Ice Storm of 2007

Winter has decided to slam into us again this year. It's funny because every 4 to 5 years we seem to get hit with a major ice storm! The last one was in November of 2002. During that particular storm we were without electricity for 10 days. It was truly a hard thing to go through.

Luckily, this time is no where near as bad! There are only a couple of similarities this time, the sound of the tree limbs snapping and the off and on flashing of transformers blowing up in the middle of the night. I have to admit as scary as it is to see, it is quite beautiful! The sky lights up with a brilliant blue and then you hear a surge in the power, everything flickers and either you lose your lights or they come back on. You just never know...

This year, I have managed to keep my electricity. I have heard it is because we are on the same circuits as the fire station next door so I am very thankful. Although this morning we kept losing the power and we lost our phone for about 5 hours. My sister and my parents aren't more than 2 minutes from me and they have been without power since 5:30 this morning. They have all decided to check into hotels for the night. I am extremely thankful for not having that expense. I offered to let them crash here but they want their privacy and I cannot blame them.

Tonight is supposed to be another brief round of the stuff. It has been raining all day long and it should be freezing so there should be quite a bit of ice come tomorrow morning. So driving to work tomorrow should be loads of fun!

Well I am off, but I will leave you with this poem I found and some pictures I took off of my balcony this afternoon! I love the way the ice looks on the trees... You would never guess something so peaceful and beautiful could be so deadly...

An ice storm in the night
Reveals in morning light
A dazzling, wintry sight
Of frozen droplets bright

That cling to shrubs and trees
And glisten where they freeze –
A sight that’s sure to please
The one who looks and sees.

Still others will complain
About the freezing rain;
Indeed it is a bane
And something of a pain

For those who slip and slide
And wobble side to side
Or cannot get a ride –
Their patience can be tried!

But soon it will be past;
The thaw will come in fast.
The ice just cannot last.

~By Mary T. Hoffman

Have a fantastic Week Everyone!

From Ice To Snow

Cars are in Ditches..
Semi's are Jackknifed..
Highways are Shut Down..
My Car is Iced Shut..
This Shit Sucks... (Its pretty but it sucks)

So every school is closed down today because of the ice on the roads. My house sits on a hill so since I have been up, I have watched a few brave souls trying to make it down the hill and around the corner and lets just say they are not doing so well. They have it a little easier than I do. My house is right where the street joins into another one so instead of being able to go down the hill, I have to back out of my drive and then go up the hill. The stop sign is right in front of my house. This is not going to be very much fun.

I was watching the weather guy last night say we had the potential for up to 12" of snow today due to another storm heading our direction. Now they have added to that total. We are on the line to possibly get up to 18" of the stuff! Holy Crap!!! Talk about getting slammed! I just knew this shit was gonna happen when we had thunder storms the other night and we had a high of 75 degrees day before yesterday.

Yep the ass kickin' has commenced! I am just praying for no bruises :)

Okay time to try and brave it all... Good thing I live so close to my work!!! Wish me luck everyone..

Winter Update....

Now we have been upgraded from a Winter Storm Watch to an Ice Storm Warning.... It looks like the fun is just starting to begin!!! So here is a copy of the warning itself...

An ice storm warning remains in effect until 6 am cst Thursday. A large area of freezing rain and thunderstorms will continue to overspread northwest missouri and eastern kansas this afternoon. Temperatures were already below freezing across the warning area, and will steadily fall through the 20s this afternoon. Freezing rain, heavy at times, will lead to significant ice accumulations through this afternoon into tonight. Rapid ice accumulations could accompany any thunderstorms, with total ice accumulations up to one inch possible. This is an extremely dangerous situation for much of the kansas city metropolitan area, where roadways were already becoming slick across northern and western portions of the city as of 230 pm cst, with spotter reports indicating up to one tenth of an inch of icing. Conditions will continue to deteriorate into the overnight hours, with ice accumulations possibly leading to snapped power lines and falling tree branches.

Winter Is Finally Coming

I love the fact that recently the temperatures around here have been so warm you haven't even needed a jacket. In fact, my son was in shorts the other day. Usually you wouldn't be dressing like that in late November. Today the high was in the 70's with a strong wind. It was just beautiful today!

Well its time for a change because we are now in a Winter Storm Watch. Its amazing how quickly a good thing can diminish!!! They are expecting snow and ice over the next 36 hours which really makes me cringe. As much as I love looking at the stuff, driving in it and shoveling it is a completely different story. Thank GOD for my SUV!!! It gets around so good so I am not worried about driving but that doesn't make it any better.

If this were happening on the weekend, I would be fine because then I would have no reason what-so-ever to leave my house and even venture out in the stuff. But considering I do have to go to work during the week while all of this is going on, I have no choice. ***sigh*** Oh how I would prefer to just stay locked indoors under the sheets watching good movies!!! You know I would occasionally venture out just to slide down the hill in front of my house because that is just too much fun, even if it means breaking my ankle again. But NOPE!!! Gotta work!

The only good thing about ice storms is how beautiful everything is but that's all. Everything sparkles when coated with a nice sheet of ice. Its like diamonds! Sometimes its so bright its blinding. But when you lose your power because the tree branches are too heavy to take the weight and it snaps your power lines, life becomes no fun at all. And we are due for a major ice storm this year considering its been quite awhile since we have had one. I have noticed they usually happen about every 3 years so its definitely time.


I found this a few years ago. Its called the Ice Storm Diet.


Breakfast:

Muffin (or the portion of the muffin) which hasn't yet begun to mold
Cereal with milk (slightly sour if kept inside,completely frozen if kept outside)
Any fruit that hasn't started to smell funny
Tea or coffee which takes half an hour to make on the woodstove but hey, it's sort of hot.
Toast burned in the woodstove, and marmalade (if you are courageous enough to ignore the warning: "keep refrigerated after opening...")


Lunch:

Any of the above listed for breakfast.
Sandwiches made from anything in a can (you might have to fight the cat for it)
Scrambled eggs (see time required for tea/coffee)
Bacon from the neighbour's freezer (test it on the cat first )
Forfar cheese. Not the cottage cheese though - that went the way of the milk.


Dinner:

Any of the above
Canned soup, canned meatballs, canned spaghetti. ...etc - just rip the label off, plop it on the woodstove and wait...and wait...and wait... stir once in a while...
Cooked meat from your outdoor freezer (aka the snow on the deck) wrap it in foil and stick it in the fire - really gets that "smoked" flavour
Canned veggies, canned fruit etc.
Salad made from those dubious veggies stored in the coldest room in the house
Spam!!! Be sure to sing the appropriate Monty Python tune.

So Winter.... It appears you have decided to make your appearance after all and it seems you are coming with a vengeance!!! Welcome anyway!!! But please be kind :)

Michael, are you sure you are ready for all of this???