the great ice storm of 2009 (cont.)

day four

Dorothy was able to return to work on Friday. She was late going in because I had to jump the dead battery in her car. I had inadvertently left the parking lights on the night before. That was the second mistake I made. It took 2-1/2 hours to scrape the ice from my truck and move it into position close enough to connect the jumper cables (note to myself: buy longer jumper cables). There was still a lot of ice on the ground so we had to throw rock salt, twigs, and even dry cat food under the tires to get some traction.

The sun was shining so the trees soon began to drip and the ice lost its grip and fell to the ground in piles of frozen diamonds. I went into town to buy more kerosene, that precious commodity that stood between us and freezing. Some of our neighbors bought generators that could operate one or two appliances at a time. A generator large enough to operate our central heating unit would be prohibitively expensive so we kept relatively warm with the kerosene and the burners on the kitchen stove. We didn't miss the television. Sitting in the light of an oil lamp listening to a battery operated radio was rather nice for Dorothy and I. We reminisced about old times or just enjoyed each others company.

While I was out I learned that our neighbor, Mike Wolf, a volunteer fire fighter, was injured while patrolling the roads in a fire truck on the first day of the storm. A limb fell from a tree and into the window of the truck he was driving seriously injuring him. I went to the hospital to visit him. The people who are working to restore our power are true American heroes. Most of the fire fighters that cleared the roads of fallen trees are unpaid volunteers. Yet, they didn't hesitate to respond to the emergency at great risk to themselves. And the electric utility workers are working 14 hour days in overlapping shifts round the clock to repair the damage. Let's not forget the letter carriers who had to break an inch of ice off the mail boxes to deliver our utility bills. Neighbors are helping neighbors and sharing their resources to make sure everyone in the community is taken care of.

That night I went outside to retrieve a bottle of Foster's (for me) and a bottle of Merlot (for Dorothy) that I had buried in a pile of ice shards. A little stress relief for the old folks. I was startled by the blackness of the sky and multitude of bright stars. Without the impediment of light pollution I could see the sky as it actually is -- an incredible wonder. I have never seen that many stars. Like Charlie Brown once said, there must have been a hundred of them.

the great ice storm of 2009

I've been keeping a daily journal of what it's like to experience a major ice storm. I'll write as much as I can today. I'm using the computer at the public library so my time is limited.

day one

We were up early, had our showers, breakfast, and were drinking coffee. We had freezing rain all night and the cars, fence and trees were glistening with ice. It was actually a beautiful sight. Then, at 8 am, the power went out. We have a gas water heater and cook stove so we could still cook and take showers. I fired up the kerosene heater which would keep the living room warm. I had plenty of kerosene left over from last year so I thought I was fully prepared. That was my first and biggest mistake I made during this ordeal.

Soon, limbs began falling from the trees. It sounded like the first day of hunting season. The branches would snap with the sound of a rifle shot and rumble as they fell to the ground in a shower of ice shards. We could hear trees breaking far away. We have four large trees around our house, two elms, a wild cherry, and a maple. Each one is at least 50ft high. Limbs began falling into the yard.Several large branches shook the house when they fell on the roof. They continued to fall throughout the day and into the night as sleet and snow fell and covered the ice.
The road in front of us was soon blocked by branches. The fire department came and cleared the road in the afternoon only to have more fall. Our two neighbors, twin brothers, came down and cleared the road again after dark.

day two

We stayed comfy all the first day but the temperature in the house fell slowly and steadily and by the morning of the second day the kerosene stove wasn't working properly. I managed to raise the inside temperature to only 58 degrees.

With no power to run the refrigerator or freezer I put some meat in a box and set it on the front porch. It wasn't going above freezing for a couple of day so the great outdoors served as our freezer. For the first few days we ate pretty good. Dorothy cooked up the bacon and eggs, and even baked biscuits in a cast iron dutch oven on the stove top.

By late afternoon it was evident the kerosene stove wasn't going to make it. I called Kelly and had her Google to see if kerosene goes bad over time. She found that it does and that it can ruin the wick. She sent Burk down with the fresh kerosene. It's a 25 mile drive from their house to ours. Hills and curves. The road was closed at the 59-62 junction 7 miles from our house. Burk drove around the barricade and continued on. He waited while I replace the old fuel with the fresh and when I had trouble getting the flame to start he offered to take us home with him. We probably should gone with him where there was a warm fireplace, where they were eating pizza,making sugar cookies, and having a Wii bowling tournament. Instead, we let the burners on the kitchen stove go all night and curled up together under the covers. You've probably heard of a three dog night. We had a three quilts and a comforter night. And we were fully clothed. So much for the romantic winter interlude we had anticipated. I woke up before dawn thinking about what Kelly had told me about the heater wick being damaged by old kerosene, so at first light I began to disassemble the heater. I removed the wick and cut 1/4 inch off the top of the wick then reassembled the stove. Voila! I worked and has been doing fine since then. The temperature in the living room began to climb again.

day 3

We were up early cleaning out the freezers. The temperature was on the rise and our food was not going to last long. We took our meat to Kelly's and Bill's. On the way to Siloam Springs we drove through a foreign landscape. The world was white and the trees seemed to be made of glass. The branches were so distorted it looked like a landscape painted by Salvador Dali. We visited with Kelly and her family for awhile and it was dark when we started home. We drove slowly through a freezing fog disoriented by the dark and the lack of familiar landmarks.

(my session at the computer is about to expire so I'll continue this later. To see more photos go here

photos

There are some photos of the Oklahoma ice storm on Kelly's blog. Just click on the "Life with Kids" link on the right side bar.

cold

This turned out to be the worst ice storm ever. We've lived in Oklahoma for 29 years and I've never seen anything like it. I thought we might lose power for a day or two, but the power company says be prepared for weeks of no power. Crews are on their way from other states to assist. So far we're making do with a kerosene heater and the burners on the stove top. We took our meat and other perishables to my Kelly's house and Dorothy's brothers house to keep in their freezers. We've been keeping some things on the front porch since it's been colder there than in our freezer. I'm keeping a daily journal so I'll describe this adventure in some detail when I can. My camera isn't working so I'm depending on pictures taken with Kelly's camera for illustrations. I typing this post on a computer at the public library in Stilwell, OK. about 15 miles from home. I'll get back to you when I can.

ice storm

The weather service is forecasting a major winter ice storm for our area tonight. Kelly, Burk, and the kids came down yesterday and Burk cut wood to add to their pile. I got my kerosene stove ready just in case we lose power. Ice accumulations can break power lines and wreak havoc everywhere. Dorothy went to work today and she will get home just before the storm hits, but I don't expect her to be able to manage the slick roads for the next two days. Our winters are not as cold as they were twenty years ago. The ponds would freeze and the mercury would stay below freezing for days at a time. Now the temperatures take more of a roller coaster ride through the season and we get more ice than snow. Driving on snow is manageable if you're careful, but ice, that's another story. There are few things more terrifying than being at the wheel of a car that has lost traction and is unresponsive to brakes or steering as it do-se-do's into oncoming traffic or a steep embankment.
The positive side is that Dorothy and I will be wrapped in a blanket on the couch watching old movies and sipping hot chocolate laced with a touch of brandy. Let the north wind blow! We'll be toasty.

what i'm reading now

The Country Girls by Edna O'brien is a story about two girls living in rural Ireland in the 1950's. Kate and Baba grew up together in a safe country environment and then both go to college in Dublin and find life there to be an unexpected challenge. Baba is just looking for good times as a single girl while Kate dreams of finding her true love.

quote of the day

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving.

– Saint Francis de Sales

catfish hole

For Christmas, my daughter Rachel came home from the Virgin Islands. During her stay we went to as many of her favorite restaurants as possible to eat food that is unavailable down there. These photos were taken at the Catfish Hole in Fayetteville, AR.
Dorothy and Jenna

Tara and Dusty

Blake and Rachel

Hunter, Marley, and Sam

Yours truly, Kelly and Hunter. Hunter is a ham; he wants to be in more than one photo.

quote of the day

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

who wants to be a millionaire?

what i'm reading now

This is the third novel in the Border Trilogy written by Cormac McCarthy. It takes place in New Mexico and Texas in the 1950's. It's a depiction of the life of the last of the old cowboys of the west. This will be the last book by this author that I'll read. Although I enjoy stories about cowboys and their struggles against the forces of nature, man, and animals, I'm done with graphic scenes of violence in books and movies. I think I'll go back to Louis L'Amour.

quote of the day

A good relationship comes down to conversation and sex and good manners, I suppose. And if you can continue your conversation and your bawdiness and your good manners for more than ten years, then you're doing awfully well. Conversation is the truest barometer in a relationship, and when you're not moved to open your heart to your lover, something's wrong that needs fixing. We all know that. And yet it's a fabulous gift, true conversation. The world is full of cant and rote and reflexive chatter; good talk is pure gold, and it's what lovers need from each other.

--Garrison Keillor

my first car

In 1963 when Dorothy and I were kids we would cruise around La Puente, California in a '57 Plymouth.

quote of the day

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.

- - Albert Einstein

here's the deal

OK, here's the deal. A lot of friends and family members have expressed disappointment in the demise of the Resident Curmudgeon. The blog has served well over the years in the capacity of keeping loved ones around the country updated on the news of the Blue family and keeping recent photos of the grand kids posted. I'm going revamp the site. I really don't qualify as a curmudgeon so I'll go back to the original title of my first website: "Life on Peach Eater Creek". I'll post quotations that particularly move me, book reviews (because I read a lot and like to share with people), and a funny story once in awhile. Only when I feel inspired. So you may have to wait out a word drought from time to time. OK?