Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Ice Storm

First off: the local library doesn't trust its patrons with a right-click, so I am unable to adjust the order of these pictures. If they don't comprise a flowing narrative, please forgive me.


For those of you not in the Northeast, we had a major ice storm last week. The worst ice storm in decades, they say. We lost power at our house for only three days, but some people in our area are still out of power, and may not have it back by Christmas. The utility companies have said they basically have to rebuild their entire distribution grid. Lots of work for everybody, that's for sure.


Andy took the day off work when he saw all the ice. Smart move. It would have been a long, slow drive. Andy and Mindy went for a walk with the boys down to the brook, which was really moving with all the rain that had fallen. There is a video of this section of the brook at the end of this post.

Dory had a great time hopping around down by the brook. She is always happy to bound around.

The brook was pretty swollen, and approached both banks. It didn't overflow like it has in years past, but it was still an impressive sight.

Andy's artsy shot through some ice and over the stone wall to the house in the background. We missed most of the major ice by about 100' of elevation. Just a little higher and we might have had lots of trees down like some neighbors had. In the sunlight on Saturday and Sunday, the sparkling ice was incredible, though. Not something you see very often.

Andy and Chris fiddled around outside on Saturday. We straightened up the back of the house, cleared some parking spaces, and cut a lot of kindling. We should have kindling for at least a month or two.
What to do when the girls are out shopping? Take things apart on the dining room table. :) The generator saw a lot of use this past weekend with the power out, and it was making a rough squealing noise. It turned out to be a bearing in the genset, which will be replaced under warranty this week.
Ethan was awfully excited to see the generator. We ran it a few hours a day to run the refrigerator and the Christmas tree lights. Candles provided enough light and ambiance for the house, and the wood stove kept us plenty warm.
Eli fell asleep next to Dory one night by the wood stove. Cozy as can be.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We were wondering how you all held up. I figured with the wood stove you would at least be warm. When we were in Ky we had no power for 10 days from an ice storm. It was an adventure. I am sure you had one too! So glad to hear you pulled thru ok!
amber