Nemo, a Special Snow Storm?

High blasting wind, snow measured in inches per hour, loss of visibility, flashes of lightning?
My cell phone just announced a Blizzard Warning with alarm noises!
Why does this storm have a name?

Certainly cute even with that angry face.

  I tell a story of a special storm with no name just The Snow Storm, December 1971.  Everything we owned stuffed into a '55 Chevy.  Nine dollars and a Standard Oil credit card, this was our third move since August when Jennifer was born.  Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, and now to Minnesota.  Between Missouri and Minnesota is Iowa where corn grows and dirt blows in the summer.  In winter however, snow blows.  Lots of snow.  Feet of snow.

 The morning started with promise.  A bright, cloudless sky.  Decently comfortable for a winter day.  Al, me, baby Jennifer, and Inga, our miniature black and tan Dachshund piled into the car.  In seven or eight hours we'd  see our friends in Minnesota where a job and house waited for us.  Traveling with a nursing baby isn't difficult.  Don't need to stop for meals.  Changing diapers...cloth diapers...is tricky though.  But we should be there by tonight so a plastic bag to hold the dirties is sufficient.

 Half way there the sky thickened and the wind picked up.  Near Ames, IA, we stopped to call a college friend who warned us of the coming snow.  She tried to convince us to stop and spend the night with her.  No, we thought, better keep moving.  By sundown Mason City, the half way point between Ames and Minneapolis, was still miles off.  The snow swirled in the dark.  The headlights illuminated the trillions of flakes.  We couldn't see anything else.  Nothing at all.  

 When up ahead through the blizzard - lights!  The taillights and running lights of an 18-wheeler.  Speed up, speed up or we'll lose him.  Then his left turn signal blinked.  We were determined to follow him no matter where he went but he didn't turn.  Catching up to where his signal had flashed, we passed an abandoned car off to our left.  He had signaled us to make us aware of the car!  Several more times his signal flashed and several more times we passed abandoned cars.

 Up ahead the lights of a city appeared, Mason City...and the truck lights disappeared.  No tire tracks in the snow.  He had indeed vanished!  Left on our own, we ran the snow drifts in town.  Each drift deeper than the last until one drift would not let us go.  Two snowmobilers immediately ran out of a small building to push us out of the snow.  But they refused to push us forward and insisted we stop and come into the bar.  The owner cried when she saw Jennifer.  "I knew I was suppose to stay open."

 By morning bright sunshine replaced the storm clouds.  As soon as the snowplow passed, we started again. Dozens of abandoned cars lined the highway.  A black Monte Carlo left the pavement and ended up at a 45 degree angle in a huge drift near an overpass.  Who knows where the driver went?  

So even today, as I remember The Snow Storm, I know that angels drive 18-wheelers and God is in control.

What in the World?

Past, Future, and Present?
Check out Chiles Chews for interesting info about what's inaccurate and inadequate about some past and future science constants.

And what about the present? Sharon Astyk pulls together links on the current food situation.

Let's be thankful right now for today, for life, for family, for friends, for freedom.
Happy Thanksgiving.
We had our first snow yesterday. The rain melted it last night but I hear from family in Oregon that they have a foot already. Guess Maine was the right move.

Early March at Our House

Sprouts!!! The tomato and cucumber seeds I saved last year from my plants really sprouted and here's a photo to prove it. This is all so exciting! Right now they are under a small grow light in the living room.

But more than plants is going on at home...

Along with a major reorganize, clean out and clean up of the cellar, we had some plumbing updated. We were told that in order to properly vent the new drain in the basement, they would have to look into the bathroom walls!!!

So now we've started the remodel of the bathroom with a brand new toilet and spiff up of the heater.

So far, so good.

Winter Begins

A crust of snow covered the ground this morning but it wasn't the first snow of this season. In October, large snow flakes fell for an hour or more.

November was so balmy our red raspberries just kept growing and growing. Grace and Violet delighted to keep the ripe berries ingested.

I won a turkey from the hospital where I work so we enjoyed it for Thanksgiving. Dave and I went to see "2012" at the theatre. Great special effects, sad subject, and irritating ending.

For one month I've been pain free thanks to a cortisone injection into my spine. What a difference in my mobility and attitude. I'm feeling my age again instead for twenty years older!

Happy Thanksgiving

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
                                               Matthew 1:28-30

Thank You for Peace and Rest.

For Me and You

The Innocent for the Guilty

Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation describe in symbol the throne room of The Creator. Today we commemorate this portion of the scene.

Then I looked and I heard, around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!"

Peace and Love.

Spring 2009

Finally Virus #OMG, the dreaded virus from hell, has drained all the mucous out of New England - again. Last year it stormed the area in January, oozed cross country to the Northwest, bumped into the moist Pacific air, sneezed itself around, engaged in nose to nose combat back through the Midwest, and coughed up a surprise attack here in March this year. Who knew those little bits of RNA could or would organize into mighty armies attacking young, old, and all ages in between?

Yesterday I took a two-tissue, no-cough drive to NH. Weeks have passed since I've seen my little girls. While Mom and Dad went out on a dinner date, they twirled in dresses I'd brought from a local consignment shop, went swinging in the back yard, played with Summer their black lab, ate supper, and colored eggs. We talked about planting while they tried on their new Dora gardening gloves. Already single pumpkin and watermelon seedlings are waiting to be transplanted.

Meanwhile when possible we've been cutting, splitting, hauling, and stacking wood. Check this out...nice, huh?

The Power of Ice

"Crack. Thud." woke me up at midnight. I could not see into the blackness but I could hear them. Every few minutes another, "Crack. Swoosh." or "CRACK. THUD." The rain started a couple days ago but tonight temps are below freezing. I was able to get home on Thursday in the rain. Strange that roads did not get icey but the continual drizzle coated the tree branches with a jacket of ice up to an inch thick. The weight of the water turned ice could no longer be supported by the stiff winter branches. The cracks and thuds continued all night and into the next day. I saw the eery orange glow and heard the moan of strained power lines. Dave woke up about 0400. We still had electricity then so we showered and saved our water to flush the toilet. Then we filled a few containers with water for drinking and cooking. Plus the rain collection barrel on the front step had just refilled with fresh, cold, rainwater. Power went out about 0845. We installed the wood stove a couple months ago. What a blessing! Dave had already piled wood in a sheltered area near the back door. Our kitchen stove is propane so there you go – heat, water, and cooking. We have a generator but Dave had not yet wired it to the house. After we cleared the driveway, we took a drive through the surrounding area. Wow! Power poles broken off. Power lines on the ground. Roads closed. And so many, so many, many broken trees. No businesses were open except two supermarkets, two gas stations (with lines over a mile long). Saturday we drove out west to Gardner to check on one of Dave’s sons and his family. The sad sight along the highway took our breath away. Acres of trees broken or bent to the ground – still covered with ice - brilliant in the cold, clear sunlight…like trillions and trillions of tiny white Christmas lights. Majesty was not sacrificed without glory.

Power came back to our area at 1545 Saturday. That’s about 31 hours. Just heard from my sister-in-law further west. They were out for 52 hours. The report this morning is: the state of Maine most of the 210,000 homes restored, New Hampshire half of their 275,000 homes restored, Vermont still 100,000 homes out, and Massachusetts about half of the 350,000 homes restored. Many of those left without power still have days ahead of them. A convoy of Ohio power company trucks drove by this afternoon on their way to join the repair team.

My first reaction to this whole ordeal was, “Give me my power back.” Then I realized that this was just a warning.

Get prepared for the future now.

And the Lord said to Job, "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?"

Thanksgiving

Thankful for life today. Family, home, work, friends, and the favor of God toward us, all of us, through Jesus the Christ. There are many unanswered questions, many looming problems, much suffering which soon will be answered, resolved, relieved.

My song, "For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is in Him."

He says, "Be still and know that I AM God.