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.