Ice Storm

It started early in the morning, just before daybreak. The sound was familiar but really didn’t pose a threat at the time. But it progressed. The ice began to cling to all the trees and leave a menacing sheet on everything it touched. And it continued. Branches began to break and the shattering sound resonated throughout our woods. One tree behind the house lost a large branch that tumbled onto our arbor and fountain. Trees along the property line were uprooted because of the weight of the ice. But the worst had yet to come.

A flicker… And then, a total loss. We hoped the loss of the electric would only be temporary. We’re country folk. We can handle a little setback. One hour… two hours and still no electric. The temperature outside and inside began to drop. We quickly put a fire in the fireplace and started up the kerosene space heater. Candles were in place in preparation for the impending darkness. The electric company had been called, apparently by thousands of people living in our area. They were doing their best.

We had enough charcoal left over from summer to cook our evening meal on the grill. Neighbors who had braved the roads waved as they passed our garage and saw me making do. It was a long, cold, dark night as we slept in the living room fully assured that our electric would be turned back on the next day. It wasn’t. For six days and five nights we spent most of our time in front of our fireplace. The kerosene heater was kept in the basement to keep the water pipes from freezing.

Sometimes city people don’t understand that when you lose your electric when you live in the country, you lose your water supply. Our backup supply of water that we kept in the basement was gone within two days. We began to haul water from our daughter’s house as she was fortunate enough to have electric power. We also took advantage of her hospitality to shower. But we always had to return to the cold darkness of our residence.

We became encouraged when we saw others in our vicinity displaying lights, even Christmas decorations. But the few houses in our immediate area remained in darkness as we looked enviously at the display of green and red bulbs down the road. By the middle of the crisis, we were eating most of our meals in restaurants. You could always tell the difference between the people who had had their power restored and the drained look of those of us who were not so fortunate.

On the sixth day the welcome sight of the electric company trucks appeared in front of our house. A flicker… And then, total power. Dee and I learned several lessons from the ice storm. Dee did her Scarlet O’Hara routine, sans turnip in hand, and said, “I will never be cold again.” To be better prepared for future disasters, we purchased a whole-house generator and installed a wood furnace in the basement. We also developed a greater sense of appreciation. We often do not realize how great something is until we lose it. As we journey through this new year let us do so with a greater appreciation of God’s blessings. Let us also journey with the sense that we must always be preparing for our eternal future.