Snow Days

Well, that was pretty amazing--mostly fun, except for the not having power for 36 hours! Unheard of for us, all our lines are buried in our neighborhood, but there were so many lines brought down by the snow, that the power didn't get to us for a long time. Now to eat up everything that was in the freezer... We cooked on the wood stove, and the Coleman camping stove. We played cards and read by candlelight and flashlight.

Let me back up a little. Sunday morning it was raining. Ray and I drove to the Fellowship, where the choir sang its awesome difficult piece pretty well. Attendance seemed a little down, maybe because people were worried about the weather. I really hadn't even heard anything. As we were leaving, the rain began to freeze, or maybe change to sleet, and then we were driving in snow! In Athens! It was fun, but we did not expect it to last. I was happy that it was still snowing when we got home, so I could take some pictures. The Captain put pots over the little plants he had recently set out--cabbages, lettuce, onions. So as it snowed, they looked very interesting. I sure hope they are okay!

The Captain, dressed for success

I was supposed to be at the Classic Center at 3 to help backstage with Dancing with the Stars. I was really looking forward to it, and I hated for Project Safe to lose money because of the weather. But it looked like I shouldn't drive. Of course, I didn't have cell phone numbers for Joan or Pat. I tried all the numbers I could find, and finally reached someone at the Classic Center, who said the show would go on...but that people should call an hour before coming.

Ray set out to drive me in the Captain & Vanessa's car, because it has snow tires. Of course, they are quite worn from driving in the South for two years, but we thought there might be an advantage. Drove out to Three Oaks Drive--no problems, turned on Tallassee, pretty slippery, someone off the road with someone else trying to pull them out. I said "let's go back." I think Ray would have kept on, but of course the snow was still coming down, and we would have had to drive home much later. I couldn't imagine they would still have the show, and it didn't seem worth the stress and risk. So we turned around at John Collier and came back by the stuck car. There were other cars on the road and they all seemed likely to slide off any minute. It was a little nerve-wracking, although we weren't going fast enough to get hurt, and we could always walk home if the car had gotten stuck.

(doesn't look like Three Oaks Drive, does it?)

People were out playing in Kenney Ridge. We even got hit with a snowball. At home, we battened down the hatches. We kept looking out and saying, "it's still snowing." Then the power went out about 4:30. Ray had been working on the computer, but then we couldn't do much useful, so we decided we should play cards. Oh, Hell, of course. We had to break out all the candles before it was over, thinking all the while that the power would be back on soon. It never stays out long here. The wires at KR are all underground. But, of course, it was still snowing!! And driving around today, I can see that of course there were probably hundreds of trees and wires down all over the area. We have lost some big branches off the big pine in the circle, and I am sure there are others in the woods, but we are very fortunate.

Then we began to think about eating without electricity (and drinking too). We had not been opening the fridge or freezer to maximize the cold, but we still didn't think it would be long before the power came back on. We got out the camp stove from the garage (very grateful for my attached garage in this situation), but we decided to try cooking on the woodstove first. It boiled a kettle of water very nicely and Captain had some beef bouillon. We had some ziti left and we wrapped it in tin foil and let it heat up on the woodstove. Ray added a little water. It tasted fine. Mom had rescued some cookies from the freezer, so we were okay in that department. We all went to bed early, sure that the power would come on during the night. Ray and I ran down the battery on my laptop watching a DVD in bed, but I fell asleep.

Yesterday morning, still no power! It was incredibly quiet and beautiful, watching the day break over the snowy trees. No background hum of refrigerator or ceiling fan. We cooked oatmeal on the camp stove, and made coffee. The milk was sour, so we had to use heavy cream. The suffering! The hot water was still warm enough for washing dishes. In fact, Ray and I took showers later in the day that were not really cold. Sadly, our solar water heater is off line when there is a chance of freezing, but I guess the water heater keeps its heat well.

Captain got Matilda going and plowed our drive and a good part of Three Oaks Drive, as well as giving rides to Miles and Katie. He was a big hit. Ray rode with him, mostly for ballast.

Vanessa and I walked a ways, and the sights were amazingly beautiful! There were four cars at the entrance to KR--I don't know if they were residents who got that far (at least one was) and then walked home, or refugees who thought that was a safe place to pull off and leave the car. People with four-wheel drive were driving out to get diapers and things, but we were fine. Captain lobbied for us to go out and eat somewhere, but calmer heads prevailed.

Cold sandwiches for lunch, transferred some things from the refrigerator to a cooler, sneaking an ice pack (and some ice cubes) from the freezer, as well as a half-carton of ice cream we thought we should eat up for dessert.



Then I cooked a frittata on the woodstove. Really. It takes a little longer, but we weren't doing much. It was warm and bright during the day in the house. Ray was grading tests still. Then we commenced card-playing again, by candlelight when it became necessary.

After we ate our frittata and bread and butter and ice cream, some of us went to bed. Ray kept grading. Vanessa and I were reading a little by the candle and flash light. Unfortunately, as she went to answer the phone, she tripped over a chair she didn't see (even though she had a flash light, it's not the same) and fell face first on the tile floor. We felt terrible. We got her some ice and a cold cloth and she took her pain meds, but she looked terrible. I was awfully worried, but she didn't hurt her back or legs, just landed on her face. She is a little stiff today, but basically fine. It is scabbing up and she looks a fright. I even asked if I could take a picture.

This morning, we did have electricity! Thank goodness! The schools are still closed, but Ray has to go to work. UGA is open.

See more photos on FB.