Blizzard 2010 - Saturday February 6

10:12 PM Power is BACK!!!!!!
About 20 minutes ago the power came back on.
WOW! Let there be LIGHT!

* Yes, we are recharging right now in case things ice up tonight and we lose power again.
* We are OK. The house upstairs has just gotten too cold for comfort.
* Supper was hotdogs warmed in a pan on the lip of the wood stove . We'd always wondered if we could cook on that little ledge.

* We had enough computer battery to watch one Netflix movie this evening. Nice. Then the computer just quit.

This has been a day for appreciating the things we take for granted. Especially basic warmth.

5:45 Pm Is it Over?
The power is still out. We don't have the TV Weather Guys to tell us what's happening - - we have to guess by the old signs.

• The snow has stopped.
• There are patches of blue sky and some golden light on the snow.
• I heard birds chirping in the trees when I stepped out on the deck to take the pictures.

This part of the 2010 Blizzard is over. Now - to deal with all the snow. We can walk to the street but we can't go anywhere. No snow plows yet

and - ofcourse we are hoping for the power to come back.

We will think about that Tomorrow.







Karen's Tunnel
Karen dug this tunnel from our front door to the street. Can you see how deep it is? I put Jim's hat on the snow for a point of reference to show the depth.


4:40 PM - Power Still Out
Nope this was not a tease - its the real thing. The house is cooling down. The wood stove is going strong but it only heats the downstairs so we are closing the doors and keeping the rec room cozy.

• Wondering about the weight of snow on the roof. More will be revealed about that.

• Kids are out and they are having a ball. Building snow men and sledding where they can.

• The squirrels are fun to watch. Those that are out skitter along the branches tossing snow in all directions.

• Our poor dog is amazed. What's happened to her world.

• Karen came in from another stint of shoveling shaking her head and saying. "Its thigh high."
  

2:15 PM Power Off Again.
Hope this is a Tease and not the real thing. But looking at the build up of snow on the lines and the tree limbs outside my window I would not be surprised if lines are down.

So - - something to think about - what should I do now that I cannot do after it gets dark - when we will only have candles and lanterns.
Paper work is the obvious choice - and I have plenty of that.

Are you wondering what we did about cooking ahead?
A few things:

• Boiled a dozen eggs. Good to eat or to make egg salad for sandwiches. - wondering now if I should have boiled 2 dozen.

• Boiled water and stored in vacuum thermos jars.

• Karen tested a pot of water on the shelf of the wood stove - and it does get hot, eventually

• Jim heated the soup in the crock pot which will keep it warm for awhile.

Any suggestions? As long as the battery holds out I can check email for messages.

1:30 PM
Digging for Soup:
Last night Jim made a delicious ham and bean soup. When the crock pot dish was too hot for the refrigerator he put on a tight lid and set it on the deck. No need to worry about whether it would be cold enough over-night. This morning the soup was GONE - buried under a foot and a half of snow. Hungry people prevailed - poked the snow until they found and rescued it. A good lunch. When you bury delicious treasure in a blizzard - leave a marker.
Check out this story of OLD treasure buried under snow and ice.



Noon - the power is BACK. Looks like this is going to be the Big Tease. I am running now to charge everything I can think of, heat hot water and cook ahead.

11:30 am Jim's brother called from Los Angeles. "How are you folks doing?" "Covered with a blanket of snow." I called Jim to the phone. I had just hung up my phone when poof - our power went off! Drat. Now we regroup.
Fortunately - I charged the computers. And I have a broad band hook-up, because FIOS is now down. One of our phones is an old phone - that works even without electric power.


10:30 am.
Our son Jim called. Although he lives only 15 minutes away - it could be the other side of the world. We are all snowed in. He lost power about 3 am this morning. " we have wood and food - we're ok." he tells me.
They have powered up our snow thrower - loud and spewing gas fumes. The snow is too deep and heavy - they will have to shovel some before they can use it.
Jim is chomping at the bit to go out and help. I am the wicked witch arguing - "you can't" - one of my biggest concerns is that we have a medical emergency - no way to get out of here. So I advocate playing it safe.

9 am.
Ordinarily I would leave the decks clear this week-end - hoping folks would stop by and watch the new Friday Video - but something bigger is at hand - -. The Blizzard of 2010. Instead of watching about "catching a story" I am going to write about the story we are living. Something will emerge.

The snow started in earnest about 10 PM last evening.





This is what we found when we got up this morning.
Its safe to say we are not going anywhere.

Our yard and neighborhood are transformed into a fairyland - white, beautiful and ..... silently menacing.

Why menacing? Because change and danger lurk beneath the deceptively white, fluffy snow.
It is not white and fluffy - actually. It is damp and heavy. It is taking down limbs and trees - - and power lines. Thousands in the area are already without power. Last evening our lights flickered occasionally. I was afraid we would lose power by this morning but so-far-so-good.





And you know what - - its is still snowing.

A light, relentless falling of smallish flakes - which are expected to change about 2 PM. The TV meteorologist says - " 3 - 9 more inches from 2 - 7 PM."
Oh,yes, this story is just starting.