On January 18, 2012 we were outside with the kids and grand-kids building snowmen and a snow fort! Around a foot of snow had fallen and the girls who are just 2 and 4 were having so much fun. Snow angels, snow balls, carrots for the snowmen's noses, sleds and mittens were scattered around our yard.
After we built the snow fort and everyone left we lost power. Losing power in our home means no water or phones/internet too. We found some dry wood and started up the wood stove, made some dinner and went to bed.
Then the ice storm hit. We could hear the trees breaking apart and dropping their heavy snow-laden branches. We looked out the window and some of the branches had fallen into the ground like spears. We could hear the trees falling all around us. We packed up the blankets and moved away from the windows and "slept" in the middle of the living room.
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| Image via Wikipedia |
Their branches were covered in thick ice, which at times looked like beautiful jeweled Christmas bulbs.
Branches, tree tops and trees were splintered off and were sprinkled all over the property.
The power lines were down across our driveway and into the pasture. Our poor horse was so frightened she stayed in the barn all day.
We were trapped in our home until Sunday when the power company finally came and pulled the power lines away.
We used the melting snow from the roof to water our animals and the snow on the ground to keep our perishables cold. The power and water remained off until Thursday January 26th.
After all was said and done we were even called "Snow Wimps" by the L.A. Times! Joshua Trujillo from the Seattlepi has some great photos of the storm for you to check out too.
We survived of course, played scrabble and cribbage and read a few books by gas lanterns. Camping is fun, but I think just a couple of days of it is enough for me!
