiting for a winter storm to pay us a visit.  So far it looks like it is going to miss us.  It has rained for the last two days, but we haven't seen any icy weather and I'm glad of that.  An ice storm is beautiful beyond words, but icy slippery roads, fallen trees and downed power lines make life challenging to say the least.  Since an ice storm in 1994 trapped me in and left me without electricity for 17 days, I have made it a point to always be ready.  I was single and alone at that time, but I was younger and thought it was great fun.  My phone worked, I had plenty of firewood for the wood stove, food to eat, and my dog Rocky by my side.  I had a chainsaw, but like always I could never get that thing started by myself so I called the men who delivered my firewood and they cut me out after about 5 days.  They actually had to cut their way in to where I was.  Once out I taxi'd my girl friends around since their vehicles were of no use to them.  The interstate got closed down and I volunteered as an unpaid waitress for one evening for motorists who got stranded and saw the lights of the restaurant on where I was eating and stopped in to get warmed up.  It got so over-crowded with travelers and only one waitress because the other waitresses couldn't make it in to work.  Two of us felt sorry for the only waitress, so we got up from our seats and began taking orders and serving drinks.  I have a great appreciation for waitresses now.  I had never done that before or since.  I know it's against all health regulations, but it was in an emergency situation.

Maybe I should have titled this post:  Memories From My Past or Ice Storm Stories

Just another quick memory.....

in 1987 right after my grandson Matthew was born we had another very beautiful ice storm.  I had been in the hospital all afternoon and night with my youngest daughter and it was now time for me to go home.  She was in a hospital in Richmond and my daughter's husband was to follow me to Berea, just to make sure that I got there safely, but he thought I was taking U.S. 25 home and I took I-75 instead.   I thought he was right behind me all the way and felt so safe and didn't even worry about sliding, getting stuck or anything, because I knew he would be there to help me.  It was snowing really hard, great big beautiful snowflakes, a regular whiteout and you couldn't see anything.  As I approached Berea it stopped snowing and that's when I saw how beautiful everything looked, like a winter wonderland with ice crystals glistening in every tree branch and bush.  It was breathtaking.  I waited for my daughter's husband for a little while and then went on home and called him to make sure he made it safely home.  He had,  and that's when we discovered that we had taken different routes home and he wasn't behind me after all and I wasn't in front of him either.  My daughter had given him STRICT ORDERS TO FOLLOW ME HOME AND MAKE SURE I GOT HOME SAFELY.  We just laughed and debated on whether to tell my daughter that we got separated just after we left the door of the hospital.  I still laugh when I think about it.  

I have plenty of ice storm stories, but they're all memories from my past.  We don't get many ice storms or snow much anymore.  

I thought it was supposed to warm up a little

While drinking my first cup of coffee this morning I stepped outside to get a good look at the temperature and I was very surprised to see that the thermometer was sitting on 5 degrees f.  I was under the impression that our coldest temperatures were behind us for at least a couple of days until the next snow storm comes through here on Sunday and Monday.

We lost another tomcat last night to the road in front of our house.  The cat wasn't ours but he was a great big beautiful boy who we had seen visiting our yard earlier in the day.  It's always sad to hear that familiar thump of a car hitting a small animal on the road.

Ron was out early and wondering why we are in such a deep freeze.  Jimmy blamed it on Ron moving to Kentucky :))  We haven't had temperatures dipping into the single digits and staying that way for a number of years, but here they are.  Ron had some errands to run and invited us out for breakfast at his favorite breakfast place, Cracker Barrel, and of course if you mention food we can't refuse.  The breakfast was good and Ron was in an especially good mood.  It's nice to see him that way.  Now that the snow has melted we plan on seeing more of Ron and plan on bugging him until he begs us to go away, hahaha.

Stay warm and drive safely.