Winter Fairyland or Natural Disaster

It looked like a winter fairyland Sunday morning when I got up.  The storm arrived before I took down my garden trellises.  Everything was blanketed in 9-12 inches of white.


There were only a couple of problems with this winter wonderland.  When I looked out an upstairs window Saturday night, I noticed something that had not been in our backyard earlier in the day.

Yes, a tree had fallen under the weight of the snow on its leaves.  It knocked over the basketball standard and came within inches of the back porch awning.   We were fortunate that it fell the way it did.  It could have landed on the house.

By Sunday morning portions of a second tree had joined the first.

By afternoon the trees were without snow and we were without power.










We were without power from Sunday morning until Friday morning.  However, there are those worse off.  My daughter, who lives within a couple of miles from us (in the same town), lost power for a whole week - Saturday afternoon (October 29) to Saturday afternoon (November 5).




It's impossible to go through something like this without learning something.  Here are a few of the things I learned:

• have enough coolers to hold the contents of the freezer component of the refrigerator.
• pans of snow (changed twice a day) will keep a refrigerator cold enough that the food in it will not spoil.
• having a thermometer for the house, freezer, and refrigerator gives peace of mind.
• the basement kept slightly warmer than the upper part of the house overnight.
• just having people sitting in a room for a while (playing games) raised the temperature of that room.
• sitting in the sun on an enclosed porch while the sun is pouring in through all the windows can get you warmer than staying inside the house.
• layering clothing works.
• sleeping bags work to keep children warm at night.
• even a small charcoal grill will cook food and heat up water if you have nothing better.
• fix meals before the sun goes down and it gets cold.
• I need to find some "emergency food supplies" that are suited to no-power, no-heat, individual-portion situations that are nutritious, affordable, and will store for more than a couple of years.
• I was just as busy as usual, but on different projects (a quilt, a moebius scarf, a rectangular scarf, a net shawl instead of websites and netting classes*).

I know my list would be different if the season and the disaster were different.  And, speaking of disasters, I wonder what is coming next.  So far during 2011, my area of the country has experienced an ice storm, a tornado, micro-bursts, an earthquake, a hurricane, and now heavy snow storm.  Any suggestions what I should prepare for next?  My oldest daughter suggested fire.

*Speaking of netting classes - Netting, More or Less is completed as far as the videos and transcripts go.  I just need to have time on the computer to get the classroom up and connected to PayPal (something I was planning to do this past week).