All day Thursday the ice and rain fell out of the sky. The dirt road seemed impassable. Henry telecommuted. A first. By the time the blue hour arrived the radio told us that the ice storm was intensifying. Henry, always expecting the worst, filled the bathtub with water, as well as a couple of large stock pots. I brought in more firewood.
At 9:30 the power went out, shortly followed by the telephone. Fortunately, we are experienced with Heath winters and have flannel sheets.
And so Friday dawned. Lots of ice. No power. No phone. Henry helped our neighbors pump out their basement. We can’t get off our road because of a huge tree blocking the way. The gas burners on the stove work, but not the oven. Too bad. Baking keeps everybody happy.
The ice is beautiful. Thick on every branch and leaf. Sparkle. Brilliance. We almost think living in an 18th century world would not be so bad.
Do you know how dark it gets at 5 pm? Eating by candlelight is always lovely. Cooking by candlelight is more of a chore, but our dinner of frozen leftovers, with a few additions, was fine.
Reading by candlelight. Bed.
Henry and a crew got the tree out of the way this afternoon and we raced out to buy a few groceries, crampons and stopped to do this posting from Mocha Maya, Shelburne Falls’ hospitable internet cafe. More details will follow soon.
Wow, you really got slammed. We had the same thing here in Ohio 2 years ago. Electric was of for a week in some places.It is really pretty covering everything, but the beauty fads after doing without electric for a long time. It is amazing what you take for granted everyday that pops up when it is taken away. I hope you get electric soon.
We’ve had sub zero temperatures even during the day. Last night came a light dusting of snow, but no ice because of the low temp. I bet ice storms are beautiful, but oh so problematic. — Margy
Glad you’re okay! We only got rain here in eastern MA, thankfully.
I’m enjoying your blog!
We got our power back after 69 hours, and another 12 before I got Internet access at home. We are ready for power outages and don’t really suffer, but it is wearing. Even washing dishes (even using as many paper products as possible) becomes such a production! And if you have children it is almost unbearable. People in town and the surrounding areas are still waiting for power, but we are back to normal.
Beautiful photo.
Thank goodness the temperatures are pretty high, and the pipes are not freezing.