ice storm of 12/10/07 and beyond

[Show Heifer]

I have an inch of ice on everthing...but.....
The ice is beautiful!! Glistening and reflecting the clouds. The snow that dusted it looked like etched glass. And the sounds? Absolutely beyond words!! An orchastra of nature!! The drums being the sleet that hit the snow crust, the horns the crackling of ice on the trees, the string section the wind blowing through the branches.
THIS is why I have chosen to live in the midwest in December.
Maybe some of you folks need to slow down and appreciate some of the finer things that you can't control?

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

I have an inch of ice on everthing...but.....
The ice is beautiful!! Glistening and reflecting the clouds. The snow that dusted it looked like etched glass. And the sounds? Absolutely beyond words!! An orchastra of nature!! The drums being the sleet that hit the snow crust, the horns the crackling of ice on the trees, the string section the wind blowing through the branches.
THIS is why I have chosen to live in the midwest in December.
Maybe some of you folks need to slow down and appreciate some of the finer things that you can't control?

Wow SH you're either really in the holiday spirit or heavily medicated (just kidding!) I wish I could have your outlook but this morning when I stepped out the door I promptly fell flat on my a** and that kind of ruined the beauty of the ice for me. It's a lot farther down to the ground than it used to be! Keep up the possitive outlook SH !

 

[red]

I think if she was shut up in a house w/ no electricity, screaming fighting kids she might have a different view.
Fun to look at, nasty to have to get around in!

Red

 

[itk]

We had two first calf heifers decide to calve yesterday. One of them is fine and in the other instance we lost both the calf and the cow as the calf tried to come out every way but straight. SH I wish I could share your enthusiasm but the vet couldn't get to our place on account of all that beautiful ice.

 

[kanshow]

Sorry to hear about that itk.  We were also so iced in that I was hoping for no human or animal emergencies.     

The roads aren't so bad but with trees down everywhere it makes traveling a bit difficult.  We finally got electricity back for good last night. 

 

[red]

spoke w/ "Justme" & they are expected to be without electricity for up to a week. She said they were trying to get to town because they have no drinking water. Doubt if she's taking the time to admire the scenery!
Terrible time for her too be down since this is one of her busiest times of the year for the embroidery business. Hope they'll be OK!

Red

 

[CAB]

Sorry Itk. We have a lot of ice, but are luckier than some around us. We do have power again. Hope it soon warms up to melt some of beauty away. Cab

 

[Jill]

Does she even have a town around her, if I remember right the town she lives in only has about 40 people. 

 

[Simmimom]

I'm hoping that everyone's situation has improved.  You have made me feel greatful for the whopper of an electric bill I'm expecting for running the AC here in humid December in Houston. : : :

 

[red]

Jill- she said they were trying to get out to the highway. She sounded worn out & drained.
They're in my prayers along w/ all the others in similar circumstances.

Red

 

[garybob]

SWMO,

Do you remember the winter of '78? That was a doozy. The Ozarks was like the Michigan Northern Penninsula for 9 weeks.
Didn't go back to school from Christmans Break until after Valentine's day. Tom Dye was one of my childhood heroes.

GB

 

[SWMO]

Yes, I remember that winter very well.  Walked out of the house and promptly fell down several times.  The ice on the ground was terribly thick.  I would have to ask Dad if he remembers how thick it was.  The ice we got this week was mostly on the trees and power lines, we had so much rain to go with it that it didn't accumulate on the ground.  I do remember not going to school the whole of January.  Not much to do living 22 miles from town and iced in.  I also remember a winter in the 70's when we had significant snowfall ( My horse was chest deep in places) and it then iced on top of that.  The cows hoof prints were bloody.  Can still picture that in my mind.  Every time they broke through the ice into the snow they were cutting their legs.

Don't see much beautiful about all of our trees destroyed.  Sorry I can't agree with you Show Heifer.  I know that we have alot to be thankful for in our life time but I refuse to be thankful for lost power, the expense that many of our neighbors are having replacing downed power lines and all the other misc expenses that go with not having power.

However,  The funniest story I have heard was from a lady that came in the store today and said that the National Guard came by their farm (ice storm in January) and asked if they needed any assistance.  This was after seven days w/o power.  They said yes that water for their livestock was greatly needed (ponds frozen up and many still dry) and the National Guard unloaded five gallons of water and said that they could come back the next week with five more gallons.  She said thank you.  Told me that it wasn't worth trying to explain to the Guard that one cow would use that water in a day.

 

[Will]

One thing I find interesting is last night the news was showing a group of men complaining that they had not been able to go to work because the city had not cleaned a tree from the road way.  I just cannot understand why they just did not move it them selves.  I think one of the main problems with our country especially the urban areas is the fact that most people have lost the ability to do any thing for themselves.  Their first reaction when a problem arises is to call someone.  Growing up as a poor farm kid our first reaction was to try and fix it ourselves, and as a last resort call a neighbor who owed you a favor.  On another note last year during our power outage I went to check on a lady in her nineties.  She just laughed at me and told me not to worry about her she had lived over 5o years without power.  I actually had lunch with her that she had made on a wood stove.

 

[red]

Yes, Gidget called me this morning & her hubby spent almost a day clearing limbs & trees so they could get to the highway. A little work goes a long way!
Still no electric for them. They were going to a bigger town for a doctor's appointment.

Red

 

[knabe]

back in the day, men would rotate for road maintenance, tax free.

 

[cowz]

One thing I find interesting is last night the news was showing a group of men complaining that they had not been able to go to work because the city had not cleaned a tree from the road way.  I just cannot understand why they just did not move it them selves.  I think one of the main problems with our country especially the urban areas is the fact that most people have lost the ability to do any thing for themselves.  Their first reaction when a problem arises is to call someone.  Growing up as a poor farm kid our first reaction was to try and fix it ourselves, and as a last resort call a neighbor who owed you a favor.  On another note last year during our power outage I went to check on a lady in her nineties.  She just laughed at me and told me not to worry about her she had lived over 5o years without power.  I actually had lunch with her that she had made on a wood stove.

Great post, Will.  Out here in the land of Californication, (What used to be the Rocky Mountain west)....(Sorry Knabe), we typically have brutal 3 day blizzards in Feb & March.  Visibility is non existant and conditions with wind chill are very dangerous.  Folks are told to stay home.  Yet search and rescue teams are overextended from looking for people who just could not stay home...."I had to get to the store for cigarettes!"  These geniuses do not stop to think that the stores are closed too!  DUH

 

[DLD]

We just got power back on this morning (it's been off since Sunday). There are still lots of people nearby that don't have power yet. It started icing up here Saturday evening, by Monday afternoon there was close to 2" in places. It was so thick that I could barely reach my hand around the ice on the cables in the fences. Tuesday it rained, probably 1.5 - 2", stayed in the mid 30's til late yesterday afternoon then froze back. The school my wife teaches at just went back today, our kids have been back in school since Tuesday. We never had any trouble to speak of getting around (in big 4X4 pickups), so stayed busy feeding cattle and checking on/helping out our older family and neighbors. We used our little stock show generator to power our heater and refrigerator an hour or so at a time, but the way our water pump is wired we couldn't run it with a generator, so not having water was the biggest pain here (needless to say I've been washing dishes and clothes in between taking care of the stock this morning).

It's been a pain in the posterior, but all in all I guess we're pretty lucky - it could've been alot worse. Hope the rest of you folks fared as well.

 

[red]

They are calling for 6-12" of snow here this weekend. There might be some freezing rain at first. I just fear the ice for my hubby. It makes it so rough for him to get around & you just can't keep him home.
Has anyone ever tried ice cleats on shoes? I was also wondering about ice tips on his crutches. Any thoughts?

Red

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

They are calling for 6-12" of snow here this weekend. There might be some freezing rain at first. I just fear the ice for my hubby. It makes it so rough for him to get around & you just can't keep him home.
Has anyone ever tried ice cleats on shoes? I was also wondering about ice tips on his crutches. Any thoughts?

Red

Red - The ice cleats work fairly well on ice, as far as crutches go - I spent 4 winters on crutches during my miss spent youth. For the bottom of the crutches I fashions "tire chains" out of old chain horse chin straps. There is nothing worse than hitting a patch of ice when your on crutches.

 

[ELBEE]

Just got our power back last night, took about an hour to re-boat the computer. Family and livestock faired well, we ran two generators. Figured out to about $600 in fuel  God bless rural electrification, and all the out-of-state linemen that helped get it up and runnin!

It'll take forever to catch up on the Planet posts.