that’s how you feel when you are sitting in the dark, staring at a flickering candle. In the middle of the “Ice Storm of 2007”- without power, water, or phone service (NO INTERNET)- my husband and I were sitting in the dark musing about what in the world people did before electricity was the norm. In our technology-dependent world we feel utterly helpless when everything is stripped away. Oh, sure, I have a pantry full of food and a few dozen candles. I have flashlights. I have eight or ten gallons of water on the porch. If the road thaws out I could drive to town this afternoon for supplies. But those things are nothing when compared to our normal lives. We are so blessed and we live in such abundance that even a few days of discomfort seems endless.
Obviously the power has been restored and we have phone service again. Still no water, but that may return in a few more hours. We have propane heat, so we haven’t been freezing. However, our propane comes from a tank and it is getting frightfully low, so I put in a call for more. Hopefully the truck will be able to make it out by tomorrow.
The ice has been amazing and beautiful in its own way. We went outside for a few minutes and Gary took some photos. Ice is also heavy, and dangerous. We have to be very careful because the limbs have been crashing down for two days. The top of the mimosa tree is gone. A huge limb fell from the hackberry tree and is partially blocking the road. Several cedars have split and/or lost limbs. The beautiful redbud trees are also damaged. I’m sure it will take weeks to clean up this mess.
There will be hundreds of stories to be told after this is over and I’m sure our little bit of discomfort will be nothing in comparison to the losses of others. I’ve already heard on the news that twelve deaths have been blamed on the storm. I’m thankful I only had to sit in the dark for a while.
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