Freezing Our Bluegrass Off

Ice Storm: The Good

We woke up Tuesday morning to a world of snow and ice. The night before had brought a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain that closed school and left the outside world encased in frozen beauty. It seemed that every blade of grass was individually covered in ice, and our holly tree out front couldn't stand the weight and leaned over.

We had fun that afternoon playing in the ice and slush. It took us about an hour to chip all the ice (which was probably 1/2 inch thick) off our van. (Note: Our next house WILL have a garage!) Jonah and Kate started an icicle collection, and we tried to make an ice man, though it didn't work out too well. Mostly, they just liked eating the icicles.

Ice Storm: The Bad

At about 5:00 p.m., the lights flickered...and then went out. Thankfully we had warmed up a bit from playing outside, but we were left wondering how long we'd have to go without a functioning furnace. We headed out to Wendy's, and as we heard others speaking of how long they'd been out of power, we realized that we might be in it for the long haul.

When we returned home, the bishop called and he and Micah began checking on other ward members. At that point, those without power were in the minority. The roads were not good, seeing as how there was still freezing rain and more snow on the way. Eagle Scout Micah rallied the family together in one room, sleeping bags and blankets in tow. We all double/triple-jammied up and snuggled in for the night. The kids were all snuggy--Kate even kept kicking off the covers, and Lincoln slept all through the night.

However, it was difficult for Micah and I to sleep with all the crashing that was going on outside. The weight of the ice was getting to the trees, and branches were falling left and right. Thankfully, our fence sustained only minor damage and the branch that hit our roof didn't really hurt anything (although it would have been nice to get a new roof!) Our trees, on the other hand, didn't make out too well.

The picture below is our neigbor's tree on Tuesday afternoon

This next picture is of the same tree on Wednesday, after it's branches had been bending and breaking all night long. Mind you, this tree is right outside our bedroom window, so the crashes of huge limbs falling into the neighbor's yard were REALLY loud.

Ice Storm: The Ugly

The next day the kids and I went up to Louisville, considering our inside thermostat read 49 degrees. We thought for sure that we'd be out of power (and heat) for days. Turns out that when Micah got back home from driving us up there, the power was back on. So, we headed back on Thursday and we've been lucky to have a warm house ever since. Many of our friends are still without power--and others who have had lights all along are losing them now--and it might be days longer until it's restored. Oh yeah, and we are boiling our water because the pumps don't have power. Crazy.
This is a pile of debris Micah and my brother collected. All of this is from the tree in the background. There is at least that much on the other side of the fence in our neighbor's yard.

The branch that fell on our roof.

We feel blessed--almost guilty--to have power right now. Micah has been very busy making sure the rest of the ward is being taken care of, and it has been awesome to see how everyone has rallied to help one another.

Jonah said, "This is the worst winter ever!" For us, it has definitely been the craziest. But then again, the ice sure is beautiful, isn't it?